Newsgroup: it.cultura.storia.militare
Titolo: Operazione Gisela 1943

Nel libro "Storia di una sconfitta" di Liddel Hart, l'autore fa un cenno
ad un operazione denominata Gisela. Detta operazione prevedeva un
invasione della Spagna nel timore di un colpo di mano degli alleati
volto ad aggirare la Fortezza Europa. All'autore, di questa operazione,
ne parlò il generale Geyr von Schweppenburg, allora comandante dell'86°
Panzerkorps (schierato a Dax, ad occidente dei Pirenei). Si parla
inoltre che all'operazione dovevano partecipare circa 5 divisioni, delle
quali 4 meccanizzate: una doveva muovere su Bilbao, le altre dovevano
aprirsi a ventaglio. L'ala sinistra dello schieramento doveva muovere
invece verso Madrid. Von Schweppenburg è lapidario verso questa
operazione che non esita a definire "questa sciocchezza". La storia di
questa operazione mi ha particolarmente incuriosito. Sembra che Hitler
volesse proprio emulare Napoleone aggiungendo pure la Spagna ad altri
fronti dove la Wehrmacht si era impaludata.
Qualcuno di voi a qualche ulteriore notizia su questa operazione e sulle
unità che avrebbero dovuto prenderne parte?
Può darsi che la decisione di attaccare la Spagna fosse nata dalla
decisione di Franco di ritirare la Divisione Azul dal fronte orientale?
Grazie a tutti.
Emanuele
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 volto ad aggirare la Fortezza Europa...
(cut)
Traggo dalla pagina Internet:
http://stonebooks.com/history/felix.shtml
 Operation Felix: Assault on Gibraltar
Following a number of detailed reconnaissance missions by officers wearing
civilian clothing and studying the Rock from Spanish soil as well as seaward
perspectives, the Wehrmacht in the summer and autumn of 1940 drew up
detailed plans for Operation Felix, the assault on Gibraltar. Only failure
at the highest levels of diplomacy prevented the operation from occurring at
the beginning of 1941.
German Plans
Under the overall command of Field Marshal Walter von Reichenau, the German
plan called for two corps to move into Spain in the middle of January 1941
with the consent of Generalissimo Francisco Franco. General Rudolf Schmidt's
XXXIX Corps would cover the flank of the Gibraltar assault against any
British intervention: the 16th Motorized Division would concentrate in the
vicinity of Valladolid, the 16th Panzer Division around Caceres, and the SS
Totenkopf Division at Sevilla.
General Ludwig Kuebler's XLIX Corps would control the actual attack on the
Rock. The assault forces would comprise the Grossdeutschland Infantry
Regiment, the 98th Regiment of the 1st Mountain Division, 26 medium and
heavy artillery battalions, three observation battalions, three engineer
battalions, two smoke battalions, a detachment of 150 Brandenburgers, and up
to 150 radio-controlled midget tanks ("Goliaths") packed with high
explosives.
Two additional divisions were earmarked to cross the Straits of Gibraltar
and garrison Morocco after the successful completion of Felix.
Due to the limited capacity of the Spanish rail system (which was not of the
standard European gauge), much of the German ground force would move by road
to its objectives.
The Luftwaffe would contribute Ju 88As, Stukas, Messerschmitts, three light
AA battalions, and three heavy AA battalions. The Kriegsmarine would
cooperate by using U-boats to interfere with British naval movement and
emplacing coastal batteries to further discourage the Royal Navy.
From staging areas on the Spanish border near Bayonne, the ground troops
would cross the frontier simultaneously with an initial raid by Ju 88As
flying from Bordeaux against British vessels in the Gibraltar anchorage.
While the Ju 88As carried out their mission, Ju 87s and Me 109s would
transfer to airbases at Sevilla and finish the job of sinking British ships
or driving them away from Gibraltar.
With its flank protected by XXXIX Corps, XLIX Corps would move into position
for the attack. A tremendous barrage was scheduled to knock out every known
defensive emplacement in the Rock, followed by the arrival of the Luftwaffe
for a succession of Stuka strikes against positions still firing when the
assault troops began moving forward. German artillery fire would
methodically demolish surviving casemates while smoke-generating units
shrouded Grossdeutschland and the 98th Mountain Regiment. Due to the
extremely limited frontage of the position, only those two regiments plus
supporting engineers would be committed in the actual assault.
Meanwhile, the Brandenburgers -- disguised as sailors abandoning a sinking
ship -- intended to land inside British defenses in small boats and clear
the way for the assault troops.
British Defenses
Had Operation Felix taken place during January 1941 as planned, what
opposition would the attackers have faced?
In September 1939 the garrison comprised two British battalions: 2nd The
Kings Regiment and 2nd Somerset Light Infantry. 4th Devonshire arrived in
May 1940 and 4th Black Watch in July 1940, so by January 1941 four infantry
battalions were in place. (Later in the war this strength grew to 1st and
2nd Gibraltar Brigades with additional battalions.)
3rd Heavy Regiment, Royal Artillery (previously "Gibraltar Coast Defenses"
and later redesignated 3rd Coast Regiment) controlled 4th, 26th, and 27th
Batteries with 8 x 9.2-inch guns, 7 x 6-inch guns, and 6 x twin 6-pounders.
(Artillery strength also grew considerably later in the war.)
