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Gibraltar
Posted by: SuperKraut ()
Date: October 23, 2001 07:24AM

<HTML>was the key to the western Mediterranean and the only British base in the area. With Gibraltar in Spanish hands, the strait would have been free for anyone's use, although submarines from both sides would be plying the waters and the British would be tempted to keep a standing surface force in the area. In Axis hands, Gibraltar would have closed the strait to the Allies and given control of the western Mediterranean to the Axis.

The reason Gibraltar got away with blocking the Axis was the absence of Axis bases anywhere close to Gibraltar. With access to Vichy airfields in Morocco or Algeria, Gibraltar could have been bombed into uselessness even more efficiently than Malta was in early 1941 and again in early 1942. The airfield at Gibraltar is not much bigger than a modern aircraft carrier, so keeping fighter protection in the air would not last long. The port is also quite small, although the anchorage is large. The British would have been reduced to the rock itself, with no naval or air power, just artillery. One of Hitler's minor errors was not forcing the French to give the Germans bases in the Vichy territories.

Regards,
SuperKraut</HTML>

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Subject Written By Posted
Treading on &quot;what if&quot;, but what about Gi Tom Iwanski 10/22/2001 04:57PM
Gibraltar SuperKraut 10/23/2001 07:24AM
Re: Gibraltar parade 10/24/2001 05:44AM


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