“An extraordinary man, moderate, sensitive, humane and with great ideas.” Franco praised Hitler with this statement in front of the Portuguese ambassador to Spain in July 1940. This was the beginning of a plan that was being prepared, and the mission would be put into effect immediately if the Portuguese border abandoned its relations with Great Britain. Plan: (re)conquest of Gibraltar.

Inside the story. The so-called Operation Felix was a plan developed by Nazi Germany during the Second World War, whose aim was to invade and capture Gibraltar, but its main purpose was to close British access to the Mediterranean and control supply routes in this region.

The operation emerged after the fall of France in 1940, when Germany sought to consolidate its dominance in Western Europe and neutralize British naval power. There was only one “problem”: Spain. Without Franco’s support, this project would not have come to fruition, as Gibraltar’s strategic location, controlled by the British, was vital in blocking operations in the Mediterranean and North Africa.

Strategy. Developed by the Supreme Command of the German Armed Forces OKW (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht), the plan was designed in 1940. As we have said, Hitler at that time was convinced of the importance of Gibraltar in weakening Great Britain. At the same time, it has access to the Mediterranean Sea. To achieve this, a land invasion from Spain was planned. Among the details orchestrated was the use of German mountain troops (Gebirgsjäger), engineers and heavy artillery to attack British fortifications and neutralize local resistance.

And last but not least, Franco had to be persuaded. Hitler tried to persuade Spain to enter the war on the Axis side. In this context, the man who pulled the strings of Nazi Germany held a famous meeting with Franco in Hendaye in October 1940 to ensure his support.

Gibraltar during World War II

Franco’s reluctance. If Operation Felix did not yield results, it was precisely because Franco was not clear on the matter. Although he sympathized with the Axis powers, he did not seem willing to risk the country’s stability, especially when the country was still recovering from the Civil War. So much so that Franco demanded almost impossible conditions from the Germans, such as the transfer of French Morocco to Spain or huge amounts of military and food aid.

Moreover, he feared that entering the war would result in British reprisals, such as the bombing of the Canary Islands or the loss of colonial control in North Africa, where British forces were already involved in direct conflict with Italian forces (and later Italian forces). German troops of Erwin Rommel’s Afrika Korps). At this point in history Hitler was forced to divert resources and attention to this campaign, which ultimately weakened the focus on the occupation of Gibraltar.

Franco’s meeting with Heinrich Himmler in 1940

Logistics. The other leg did not fit properly. Logistically, Operation Felix faced many major challenges. So: the invasion required the mobilization of large quantities of troops and equipment across the difficult geography of the Pyrenees, all in the direction of southern Spain. Furthermore, Gibraltar was already heavily fortified by the British with tunnels dug into the rocks providing natural defence.

As if this were no small matter, the attack required highly complex coordination between German and Spanish forces; This was difficult to guarantee, given Franco’s skepticism. On the other hand, the British Royal Navy controlled the Western Mediterranean, making long-term settlement difficult without adequate sea control.

This being the case, without full control of the air and sea, such a major operation in Gibraltar would have been extremely costly and risky for both countries, and even riskier for Germany.

A strong no. As time progressed, Hitler began to focus on planning Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union, and diverting resources and attention to the Eastern Front. Germany’s strategic priorities changed and Operation Felix was postponed indefinitely.

But beyond other changes in German plans, the truth is that Franco’s refusal to commit militarily (January 10, 1941 had been tabled as the date of action) sealed the fate of an operation that tried to imagine impossible scenarios. It would bring Spain closer to Gibraltar again.

The fact is that Germany never gained the necessary access to Spain to launch an attack on Gibraltar, and the operation was stopped formally, or as “officially” as possible, before the end of 1941.

According to Hitler, no. Weeks later, the disagreement with Spain was reflected in Hitler’s next letter to Mussolini: “I fear that Franco will make the biggest mistake of his life.” Hitler said he suspended the operation because he believed that if it went through the peninsula, the British would be tempted to send troops into Spain to aid the local resistance, thus opening up a new and undesirable area of ​​operations. .

As Goebbels noted in his diary regarding the aborted ending, “Franco is not doing his part. He’s probably not capable of doing this. It has no character. The situation in Spain is not happy at all. “Not having Gibraltar is a serious blow.”

Results. As often happens in war, failures have consequences, and Operation Felix had significant strategic repercussions. Gibraltar remained under British control throughout the war, and its location allowed Allied forces to maintain an important base for operations in the Mediterranean, including the invasion of North Africa and later the invasion of Italy.

If the operation had been successful, it would have significantly changed the balance of power in the region and perhaps even prolonged the war. In any case, looking back, the thwarted plan is often cited in the history books as one of Germany’s greatest missed opportunities in World War II.

The failure to implement the plan also reflects the political and logistical complexities the Third Reich faced in its relations with other authoritarian regimes such as Franco’s and the difficulty of coordinating major military operations on multiple fronts.

Image | Steve, NACLE, Claude Henry Parnall

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