(The Real) Operation Felix: Hitler's Plan to capture Gibraltar - by Joe Garcia

The title of this post has been prefixed with 'the real' because - utterly by chance - Operation Felix was referenced in the title of the unrelated previous post).

Operation Felix: Hitler's Plan to capture Gibraltar
by Joe Garcia
New and enlarged edition, 2008
Panorama Publications, Gibraltar




This new expanded edition of Joe Garcia's study of Operation Felix has just been published.

Not only have a lot of new archive documents been released since the original publication but also new finds in Gibraltar have been made. When this text was last edited, Stay Behind Cave - the plan to entomb a contingent of British soldiers in the event of a successful German invasion - had not yet been rediscovered.

The book focuses heavily on the logistical concerns faced by the Germans during their planning and the need to plan for an attack both with and without open support from 'officially neutral' facist Spain under General Franco.

Some knowledge of the local area and the surrounding countryside in Spain is certainly required though to really follow the events - a map would certainly not have gone amiss - if the book is to be enjoyed by a wider audience. Also the rate of change and redevelopment in Gibraltar itself needs to be factored in, particularly if you've not seen photographs of Gibraltar before the post war reclamation. The actual detail of the Gibraltar wartime story is rather underknow further affeild and I couldn't help thinking someone should repackage this excellent study for a wider audience.

However if you do have some background knowledge or can sufficiently pick things up as you go, it is a facinating read. [Not least for obvious land transport 'issues' that have continued to face Spain until almost this day.]

The book is priced at £9 and has a slightly larger print of text that would suitable for both advancing and younger eyes.

Book link on Panorama website.