During WWII around 3000 Allied soldiers (10 times the local population) were based in Reyðarfjörður. At the top end of Heiðarvegur you’ll find the excellent (but pricey) Icelandic Wartime Museum, which details these strange few years. The building is surrounded by mines, Jeeps and aeroplane propellers, and holds other war relics. Photographs and tableaux provide a background to Iceland’s wartime involvement.
The museum is tucked behind a rusting set of army barracks, built as part of a hospital camp in 1943 but never used for that purpose.