Gibraltar In World War II
   HOME



picture info

Gibraltar In World War II
The military history of Gibraltar during World War II exemplifies Gibraltar's position as a British Empire, British fortress from the early-18th century onwards and as a vital factor in British military strategy, both as a foothold on the Europe, continent of Europe, and as a bastion of Royal Navy, British sea power. During World War II, Gibraltar served a vital role in both the Battle of the Atlantic, Atlantic Theatre and the Mediterranean Theatre of World War II, Mediterranean Theatre, controlling virtually all naval traffic moving between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. In addition to its commanding position, Gibraltar provided a strongly-defended harbour from which ships could operate both in the Atlantic and in the Mediterranean. The Royal Navy's Force H, under the command of James Fownes Somerville, Vice-Admiral James Somerville was based in Gibraltar and had the task of maintaining naval superiority and providing a strong escort for convoys to and from t ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Searchlights On The Rock Of Gibraltar, 1942
A searchlight (or spotlight) is an apparatus that combines an extremely luminosity, bright source (traditionally a carbon arc lamp) with a mirrored parabolic reflector to project a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a particular direction. It is usually constructed so that it can be swiveled about. The most common element used in modern searchlights is Xenon, Xenon (Xe). However, Rare-earth elements such as lanthanum, lanthanum (La) and cerium, cerium (Ce) are used in phosphors to improve light quality in some specialized searchlights. Military use The first use of searchlights using carbon arc technology occurred during the Siege of Paris (1870-71), Siege of Paris during the Franco-Prussian War. The Royal Navy used searchlights in 1882 to dazzle and prevent Egyptian forces from manning artillery batteries at Bombardment of Alexandria, Alexandria. Later that same year, the French and British forces landed troops under searchlights. By 1907 the value o ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Commando
A commando is a combatant, or operative of an elite light infantry or special operations force, specially trained for carrying out raids and operating in small teams behind enemy lines. Originally, "a commando" was a type of combat unit, as opposed to an individual in that unit. In other languages, ''commando'' and ''kommando'' denote a "Command (military formation), command", including the sense of a military or an elite special operations unit. In the militaries and governments of most countries, commandos are distinctive in that they specialize in unconventional assault on high-value targets. In English, to distinguish between an individual commando and a commando unit, the unit is occasionally capitalized. In China, the term "commando unit" (突击队) does not necessarily refer to a commando unit, but refers to special forces and Police tactical unit, police tactical units in general. Such use includes the Special Operations Brigade (PLA Navy Marine Corps), Jiaolong Command ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

North African Campaign
The North African campaign of World War II took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943, fought between the Allies and the Axis Powers. It included campaigns in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts (Western Desert campaign, Desert War), in Morocco and Algeria (Operation Torch), and in Tunisia ( Tunisia campaign). The Allied war effort was dominated by the British Commonwealth and exiles from German-occupied Europe. The United States entered the war in December 1941 and began direct military assistance in North Africa on 11 May 1942. Fighting in North Africa started with the Italian declaration of war on 10 June 1940. On 14 June, the British 11th Hussars and part of the 1st Royal Tank Regiment, (1st RTR) crossed the border from Egypt into Libya and captured Fort Capuzzo. This was followed by an Italian counter-offensive into Egypt and the capture of Sidi Barrani in September. The British recaptured Sidi Barrani in December during Operation Compass. The Italian 1 ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Dwight D
Dwight may refer to: People and fictional characters * Dwight (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Dwight (surname), a list of people Places Canada * Dwight, Ontario, village in the township of Lake of Bays, Ontario United States * Dwight (neighborhood), part of an historic district in New Haven, Connecticut * Dwight, Illinois, a village * Dwight, Kansas, a city * Dwight, Massachusetts, a village * Dwight, Michigan, an unincorporated community * Dwight, Nebraska, a village * Dwight, North Dakota, a city * Dwight Township, Livingston County, Illinois * Dwight Township, Michigan Other uses * Dwight Airport, a public-use airport north of Dwight, Illinois * Dwight Correctional Center, a maximum security prison for adult females in Illinois * Dwight School, New York City {{disambig, geo ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


French North Africa
French North Africa (, sometimes abbreviated to ANF) is a term often applied to the three territories that were controlled by France in the North African Maghreb during the colonial era, namely Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. In contrast to French West Africa and French Equatorial Africa which existed as federations of French colonies and administrative entities in their own right, French North Africa was never more than a term of convenience to refer to the three separately governed territories under different forms of colonial regime. History In the 19th century, the decline and modernization of the Ottoman Empire, which had loosely controlled the area since the 16th century, left the region vulnerable to other forces. In 1830, French troops captured Algiers and from 1848 until independence in 1962, France treated Algeria as an integral part of France, the ''Métropole'' or metropolitan France. In subsequent decades, a substantial European settler population emerged in Algeri ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Operation Torch
Operation Torch (8–16 November 1942) was an Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of securing victory in North Africa while allowing American armed forces the opportunity to begin their fight against Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy on a limited scale. The French colonies were aligned with Germany via Vichy France but the loyalties of the population were mixed. Reports indicated that they might support the Allies. The American General Dwight D. Eisenhower, supreme commander of the Allied forces in Mediterranean and Middle East theatre of World War II, Mediterranean theater of the war, approved plans for a three-pronged attack on Casablanca (Western), Oran (Centre) and Algiers (Eastern), then a rapid move on Tunis to catch Axis forces in North Africa from the west in conjunction with the British advance from Egypt. The Western Task Force encountered unexpected ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

