Editing Fair Isle (section)

=== Wartime military role ===
During the Second World War, the [[Royal Navy]] built two [[radar station]]s on top of Ward Hill ({{convert|712|ft|m|abbr=on|disp=or}}), which operated from February and March 1940 and played an important role in detecting German bombers approaching Scapa Flow on 8 and 10 April 1940.<ref>{{cite book |last=Brown |first=Ian |title=Radar in Scotland 1938–46 |date=2022 |pages=126–131 |publisher=Society of Antiquaries of Scotland |isbn=978-1-90833-221-9}}</ref> The ruined buildings and [[Nissen hut]]s are still present. A cable-operated [[narrow-gauge railway]] lies disused; it was once used to send supplies up to the summit of Ward Hill.

On 17 January 1941, a German [[Heinkel He 111]] bomber, modified as a meteorological aircraft, crashed on the island; wreckage remains on the crash-site.<ref name="crashSitesScotland" /> The aircraft had been flying on a routine weather reconnaissance flight from its base at [[Oldenburg (city)|Oldenburg]] in Germany. It was intercepted by RAF [[Hawker Hurricane]] fighters from [[No. 3 Squadron RAF|3 Squadron]], based at [[RAF Sumburgh]]; both of the aircraft's engines were damaged and several of the five crew were wounded. The pilot managed to make a crash-landing on Fair Isle to avoid ditching his crippled aircraft in the sea. Two crew died and three survived. The dead crew were buried in the island's churchyard; the survivors were detained by the islanders and remained for several days until weather conditions allowed them to be taken off the island by means of the Lerwick Lifeboat.<ref name="crashSitesScotland">{{cite web |url=http://www.aircrashsites-scotland.co.uk/heinkel-he111_fair-isle.htm |title=Deutsche Luftwaffe Heinkel He111 H-2 / T5+EU |publisher=Air Crash Sites Scotland |access-date=10 April 2013 |archive-date=18 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130818054120/http://aircrashsites-scotland.co.uk/heinkel-he111_fair-isle.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> Before the Lerwick boat reached the island, two separate boats from Orkney ran aground while making their way to collect the prisoners of war.<ref>{{cite web |date=9 June 2021 |title=The story of Fair Isle's Heinkel |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2007/11/fair-isle-shetland-islanders |access-date=3 February 2022 |website=New Statesman |language=en-US}}</ref>

The South Light was a target. During raids, the wife of an assistant keeper was killed in 1941 and their daughter was injured; in 1942, the wife of another keeper and their daughter also died in a raid.<ref>{{cite web |title=FAIR ISLE SOUTH LIGHTHOUSE |url=https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/58006 |publisher=Imperial War Museums |access-date=1 November 2020}}</ref>

On 22 July 1941, [[Supermarine Spitfire|Spitfire]] X5401 piloted by [[Flying Officer]] M. D. S. Hood crash-landed on Fair Isle returning from a reconnaissance mission over [[Ålesund]], Norway. The pilot recalled the crash site to be adjacent to the track which crossed the airstrip. The cause of the crash proved to be a leak of coolant, which resulted in the engine overheating. The aircraft was recovered and flew again, and the pilot survived the war.<ref>{{Cite web |title=World War II – Page 3 of 7 |url=http://sumburghairport.notshetland.com/crash-log/world-war-ii/3/ |access-date=2022-09-21 |website=Sumburgh Airport Archives |date=3 September 2017 |language=en-US |archive-date=22 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220922170007/http://sumburghairport.notshetland.com/crash-log/world-war-ii/3/ |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="MySite">{{cite book |last1=Earl |first1=David |last2=Dobson |first2=Peter |title=Lost to the Isles |date=2013 |pages=173 |publisher=Hanover Publications |isbn=978-0-9523928-4-2}}</ref>