VALUE OF GIBRALTAR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18641, 23 February 1924, Page 11

VALUE OF GIBRALTAR.

STILL KEY TO THE STRAITS. *s MR. WARD PRICE'S VIEW. MILITARY SURVEYOR'S REPLY. The conclusion that " Gibraltar is obsolete ; Tangier now holds the key to the Straits," wis set forth recently in the Daily Mail ,by Mr. G. Ward Price, a cabled summary of his article being published in the Herald on February 16. His opinion is reviewed by Mr. Charles W. Stewart, of Auckland, who spent five years in Gibraltar, employed' solely on lbrtification work, as -a, surveyor and draughtsman on the supernumerary staff of the Royal Engineers. He writes:— Gibraltar will never be obsolete while the nation that holds it has the money and the will to fortify it properly. I do not say that Britain did not make a blunder in handing over Tangier. 240 years ago, but to say that Tangier (even in the hands of a modern firstclass power) can ever be much of a menace to Gibraltar, or that it could render Gibraltar obsolete, is too much of a joke lor a man who knows every yard of it, to say nothing of having a good knowledge of Tangier. Ceuta, Tarifa, and Algeciras, in fact the whole territory surrounding Gibraltar, both in Africa and Europe. Gibraltar (Gibel Tarik). Ceuta and Tangier form a right-angled triangle, a line from Gibraltar to Tangier being the hypotenuse, Ceuta being at the rightangle. The distance from Gibraltar to Tangier is 33 miles, much too great even for the most modern guns. The distance from Gibraltar to Ceuta is 16 miles, direct south from Gibraltar. As the crow flies C'euta is about 29 miles from Tangier. Proposal to Buy Ceuta. There have been several attempts by the British to buy Ceuta. For instance, during the American war, Spain was very short of cash, and was willing and anxious to sell to Britain. Britain was willing to buy and to pay well (I heard that £10.000,000 was the figure) .'but when the deal was just about settled (some of the Royal Engineers Survey Staff had been warned to be in' readiness to proceed to Ceuta for survey work), the whole bargain was knocked on the head by the other Great Powers in Europe—Britain saw that a European war might be caused if she persisted, so the deal fell through. But that Britain ever entertained the idea of exchanging Gibraltar for Ceuta is ; too funny altogether. Although I am Scotch, I have some sense of humour, and it is too much of a joke think that Mr. Ward Price must be a humourist.

The place which would be a real menace to Gibraltar, were it in the hands of an enemy and fortified, is a hill almost opposite Gibraltar, called the Apes Hill (Gibel Musa), which is about 8 or 10 miles west of Ceuta. This hill is uninhabited and not fortified. Britain would never allow any power 'to . fortfy it in any circumstances. Strange to say this place has never been mentioned by any of the writers who seem to know so much about the situation in ■* that part of the Empire. Tangier, at ' the present time would be very useful •to us, so would Ceuta, even more so, but the Apes Hill (Gibel Musa), is the* real danger spot to Gibraltar. The two Gibels are the two rocks or hills facing each other like two gladiators, one affined, the other charmed—Gibel Tarik (Gibraltar) alined to the teeth, Gibel Musa (Apes Hill) quite unarmed. What a battle it would be if they were equally armed. If the Apes Hill is ever fortified, it will be done by Britain, after taking it by conquest; it will never be bought in peace: time. Ceuta is at present a Spanish penal settlement. Dominating Position. The height of Gibraltar above sea level gives it an advantage over any of the five places which might . cause trouble, namely Ceuta. Apes Hill. Tarifa, Algecira3 and Tangier—of these only four could give. Gibraltar any trouble from gunfire—Ceuta, Apes Hill, Tarifa and Aleeciras- Tangier is clean out' of it so far as gun-fire is concerned. I have rearf, among other things, that Gibraltar has been rendered more vulnerable owing to the great, improvement in the size and range of modern guns, and that Algeciras, which is only five miles distant in Spanish territory " could command the harbour of Gibraltar (i.e. Gibraltar Bay) so as to completely destroy it, and any shipping it contained. " What * would the guns of Gibraltar be doing while Algeciras was destroying the harbour. of Gibraltar and all it contained? » Gibraltar could, in ten minutes, blow Algeciras sky high; in ten ■ minutes, or perhaps less. Algeciras would be a heap of smouldering ruins. I know Gibraltar and I know Algeciras, with the antiquated, obsolete guns which defend . it. The hills behind Algeciras if fortified with modern guns, might give Gibraltar some trouble, never Algeciras, Gibraltar, however; will always hold the trump card. In 1898 two 12-gun batteries were completed on the top ridge of : the Rock, one called " The Devil's . Spy-glass," the other " Middle Hill:" Special guns were mounted. These guns could fire to the Mediterranean or • Atlantic, sides. - They were the 'first guns which could put a shell on to the Apes Hill. These 24 guns could put Algeciras out of existence. (they have been improved since 1898) without any help from the other guns of the Rock, and Alzecirasi would not be able to put a shell anywhere near them.

" Keys " of Mediterranean. The five places -which, might be " kejs " to the Mediterranean I place in order of importance as :—Gibraltar, Apes Hill. Ceuta, Tarifa arid TangierTangier last. Gibraltar has' the advantage of height, where the system of posi-tion-finding cells could be taken full advantage of; also it is only 16 miles across to Africa, which is now within the range of modern guns. It has other advantages too numerous to mention heifc. The Apes Hill would be almost as good as Gibraltar if it were fortified. Ceuta if properly fortified, would be a valuable •'key," but it lacks height. Tarifa has an advantage in the fact that from Tarifa to a point about five miles west of the Apes Hill, is the narrowest part of the Straits, being only about 9 to 10 miles across, making an easy gtrn range. In my opinion Tangier comes last. The nearest point in Europe to Tangier is about 22 miles distant, so that so far as coin-fire eoes it would not be rr»i«h of a " key." A submarine base at Tangier has been suggested, but all these other places could have submarine bases. Some writers seem to-think.-that Tangier is the only place in the world which could have a submarine base and an aerodrome. 1 . ; ..., _ ...