Comments by "Steve Valley" (@stevevalley7835) on "The Drydock - Episode 154" video.

@deanroberts2021 there was indeed a Axis plan to capture Gibraltar: Operation Felix. The plan was to persuade Spain to come in to the war on Germany's side. Aircraft from France would then refuel in Spain after bombing Gibraltar and ground forces would advance through Spain to assault Gibraltar. Franco declined to join the war, so the operation never came off.
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@WALTERBROADDUS with 20/20 hindsight, yes he was. The thought crossed my mind that Vichy might have been willing to provide bases in Algeria and Morocco for Axis use in reducing Gibraltar. After the British attacks on Mers el Kebir and Dakar, Vichy was more accommodating to the Axis, giving the Luftwaffe access to Vichy air bases in Syria for instance. Spain holds a sliver of Morocco fronting on the south side of the strait, but base bombers and subs in western Algeria and northern French Morocco to interdict British traffic through the strait, while bombing Gibraltar daily could make things "interesting", like forcing Force H out of Gibraltar and making supply of Malta much more difficult. The Germans could have gotten into a lot of mischief in the Med, if they had not started pouring resources into invading Russia.
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