why was Gibraltar never captured during ww2 a small isolated place defensible but not impregnable?

Answer 1

There are a number of reasons why Gibralter was never taken by the axis, but the most significant ones are as follows:

Gibralter lies off the coast of Spain, and the Royal Navy still controlled the sea around it. This meant that in order to mount a successful attack combining Air, sea and land power the axis would need the use of Spanish air fields and ports. Franco the facist dictator of Spain was a friend of Hitler but not a push over. And Spain did not wish to be involved in ww2 having only just finished fighting a civil war. So Spain refused the Germans the use of their land.

Gibralter is also very small, and this made it very easy to defend. With only a small number of troops every possible landing site could b heavily defended. The Island was also surrounded by sea mines and as i said before the royal navy. So any attempt by the axis to land on gibralter would have meant heavy losses of ships which were already in short supply in the axis mediterian navies, and men as was experienced by the German Airborne troops when they took Crete.

Finally, the axis although powereful in the central med never managed completed control. And this only got worse after the failer to take Malta. Thus if the Axis were to invade Gibralter they would only have been able to do it straight after the fall of France(a time when the axis were still not permitted to use vichy french ports by the terms of the armistice). As by 1941 they were already distracted by the more important war in Russia.

Answer 2

Gibraltar World War 2

Answer 3

In September 1940, Gibraltar was attacked by 100 French bombers. Gibraltar was an important British strategic outpost and a key base for convoy escorts. On 20th October that year Royal Navy destroyers sank Italian submarines off the colony. Four days later Hitler asked Franco to attack Gibralter with the help of German experts, Franco retorted that Spanish honour required Gibralter to be taken by Spaniards alone. The two dictators argued for nine hours without reaching agreement. Hitler said afterwards 'I'd rather have my teeth pulled out' (than go through that again). By this time Hitler was already looking east towards Russia and basically lost interest in the Spaniards. Altough Spain remained neutral German U boats were allowed to re-fuel off the coast of Spain.

Answer 4

The British Mediterranean fleet controlled the waters around Gibralter so a seabourne invasion was never possible (same with Malta). Also the Axis powers didn't have an convenient air base nearby - Spain being neutral so an airborne invasion wasn't possible. Besides Gibraltar retained a strong garrison during the war as well as several RAF squadrons.

Answer 5

I have been to Gibraltar, with all of the defensive positions there was no way to land without being wiped out.

Answer 6

Because Britain was determined that it wouldn't fall, and devoted the necessary resources to ensure that it didn't. Mind you, as someone else pointed out, Spain kept the landward border firmly closed to the Germans, otherwise things would have been different.

Answer 7

Gibralter was one of the most heavily fortified places on the planet during ww2 and was accesible only from the sea (Spain was nominaly neutral).
Britain devoted huge resources of air and sea power to keeping this strategic base out of axis hands!

Answer 8

one i being jewish and interpreting the Holocaust for kind of 6 years i will enable you recognize the human beings did rebel seek for the warsaw rebel the jews killed hundreds of nazis yet after being imprisoned for quite a few years they actually did no longer have any power and that they did no longer understand they have been walking to their death, now and returned in between stops on the prepare their could be a occasion and the nazis could say that the conflict is over and that they have got been all loose then they could deliver some to the showers, some did understand they have been walking to their death yet maximum did no longer. yet the two way u could no longer take a hammer or baseball bat or possibly a nail into the camps. and in case you probably did be able to sneak in something as insignificant as a nail, you weren't going to stab in into an eye fixed of an ss soldier via fact their could be others around and quite of in basic terms sending you on your extremely uncomplicated death they could torture you to death in public. plus the irgun did help human beings have been parachuting in and out of germany for an exceedingly long term saving jews. their is even a narrative of a female who escaped nazi occupied hungry and parachuted top decrease back into hungry on a rescue undertaking, she become killed. the subsequent time you ask a question accusing jews of in basic terms walking to their deaths, and letting their fellow jews in basic terms die it quite is important to do a sprint diagnosis.

Answer 9

Hitler had a recurring dream that Germany would be conquered by hordes of apes and he associated the Gibralter apes with his dream, that was why it was never attacked in force, although their allies the Italians did cause damage there.

Answer 10

Because the British Navy was superior to the german navy