Gibraltar

Gibraltar, a rocky promontory which is part of the southern Spanish coast, has been a British colony since 1704. Following the fall of France in June 1940, it was, until 1943, the only Western Allied stronghold on the continent of Europe. In 1939 about 20,000 Gibraltarians lived there, over 16,000 of whom were evacuated to North Africa and then mostly to the UK.

Hitler had plans (ISABELLA-FELIX), thwarted by the Spanish dictator, General Franco, to capture Gibraltar so as to close the western entrance to the Mediterranean. Force H, and the British Naval Contraband Control Service which searched all neutral merchantmen, operated from Gibraltar, and convoys started from there. These played a crucial role during the siege of Malta in supplying the island. For this reason Gibraltar attracted air attacks by Italian bombers, and its shipping made it a favoured target for sabotage raids mounted by the Tenth Light Flotilla. It was also raided by Vichy French bombers in retaliation for the Royal Navy's attack on Mers-el-Kébir in July 1940. It was an invaluable haven for escaping Allied personnel (see MI9), and the chairman of the XX-committee called it, from the intelligence point of view, ‘one of the most difficult and complicated places on the map’, for its closeness to pro-Axis, though neutral, Spain made it vulnerable to constant surveillance by Abwehr agents.

A total of 40 km. (25 mi.) of tunnels, containing supply and ammunition dumps, workshops, and living quarters, were bored into the Rock, and Eisenhower's HQ was situated there for the North African campaign landings in November 1942. The excavated rubble was used to extend an airstrip into the sea, and this was completed in time for 600 aircraft to be packed on to it, which were used to give cover to the landings.