1941: Gibraltar

Gibraltar's defense construction program, begun in mid-1940, was almost completed during 1941. Whereas there were two miles of underground tunnels at the outbreak of World War II, there were ten by the end of 1941, and officials claimed that 20,000 men could live in the Rock indefinitely. Throughout the year, defenders of Gibraltar expected a German attack through Spain. In a radio broadcast on Jan. 1, Governor Clive Liddell explained, 'The fact that Spain is neutral will not deter Hitler.... Hitler cares little whether a German invasion would result in the starvation of Spain.'

On April 25 London announced that Viscount Gort had been appointed Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Gibraltar to succeed Lieutenant General Sir Clive Liddell. General Gort had been chief of the Imperial General Staff when the war began in 1939, and later, while commanding the British Expeditionary Force on the Continent, had directed the major part of the evacuation of Dunkerque. Since July 1940 he had been Inspector General of the British Army and Home Guard. Shortly before Gort's appointment it had been rumored that Germany was demanding passage of troops through Spain for an attack on Gibraltar.

General Gort and his staff arrived at the famous British stronghold on April 27. Two days later, the United States appointed Major William C. Bentley military observer for Spanish-occupied Tangier. Major Bentley had been recalled as assistant military attaché for air at Rome, on Italy's request, after the United States had asked the recall of Italy's naval attaché in Washington for the sabotage of Italian ships in United States harbors. On May 19 Governor Gort paid an official visit to the Spanish Military Governor of Algeciras, General Muñoz Grande. This visit coincided with important political shifts in both Vichy and Madrid. Negotiations with France were hinted early in June by the visit of two French generals, who arrived in a flying boat and were taken to the residence of Governor Gort; but apparently no satisfactory basis of agreement was found. In July General Muñoz Grande took command of Spanish troops fighting against the Soviet Union, and General Fernando Barón Ortiz became Governor of Algeciras. He officially visited Governor Dort at Gibraltar on July 21, and a week later attended a review of the British garrison.

Most of the remaining civilian residents of Gibraltar were evacuated on June 4, when United Press observers in La Linea Spain stated that the British transport Stramohere accompanied by two destroyers left Gibraltar with 1,500 civilian passengers. On the same day, defense manoeuvres and the arrival of naval and air reinforcements were reported. Despite the removal of non-essential residents, Governor Gort on Sept. 17 appointed a committee to control prices on all commodities.

Italian attempts to bomb Gibraltar became more frequent in June. Rome announced that Italian planes had bombed the fortress 'violently' on June 5. On June 9, however, 'authoritative sources' at the British stronghold denied the attack. The Italians announced another 'successful' bombing of Gibraltar on June 12, but it was subsequently revealed that the planes had mistakenly bombed near-by La Linea, Spain. Unidentified planes, though to be Italian, dropped five bombs on Gibraltar on June 13 and were then driven off by anti-aircraft fire. Other raids were reported on June 14 and 16.

Italians carried out a naval attack on Gibraltar on Sept. 20, when 'suicide' torpedo boats were said to have entered the harbor and sunk three British merchant ships and damaged a fourth. The British, however, announced on Sept. 23 that only one 'hulk' had been sunk. Except for an unsuccessful Italian torpedo boat raid in 1940, this was the first naval attack on Gibraltar since 1783. Many Axis submarines have tried to get through the series of three huge steel submarine nets during the present war, but none of the undersea craft has succeeded in entering the harbor.