Operation Felix – The German Plan to Capture Gibraltar

Operation Felix was Nazi Germany’s 1940–41 plan to seize Gibraltar from Britain and close the western entrance to the Mediterranean. The aim was to deny the Royal Navy access between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, isolating British forces and weakening Allied control in North Africa.

The plan emerged following the fall of France, when Hitler believed Spain’s dictator, General Francisco Franco, might be persuaded to join the Axis powers. Under Operation Felix, German forces would pass through Spain, capture Gibraltar, and install heavy coastal defences to dominate the Strait.

The proposed force consisted of two German army corps, numbering around 60,000 men, under General Ludwig Kübler. These troops were to be supported by heavy artillery, Luftwaffe bombers, and paratroopers in a combined assault. The strategy involved gaining Spanish cooperation, advancing swiftly through Spanish territory, and launching a direct assault on Gibraltar from the north, preceded by intensive air and artillery bombardment.

However, the plan’s success hinged entirely on Spain’s approval, and this was never secured. Despite Hitler’s personal meeting with Franco at Hendaye in October 1940, the Spanish leader refused to allow German troops to cross Spanish territory. Spain was still recovering from its civil war, faced severe food shortages, and feared that joining the Axis might provoke British retaliation or invasion.

Without Spanish cooperation, Operation Felix was abandoned in early 1941. Hitler eventually shifted his strategic focus toward Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. Although Operation Felix was never carried out, it represented one of the most serious Axis threats to Gibraltar during the Second World War.

With the fall of France, Gibraltar stood as the only Allied territory in mainland Europe free from Nazi control and consequently became one of the most heavily fortified strongholds in the British Empire. With the threat of a German invasion through Spain under Operation Felix, the British transformed the Rock into a near-impenetrable fortress. Its defences combined centuries-old fortifications with extensive modern reinforcements designed to repel both land and air attacks.

In 1940–41, Gibraltar’s garrison numbered approximately 6,000 to 7,000 troops, organised into two brigades responsible for both fixed defence and internal security operations. The Rock’s coastline was encircled by heavy artillery batteries designed to engage naval targets and repel amphibious landings. With Italy’s entry into the war and the growing threat from the Luftwaffe, Gibraltar was further strengthened with an extensive anti-aircraft defence network. This included heavy 3.7-inch and light 40 mm Bofors guns, manned by units of the 82nd Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery, the 3rd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, and members of the Gibraltar Defence Force (now the Royal Gibraltar Regiment).

A Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft gun position located on the eastern side of the Rock during WWII.

The North Front, facing Spain, was considered the most vulnerable area in the event of a ground assault. It was protected by anti-tank obstacles, minefields, barbed wire entanglements, and a line of machine-gun pillboxes. A key defensive feature was a continuous line of pillboxes constructed by the Royal Engineers and the Canadian Tunnelling Company, stretching from Devil’s Tower Road to Eastern Beach. These included the fortified positions known as Fort William, Fort George, and Fort Augustus, all manned by The Black Watch.

Further south, the Windmill Hill Defensible Barracks and Retrenchment were reinforced to guard against glider and airborne assaults by German paratroopers. To ensure an effective defensive structure, the garrison was divided into two formations: the 1st Gibraltar Brigade, responsible for defending the northern sector, and the 2nd Gibraltar Brigade, charged with protecting the southern approaches.

1st Gibraltar Brigade

Formed: 13 March 1941 – Gibraltar (for the defence of the Rock)

Assigned Units:

• 2nd King’s Regiment: 13 March 1941 – 17 November 1943
• 4th Black Watch: 13 March 1941 – 25 April 1943
• Independent Company: 13 March 1941 – 17 July 1944
• 2nd Royal Scots: 22 April 1943 – 22 July 1944
• 1st Hertfordshire Regiment: 17 November 1943 – 22 July 1944
• 31st Suffolk Regiment: 22 July 1944 – 31 August 1945
• 30th Dorsetshire Regiment: 22 July 1944 – 31 August 1945

2nd Gibraltar Brigade

Formed: 24 April 1941 – Gibraltar (for the defence of the Rock)
Redesignated: 1 December 1943 as 28th Infantry Brigade

Assigned Units:

• 2nd Somerset Light Infantry: 24 April 1941 – 31 August 1945
• 4th Devonshire Regiment: 24 April 1941 – 24 April 1943
• 7th King’s Own Regiment: 30 June 1942 – 7 September 1942
• 1st Hertfordshire Regiment: 24 April 1943 – 17 November 1943
• 2nd King’s Regiment: 17 November 1943 – 31 August 1945
• 1st Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders: 1 May 1944 – 2 February 1944
• 2/4th Hampshire Regiment: 24 March 1944 – 31 August 1945

The 4th Battalion of the Black Watch was tasked with defending Gibraltar’s eastern seaboard to prevent any seaborne landings along Eastern Beach, Catalan Bay, and Sandy Bay. In addition to manning the three principal pillboxes—Fort George, Fort William, and Fort Augustus—along Devil’s Tower Road, the Black Watch also constructed and operated several machine-gun and mortar positions spanning the entire eastern coastline. Many of these defensive structures still exist today and have been documented by the Fortress of Gibraltar Group. Several plaques and memorials have since been installed at various sites to commemorate the Black Watch’s role in the defence of these positions between 1941 and 1943.

Link to: Catalague of military assets - Eastern Seaboard.

A Bren gun light machine gun mounted for anti-aircraft defence atop a pillbox at the southern end of Sandy Bay. Manned from a camouflaged position by a soldier of the 4th Battalion, Black Watch Regiment.

A sentry from the Black Watch Regiment stands guard at a tunnel entrance on Gibraltar’s East side, armed with a Thompson submachine gun. He challenges an approaching officer or senior NCO. Dated 1942-43.

A Bren light machine gun position on the eastern side of the Rock, manned by soldiers of the 4th Battalion, The Black Watch Regiment, stationed in Gibraltar from 1940 to 1943. With them is their adopted mascot ‘Grandy’, discovered in Gibraltar shortly after their arrival in June 1940, following evacuation from Dunkirk.

Black Watch Spigot mortar mounting plaque High Hole.

Black Watch memorial at Sir Herbert Miles Road.