THE “HOCK”

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 211, 5 August 1940, Page 9

THE “HOCK”

CHANGING ROLE. MEDITERRANEAN KEY. Nobly, nobly Cape St. Vincent to the north-west died away; Sunset ran, one glorious blood-red, reeking into Cadiz Bay*; Bluish mid the burning water, full in face Trafalgar lay; In the dimmest north-east distance dawned Gibraltar, grand and grey. The “Gibraltar Tradition” has been a long time growing, says an exchange. One of the lirst Englishmen to appreciate its possibilities was Cromwell, who suggested to Blake that “six nimble frigates lodged there will enable us to do more harm to the Spaniards than with a lleet.” He even sent out a shipload of spades and wheelbarrows, with the heroic idea of digging through the isthmus. The ship was sunk, and no one since has ever tried to turn the peninsula into an island. By the time Sir George Rooks captured the Rock in 1704 France had taken the place of Spain as our chief rival. Gibraltar was eliiefly used as a naval base for operations in the west-, cm Mediterranean and against Toulon. i NO “FEE SIMPLE.” j

The only formal cession of Gibraltar to England was made in the Treaty of Utrecht, ten years later. This treaty has little bearing on our' position, for we were frequently at war with Spam during the following century, and the Rock was besieged three times. On several occasions we negotiated with Spain for its exchange, and even Chatham was willing to give it up for a port in the Vest Indies. Unfortunately, neither in. 1753, after the Great Siege which lasted four years, nor in 1816, after the Napolcnonic War, was any formal agreement made about Gilbraltar. The frontier was not delimited, nor has there been any settlement of the vexed question of “territorial waters.”

In England popular sentiment about the Rock developed very slowly. The, Great Seige helped to found a tradition which grew enormously during the Napoleonic period. Gibraltar then became indissolubly linked with our ideas of sea power, and with tlio long struggles against France _ and Spain which culminated in Trafalgar. IN HOSTILE POSSESSION. The south-west corner of Spain was rich in memories to our Victorian fathers. “We stayed on throughout the nineteenth century iii what was really hostile possession of the Rock. At first there was continued bickering with the Spanish authorities, but gradually our position was accepted. From time to time military or imperialist sections in Spain would demand its return, but so long as Spain remained an independent hut weak country this aspiration was recognised to he outsido the range of practical politics. In the latter half of the century two events considerably altered the status of Gibraltar. One was the opening of the Suez Canal, and the development of the long strategic route through Malta, Egypt, and Aden to India, Gibraltar was no longer the “keeper of the gate” into a closed lake, blit became one of a series of strong points on the land-locked route to Aden. The centre of gravity moved eastwards, and Malta became more important as a naval base. EMBARRASSING FACTORS. The other now factor was the development of the long-range gun. At the time of the Great Siege, and for decades afterwards, the effective range of artillery was little more than a thousand yards. As soon as guns could carry four miles, the roadsteads and port of Gibraltar became open to attack from the range of hills to the north and west of the peninsula and bay. All through this period—in fact, right up to 1935 —our general policy has been to prevent any great Power establishing control over Spain, and to keep the Straits of Gibraltar unfortified and out of the hands of France or Germany. We maintained these two principles throughout the Moroccan crisis, and they were accepted as part of our entente with France. They survived the European War, though Spain was sharply divided at this period. The military-clerical-propertied classes were strongly pro-German, and would have liked to have accepted German help to recover Gibraltar and extend their Empire. >

The development of the bomber has immensely increased the relative advantages of the forces on the mainland.