X-ray
An X-ray (also known in many languages as Röntgen radiation) is a form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than those of ultraviolet rays and longer than those of gamma rays. Roughly, X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 Nanometre, nanometers to 10 Picometre, picometers, corresponding to frequency, frequencies in the range of 30 Hertz, petahertz to 30 Hertz, exahertz ( to ) and photon energies in the range of 100 electronvolt, eV to 100 keV, respectively. X-rays were discovered in 1895 in science, 1895 by the German scientist Wilhelm Röntgen, Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, who named it ''X-radiation'' to signify an unknown type of radiation.Novelline, Robert (1997). ''Squire's Fundamentals of Radiology''. Harvard University Press. 5th edition. . X-rays can penetrate many solid substances such as construction materials and living tissue, so X-ray radiography is widely used in medical diagnostics (e.g., checking for Bo ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Operating Room
Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man Publishing's house organ for articles and discussion about its wargaming products * ''The Operation'' (film), a 1973 British television film * ''The Operation'' (1990), a crime, drama, TV movie starring Joe Penny, Lisa Hartman, and Jason Beghe * The Operation M.D., formerly The Operation, a Canadian garage rock band * "Operation", a song by Relient K from '' The Creepy EP'', 2001 Television Episodes * "The Operation", ''Sky Dancers'' episode 27 (1996) * "The Operation", ''The Golden Girls'' season 1, episode 18 (1986) * "The Operation", ''You're Only Young Twice'' (1997) series 2, episode 8 (1978) Shows * ''The Operation'' (1992–1998), a reality television series from TLC Business * Manufacturing operations, operation of a f ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Rock Of Gibraltar
The Rock of Gibraltar (from the Arabic name Jabal Ṭāriq , meaning "Mountain of Tariq ibn Ziyad, Tariq") is a monolithic limestone mountain high dominating the western entrance to the Mediterranean Sea. It is situated near the end of a narrow -long promontory stretching due south into the Mediterranean Sea and is located within the British territory of Gibraltar. The rock is 27 km northeast of Tarifa, Spain, the southwestern tip of Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. The rock serves as a fortress and contains a labyrinthine network of man-made tunnels known as the Tunnels of Gibraltar. Most of the Rock's upper area comprises a Gibraltar Nature Reserve, nature reserve which is home to about 300 Barbary macaques in Gibraltar, Barbary macaques. It is a major tourist attraction. The Rock of Gibraltar, the northern of the two historic Pillars of Hercules, was known to the Ancient Romans, Romans as ''Mons Calpe'' ("Mount Calpe"); the southern Pillar of Hercules on the African side o ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Abwehr
The (German language, German for ''resistance'' or ''defence'', though the word usually means ''counterintelligence'' in a military context) ) was the German military intelligence , military-intelligence service for the ''Reichswehr'' and the ''Wehrmacht'' from 1920 to 1944. Although the 1919 Treaty of Versailles prohibited the Weimar Republic from establishing an intelligence organization of their own, they formed an espionage group in 1920 within the Ministry of the Reichswehr , Ministry of Defence, calling it the ''Abwehr''. The initial purpose of the ''Abwehr'' was defense against foreign espionage: an organizational role that later evolved considerably. Under General Kurt von Schleicher (prominent in running the ''Reichswehr'' from 1926 onwards) the individual military services' intelligence units were combined and, in 1929, centralized under Schleicher's ''Ministeramt'' within the Ministry of the Reichswehr , Ministry of Defence, forming the foundation for the more commonl ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Algeciras
Algeciras () is a city and a municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain belonging to the province of Cádiz, Andalusia. Located in the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula, near the Strait of Gibraltar, it is the largest city on the Bay of Gibraltar (). The Port of Algeciras is List of busiest ports in Europe, one of the largest ports in Europe and the world in three categories: List of world's busiest container ports, container, List of world's busiest ports by cargo tonnage, cargo and transshipment. The urban area straddles the small Río de la Miel, which is the southernmost river of continental Europe. As of 1 January 2020, the municipality had a registered population of 123,078, second in its province after Jerez de la Frontera and greater than Cádiz city population. It forms part of the Comarcas of Spain, ''comarca'' of Campo de Gibraltar. The surrounding metro area also includes the municipalities of Los Barrios, La Línea de la Concepción, Castellar de la Frontera ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Auxiliary Ship Olterra
The auxiliary ship ''Olterra'' was a Italian tanker scuttled by her crew at Algeciras in the Bay of Gibraltar on 10 June 1940, after the entry of Italy into the Second World War. She was recovered in 1942 by a special unit of the Decima Flottiglia MAS to be used as a clandestine base for manned torpedoes to attack Allied shipping at Gibraltar. Construction and early career ''Olterra'' started life as the tanker ''Osage''. She was built in 1913 by Palmer's Ship Building and Iron Co Ltd, Tyneside in England, for a German company. ''Osage'' was sold to the Standard Oil Co in New York in 1914 and renamed ''Baton Rouge''. In 1925 she was again sold, this time to the European Shipping Co. Ltd of London and renamed ''Olterra''. As ''Olterra'' she passed through the hands of the British Oil Shipping Co. Ltd and in 1930 was bought by Andrea Zanchi in Genoa. On 10 June 1940, when Italy entered the Second World War by declaring war on France and the United Kingdom, ''Olterra'' found ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]