Dry washing for placer gold at the St. Elmo mine - Randsburg, California ca. 1897.
LIGHTHOUSE, Þrídrangaviti, Westman Islands, Iceland
(Photo by: Morgunblaðið/Árni Sæberg, 2009)
Precariously perched on a rock pillar in the Westman Islands around six miles from Iceland’s mainland, the Þrídrangaviti lighthouse is arguably the most isolated lighthouse in the world, and most definitely the scariest. The solitary structure, sitting some 120ft above the raging North Atlantic sea was built in 1939 (without helicopters), which makes imagining how they ever built this place, even more impossible.
Sæberg flew with the national coastguard helicopter, TF LÍF to take the photo of the lighthouse. It's quite incredible how people actually managed to build this lighthouse, just as WW2 began. In 1939 there were no helicopters so people would have had to sail to the cliff and scale it. In an old article in Morgunblaðið, project director Árni G. Þórarinsson says in an interview, "The first thing we had to do was create a road up to the cliff. We got together of experienced mountaineers, all from the Westman Islands. Then we brought drills, hammers, chains, and clamps to secure the chains. Once they got near the top there was no way to get any grip on the rock so one of them got down on his knees, the second stood on his back, and then the third climbed on top of the other two and was able to reach the nib of the cliff above. I cannot even tell you how I was feeling whilst witnessing this incredibly dangerous procedure."
Þrídrangar, the three pillars of rock are in fact four pillars named Stóridrangur, Þúfudrangur, Klofadrangur and the fourth one is nameless. In 1938 a road was constructed to Stóridrangur and the following year the lighthouse was raised. Many years later a helipad was set up on Stóridrangur where helicopters can land.
After 199 days of consecutive contact with the enemy, the 4th Infantry Division passed to the command of the Seventh Army, and moved by motor and railroad to the vicinity of Luneville, France. Here the Division Artillery, 70th Tank Battalion, and 610th Tank Destroyer Battalion were attached to other units, while the remainder of the division rested. In the interim, some troops observed "Sandlot Warfare" instruction. Notice even how the "Dragon's Teeth" of the Siegfried Line were recreated in miniature.