Failure to take Gibraltar was often cited by Axis generals as being critical in their eventual defeat. Its capture would have excluded the British from the Mediterranean with the inevitable loss of North Africa and routes to India. So with Fascist Spain, Nazi Germany, Vichy France and the nascent Italian Empire all seeking its demise the fact it survived came down as much to political intriguing between their competing interests as to its fortress-like appearance.
(Clive Yelf - bwl 99 Winter 2021 ) |