In September 1939 two AA batteries, the 9th and 19th, defended Gibraltar
from air attack with 4 x 3-inch, 4 x 3.7-inch, and 2 x 40mm guns. HQ 10th AA
Regiment was later formed to control the two batteries. The 82nd Heavy AA
Regiment arrived in July 1940 with three batteries (156th, 193rd, and 256th)
including 16 3.7-inch guns, 8 x 40mm Bofors guns, and the first radar sets.
3rd Searchlight Battery also arrived in July. Some shuffling of assets and
re-numbering of units followed (including departure of HQ 10th AA Regiment,
but no batteries); however, this AA strength was not further reinforced
until March 1941.
Because there were no fighters based at Gibraltar during this time (and no
facilities for supporting them), AA fire was the only defense against the
bombing of Gibraltar (including Vichy French air raids in 1940, but that's
another story).
Later Plans
Given free passage through Spain for their ground troops and air forces,
German planners were confident an assault in January 1941 would yield
victory. However, Franco's consent was not forthcoming and the operation was
postponed, transformed, and ultimately abandoned.
With Operation Barbarossa (the invasion of the Soviet Union) looming and
units being transferred to the east, by 10 March 1941 Felix had been amended
to become Operation Felix-Heinrich, for which German troops would be
withdrawn from the USSR to capture Gibraltar when the approximate line
Kiev-Smolensk-Opotschka was reached. Because the campaign in the Soviet
Union did not succeed as planned, nor did Franco alter his position, even
this amended version of the operation was not implemented.
Operation Isabella was conceived in April 1941, originally due to Hitler's
fear of British landings on the Iberian peninsula. Rather than an Axis
invasion of Spain, Isabella was designed as a measure by which German troops
would advance into Spain to support the Franco regime and defeat the British
expeditionary force.
In May 1942, with available resources shrinking, Isabella was replaced by
the similar but less extravagant plan named Operation Ilona. Ilona was for
security reasons renamed Operation Gisela in September 1942.
In June 1943 Gisela was replaced with Operation Nurnberg, a contingency plan
which called for, in the event of an Allied landing in Portugal or Spain, a
defensive strategy in the Pyrenees. This marked the end of planning for
operations in Spanish territory. At this point the plan -- and German
capabilities -- had been reduced to two reinforced regiments and "certain
labor formations".
Sources :
Bellis, Malcolm A. REGIMENTS OF THE BRITISH ARMY, 1939-1945: ARMOUR AND
INFANTRY. London: Military Press International, 1994
Bellis, Malcolm A. REGIMENTS OF THE BRITISH ARMY, 1939-1945: ARTILLERY.
London: Military Press International, 1995
Burdick, Charles. GERMANY'S MILITARY STRATEGY AND SPAIN IN WORLD WAR II.
Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1968
Chant, Christopher. THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CODE NAMES OF WORLD WAR II. London:
Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1986
Farndale, General Sir Martin. HISTORY OF THE ROYAL REGIMENT OF ARTILLERY:
THE YEARS OF DEFEAT, 1939-41. London: Brassey's, 1996
Joslen, LtCol H.F. ORDERS OF BATTLE: SECOND WORLD WAR, 1939-1945. London:
HMSO, 1960
Preston, Paul. FRANCO. New York: HarperCollins, 1994
Routledge, Brigadier N.W. HISTORY OF THE ROYAL REGIMENT OF ARTILLERY:
ANTI-AIRCRAFT ARTILLERY, 1914-55. London: Brassey's, 1994
Toynbee, Arnold (ed). SURVEY OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, 1939-1946: WAR AND
THE NEUTRALS. London: Oxford Press, 1956
Copyright © 1999 by Bill Stone
May not be reproduced in any form without written permission of Stone &
Stone
**********
Cordiali saluti
Giuseppe Stilo - Pinerolo (Torino)

 ad un operazione denominata Gisela.
[...]
Gisela era la prevista risposta ad una eventuale invasione alleata che dopo
Torch avesse dovuto toccare il continente europeo; Hitler pensava che la
Spagna fosse il posto più probabile dopo lo sbarco in nordafrica degli
alleati per portare la guerra in Europa, e l'OKW mise a punto per il periodo
ottobre '42-luglio '43 una risposta imperniata sulla controinvasione della
penisola iberica.
In dettaglio era previsto l'impiego di due Corpi d'Armata,  il LXXXVI ( 26
PzD,  386 e 345 div.motorizzate, 715 divisione statica, 621 regg. art.) ed
il LXVI CdA (338 div. statica, 39 div. fanteria, 106 div. fanteria, 1 regg.
art. motorizzata)+ le riserve costituite da un Kmapfgruppe della provata 1
div. corazzata, un paio di regg. fanteria non identificati (nel senso che
l'OKW li aveva previsti ma non li aveva individuati), così come unità
d'artiglieria e supporti da trarre dai depositi e dalle scuole di
formazione. Il piano era imperniato sull'idea che il CdA LXXXVI ocupasse
rapidamente i porti di San Sebastian, Bilbao, Santander e Barcellona
passando il confine tra la costa ed il passo di Roncisvalle, quindi piegando
verso la linea Bilbao-Pamplona. Seguendo la linea di costa avrebbe dovuto
occupare tutti i principali porti atlantici fino a Vigo mentre il LXVI CdA
si sarebbe occupato dei porti del mediterraneo.
In realtà le forze disponibili furono sempre troppo poche per poter
veramente pensare ad una invasione, e gli eventi succesivi fecero
rapidamente sparire Gisela dalle opzioni dell'OKW.
Jaco