Why Was Gibraltar Not Invaded?

[redcoat]

Originally posted by Cheshire Yeomanry@May 27 2005, 10:57 PM
One obvious reprocussion if Spain aided Germany in anyway in the capture of Gib, was the fact that Britian would invade and capture the Azores. That could prove vital in the early years of the Battle of The Atlantic

Quoted post

The Azore Islands are part of Portugal.
Which did a deal with the Britain during the war. In exchange for modern military aircraft, the Portugese allowed the RAF and later the USN to base ASW aircraft there.
Its the Canary Islands which belong to Spain, and its these which would have come under threat of invasion by Britain, if Spain had aided the Axis in their fight against the UK

[Harry Ree]

The Allied bases in the Azores came about by Great Britain negotiating with Portugal and Portugal agreeing under the 1373 Anglo Portuguese Treaty of Friendship that British bases could be established there.An agreement was made in August 1943 and by October 1943 the RAF Coastal Command had Lagens Airfield up and running from stratch (now the USAF Air Base Lajes and still in use.)

The US and Great Britain had recognised that air cover from the Azores bases,900 miles off the European/North Afirica land mass would complete the Atlantic gap that hithertoo was not covered by anti U Boat aircraft.The Azores bases effectly sealed the fate of U Boats operating in the cross Atlantic southern route between southern Europe and North Africa and the Caribbean .
The cross Atlantic northern route had been effectly sealed by air cover by the anti U Boat patrol operating out of Halifax, Newfoundland,Iceland, Northern Ireland and Scotland.The Azores bases ensured that with other air cover bases, the whole Atlantic could be patrolled for the presence of U Boats. Along with the intelligence from Ultra it meant the end of the U Boat threat in the Atlantic.

The Azore bases also gave the USAAF AND USN another route for the ferrying of aircraft to and fro Europe, but in this case, a more favourable route in terms of weather conditions than the more dangerous northern route.

Regarding Portugul,an ally of over 600 years and said not to have ever been to war against Great Britain it was relatively easy to find the Allied Powers wishes accomodated.Spain on the other hand was determined to remain a pro German, anti British "neutral".Had the Azores been Spanish then the seizure of the territory may have been considered by the Allies.

As it was, Spain had little oversea possessions that attracted the Allies.Even the Canary Isles offered lttle in terms of bases, being only 60 miles off the North African coast.For the Germans the Canary Isles might have seemed attractive but I would think that the Allied cat was always ready to pounce should a German presence be detected.

[Cheshire Yeomanry]

Originally posted by redcoat+May 28 2005, 11:25 AM-->

The Azore Islands are part of Portugal.
Which did a deal with the Britain during the war. In exchange for modern military aircraft, the Portugese allowed the RAF and later the USN to base ASW aircraft there.
Its the Canary Islands which belong to Spain, and its these which would have come under threat of invasion by Britain, if Spain had aided the Axis in their fight against the UK

Quoted post

[/b]

Sorry should have said Canaries

[sapper]

It was too tough a nut to crack honeycombed with tunnels. could hold out for months.
Sapper

[Harry Ree]

Originally posted by sapper@Jun 18 2005, 07:34 PM
It was too tough a nut to crack honeycombed with tunnels. could hold out for months.
Sapper

Quoted post

Absolutely true, this and the likely political outcome for Franco surrounding a failure by Axis forces to take Gibraltar was such that Franco would not be seduced by Hitler.Once the "show kicked off",any failure could result in Germany withdrawing back into mainland Europe but for Franco,Spain would be likely to be a battlefield with the Republicans more than likely being drawn in to the Allied cause.


Regarding the battle plan for the assault on Gibraltar, Franco was aware of the fact that Germany could not provide at that time, the special artilliery required to undertake a successful assault on the well defended Rock.

[spidge]

[/[quote]]Absolutely true, this and the likely political outcome for Franco surrounding a failure by Axis forces to take Gibraltar was such that Franco would not be seduced by Hitler.Once the "show kicked off",any failure could result in Germany withdrawing back into mainland Europe but for Franco,Spain would be likely to be a battlefield with the Republicans more than likely being drawn in to the Allied cause.


Regarding the battle plan for the assault on Gibraltar, Franco was aware of the fact that Germany could not provide at that time, the special artilliery required to undertake a successful assault on the well defended Rock.[[quote]]


I feel there is another reason for Spain’s refusal to enter the war with the Axis powers. We need to take into account the military nous of one Francisco Franco Bahamonde. Franco was a military lifer who went into the Academy at 14 and at 20 in Morocco’s Colonial War where he achieved rapid promotion. By 1920 he was 2IC of the Spanish Foreign Legion, the youngest Brigadier General in Europe by 1926 and Director of the Military Academy in Zaragoza (Saragossa) in 1927. This was followed by other appointments as well as Chief of the General Staff in 1935 at the ripe old age of 42. He was a well respected strategist and administrator and also renowned for his ruthlessness and brutality. .

Franco “owed” Hitler for previous assistance and at their meeting in June 1940 offered to join the Axis however Hitler was not interested as Franco wanted more than Hitler was prepared to offer. When their next meeting took place on October 23rd Hitler put forward a proposal however Franco knew that Germany could not win a sustained war.

Further to that the British & Americans were supplying Franco with consumables and fuel to keep him neutral and he knew that an embargo would greatly affect his country.

He was also made aware that if he moved on Gibraltar, Britain would invade the Canary Islands (contained in previous post).

Franco would have also been aware that the "Battle of Britain" was nearing completion and could see the writing on the wall that Hitler would not cross the channel. Playing both sides of the fence, he still provided submarine refuelling bases, reconnaissance and strategic raw materials.

Added to this, a week before their October 23rd meeting, it was common knowledge that 16,000,000 Americans had registered for the draft and one way or another, America would enter the war. Franco was then already looking towards the end of the conflict and Spain’s position in the post war re shuffle.

[Kiwiwriter]

One of the reasons Franco did not enter the war was that he was one-fourth Jewish, which made him leery of Hitler's anti-Semitic rhetoric.

He was also aware that his country had taken a self-induced beating in the Civil War and was in poor shape for another one. The economy was weak, and if he got into a war and wound up on the losing side, he might lose more than the war -- he could lose his head. He kept slapping conditions on entering the war on Hitler's side.

After their only meeting, at Hendaye in France, Hitler said of meeting Franco, "I would rather have four or five of my teeth pulled than go through that again."

[Harry Ree]

I think we all agree that Franco in the end was shrewder than Hitler credited him for.No only did Franco resist Hitler's political leadership but he lived to tell the tale.

Apparently after Franco had refused to be drawn into the Axis alliance,Hitler summed it up as "the man has missed a historic chance" while Franco's assessment of Hitler's plans for Britain were "the German's are trying to deal in the skin before the lion has been killed"

[pillboxesuk]

Here's a great link.

The Fuhrer Directive for the Invasion of Gibralter

[DirtyDick]

excellent link, thanks