Operation Felix : What the Germans were really up to

[Macaca sylvanus]

Article in local newspaper about the proposed invasion of Gibraltar by German troops during WWII.

OPERATION FELIX: WHAT THE GERMANS WERE REALLY UP TO

Historian Tito Vallejo tells Kristina Vogt the background to the operation

A week after the documentary on Operation Felix was filmed in Gibraltar, local historian Tito Vallejo who was involved in the project talked about historical facts regarding the German plans to invade Gibraltar and about the production of the documentary.


“Originally the operation was called ‘Isabella Felix’,” said Mr Vallejo, but after the meeting between Francisco Franco and Adolph Hitler in November 1940 – where the conditions of the operation were discussed – the name of the Spanish Queen was removed. When Franco and Hitler had the meeting, both the British and Franco had already been informed by Admiral Wilhelm Canaris – the ambiguous head of the German Secret Service – that according to his estimation the Germans had won the battle but were going to lose the war.

So, despite Franco’s previous preparations, such as positioning weapons so that they were directed at Gibraltar – it was at this meeting that Franco made it impossible for Hitler to agree with him. Mr Vallejo explained that Franco asked for huge amounts of goods: food supply such as wheat, fuel, ammunition and weapons for his people and country who still suffered from the effects of the recent Spanish Civil War. He wanted France’s territories in North Africa.
Franco’s argument was that, in the case of an invasion, Spain would be blockaded via land and sea so that Spain would continuously depend on German supplies. Franco also insisted that the troops invading Gibraltar would have to wear Spanish uniforms. Apparently Hitler agreed to that so long as the soldiers wearing these uniforms were German.

By the time of the meeting Franco already knew that, if the British lost Gibraltar, the UK would try to capture the Canary Islands. The British already had a task force ready to invade the islands, as they needed a control base of the U-boat in order to keep the shipping lanes from America and Britain to the Mediterranean and South Africa open. Shortly after the Franco - Hitler meeting the turning point came when the operation was called off by the Germans, said Mr Vallejo, adding that Hitler apparently commented ‘I would rather have a tooth pulled out than meet this man (Franco) again’. Mr Vallejo also emphasised the difference between non-belligerent and neutral, saying that Franco did not mind the German troops marching through as Hitler, Franco and Benito Mussolini had similar fascist ideology. Back then the Campo was full of German soldiers, he continued, “in San Roque they were teaching Spanish soldiers in the barracks.”

Asked how long Gibraltar could have withstood the planned invasion, Mr Vallejo quoted the then Governor Mason MacFarlane, who fortified the Rock with the tunnels. The Governor’s estimate was that the Rock - with some 16,000 men to defend it - would have withstood one day before he was in charge as Governor and four days with him in charge “and it would have been very bloody too.” When the Second World War started, Gibraltar, was very badly protected in terms of weaponry. Gibraltar at that time had only three anti-aircraft guns on wheels which were moved by the intelligence every day. In a German map of Gibraltar those guns appear multiplied all over the place. As there were local civilians working in the dockyards, there was also the submarine depot ship HMS Maidstone on standby next to the docks to evacuate the workers in case of attack.

As far as the operation and its reflection in todays media are concerned, he emphasised that he does not agree with the term ‘Nazi’ being used indistinctively for all German soldiers; the ones planning to invade were the Großdeutschland, he said. Like the British, the Germans had many elite troops and there was much rivalry between those troops, says Mr Vallejo who explains that most of the commanders were at odds with Party Nazis and with the Waffen-SS. “The majority of the German soldiers were normal people who were brought into the army to fight for their country and they were doing their duty,” he explains.

chronicle.gi 26/01

[Briggs]

Thing is if Gibraltar was taken then this would have meant the Spanish were on the axis side of things. If the UK then takes the Canary Islands then it would have pushed the Spanish even furthern into axis hands. With Gibraltar a more effective blockade of the mediterrean could have been enforced turning it into a better handled Axis Mare Nostrum. Empowering the axis to take over more of the region, including oil rich middle east. I wonder if the allies would have been able to invade N Africa if that were the case and wether a Russian invasion would have been needed or even performed. But then again, If the germans had just stormed the UK during the Battle of Britain they might have pulled it off there and had less problem with the Brits and the resistance within Europe.

[papatango]

This is a rather curious statement, once we know that operation FELIX was the first operation organized by the Germans against Gibraltar and the whole Iberian Peninsula.

Operation Isabella, was a second operation. Isabella was to be the occupation of the Iberian Peninsula even without the acceptance of Franco. This operation was cancelled because of Soviet Union’s invasion.

As to the opposition of Franco to Hitler, there seems to be some attempt to say that Franco actually resisted very strongly to Hitler’s demands for Spanish adhesion to the Axis.
Strong pressure was made by the British ($$$) over Spanish generals in order to guarantee that the generals informed Franco about the impossibility to defend Spain (There are detailed reports about thar).
Not only was Spain unable to defend the Canarias islands as the reports claimed that the British could even attack and take parts of northwest Spain.

That’s why Franco requested forces to defend northwest Spain from an eventual British invasion. The German’s didn’t have enough weapons, to help Spain defend it’s shores, and presented a counter-proposal, making a large number of dive bombers available, which would be placed in northwest Spain and which would be used to brake any British attempt from the moment it started.

For FELIX, Germany would organize an invasion force constituted by the 39th armoured corps.

Units
16th motorized infantry division
A very mobile unit for northern Spain and defence of northwest Iberian peninsula

III SS division Totenkopf
(this is why they are claiming not all germans were nazi).
They should say that only part of the german forces were Hitlers’s faithfull SS troops.

16th Panzer division
The most powerful of the units would have the task of invading central Portugal, taking Lisbon, if the Portuguese government sided with the British.
Check http://www.areamilitar.net/analise/a...Materia=38&p=6
It would be based in a central position and would also support the north or the south in case of need.



The defence of Gibraltar would be difficult.
http://www.areamilitar.net/analise/a...Materia=38&p=2

Neverhtelesse it would not completely and immediately bock direct accesso to the Mediterranean,
The British would destroy the larger gun batteries before surrendering the rock and Spanish large calibre gun’s on the straits would not be enough to block it.

During the summit between Hitler and Franco, British forces were on their ships[1] waiting to take at least one of the Azores islands also. With the control of the Azores, the U-Boats campaign in 1941 would have had far less success should the British had a base in mid Atlantic.

[1] According to correspondence exchanged between the UK and the US.

Regards

[Briggs]

thanks for the info. At least completes the original article and recontextualizes it.

[Macaca sylvanus]

Great post PT. I wasn't aware of the scale of the axis plans, although I doubt that a belligerent solution to the invasion of the Iberian Peninsula would have occurred, due to Franco's opposition to the possible repercussions of both an Axis or an Allied victory, that coupled with the state of Spain after a bloody civil war. The Capture of Gibraltar seemed a lot more feasible and strategically important and was in an advanced state of planning when it was halted, whether this happened because of the pressure exerted by Franco on Hitler or because of Germany's other more pressing commitments I am not clear on.

[Masai]

Thanks for the info, there is still so much about WW2 that is unexplored.