STRAITS OF GIBRALTAR.

HL Deb 07 April 1938 vol 108 cc643-7

LORD FARINGDON rose to call attention to the recent fortification of both sides of the Straits of Gibraltar; to ask what action His Majesty's Government propose to take; and to move for Papers. The noble Lord said: My Lords, this is, I fancy, a matter of such urgent importance that your Lordships will perhaps forgive me if I deal with it as briefly as possible even at this very late hour. I do not think that I need stress in your Lordships' House the vital interest that we in this country have in free access to and passage through the Mediterranean. I therefore shall not venture to make any discursive address to your Lordships but merely to read to you certain information, which I have received from most authoritative and reliable sources, of fortifications which have recently been erected on both sides of the Straits of Gibraltar, in Spain and in Morocco. I am not going to read the whole of the information.

On the Cape Tres Forcas several 35 cm. cannons of German origin have been mounted. On Punta del Atalayón, on the heights of the hills of the naval base, various anti-aircraft guns of 7.5 cm. bore have been mounted and it is believed that others of long range also exist. In Benzú, hidden in a small oak wood situated just above the town, there is a battery of 5.5 cm. guns. Almost in a straight line with this to the right of the town, towards Ceuta, about 350 metres away on the coast, three big German guns, 12-inch, have been mounted. In Punta Blanca German engineers have mounted a battery of 31.5 cm. guns perfectly camouflaged. The guns are conveniently hidden by the inequalities of the ground and by solid complementary constructions; the positions communicate with each other by subterranean passages. Each of these cannons has an automatic loading crane. Some details are then given as to the use of the narrow track railway for supplying these guns, but I will not trouble your Lordships with them.

In Yebel Sidi Musa six very large guns have been installed. The old batteries of El Hacho in Ceuta have been totally repaired and rectified, and within the fort itself have been set up two German 22 cm. guns and a battery of equal calibre on the slope of El Hacho over the cemetery. The old battery of Valdeagua has been reinforced by two 22 cm. guns. In La Brecha the former battery remains, increased by two 22 cm. guns. Between Tetuan and the international zone of Tangiers there are the following artillery emplacements: In the neighbourhood of the Borch, three large-calibre cannons; in Hadyra one cannon, and in Ualad el Had, twelve kilometres from the Borch, two guns. Seven batteries, size 15 cm., have been taken up to the Guadalupe fort in Fuentearrabia. In Yebel Musa, there is a new subterranean artillery emplacement, and eight cannons facing the sea.

As to the Cadiz defences, in Matagorda, on ground level, there is a battery of 18 cm. calibre; above Matagorda, two batteries of 12.5 cm. calibre; and in the lighthouse of San Sebastian two batteries of 18 cm. calibre which cross range with guns of equal calibre in Rota. By Santa Catalina there are 12.5 cm. batteries. In the powder magazines of Larache, looking towards the sea, there are three 15 cm. guns. Half a kilometre distant, in two camouflaged hollows, there are two big revolving guns. At kilometre 230 on the road from Malaga to Cadiz, at one and a half kilometres from Torremolino on a height, four 6-inch guns have been placed. At kilometre 9 on the road from Malaga to Motril, on a height exactly at that spot, there are battery fortifications and antiaircraft defences. I have many other details of anti-aircraft defences which I will not give to your Lordships as they do not immediately affect the passage of the Straits.

In Lagunas de Guedira there are two 7.5 cm. guns. Coastal batteries from Tarifa to Algeciras: On the island of Las Palomas two 10 cm. guns, to the west of the lighthouse, the first 60 metres away, the second 85. Four guns of 14.9 cm. calibre to the west are spread over a space of 150 metres from the lighthouse. In El Bujeo are two 30.5 cm. guns which apparently take Italian shells. San Garcia, two 15.24 cm. guns. On Punta Carnero, four 12 cm. guns. On Mount Ulia, San Sebastian, the artillery pieces which were installed there have been replaced by others of greater calibre, one of them mounted towards the sea, others in the opposite direction. They have also replaced the anti-aircraft guns by more modern ones. In La Barria there are four batteries: the old guns have been replaced by large-calibre batteries. In El Hacho they have made subterranean tunnels and mounted batteries; they have done the same on the old fortifications, which they have strengthened and fitted with modern cannon. In El Morro two anti-aircraft guns have been set up.

That is a résumé of the more heavy artillery which, I am informed, has been recently mounted commanding from both sides the Straits of Gibraltar. As your Lordships are all aware, there is unhappily at the moment a Civil War going on in Spain, but I do not think that it can be supposed for a moment that the construction of these batteries has any direct connection with the war; in fact it seems to me sinister that at a time when one would have thought that the Fascist forces in Spain would be concentrating all their resources, wealth and material on the battle fronts, they are in fact, or if not themselves at any rate somebody acting for them, taking so much pains to fortify this extremely vital passage, the Straits of Gibraltar. Some of us have constantly warned His Majesty's Government of what we conceive to be the dangers of tolerating if not actually conniving at the success of the Fascist invasion of Spain. The construction of these batteries themselves, the placing of this very heavy supply of artillery in a position so vital to ourselves, seems to me to reinforce rather frighteningly our many warnings and to add to our fears. I do not wish to detain your Lordships, but I hope that the Government will have something perhaps a little comforting to say.

We on this side of the House are of the opinion that only really by encouraging the success of democratic and popular forces in Spain can these dangers of which I have spoken be averted. It may be a question for His Majesty's Government to decide whether they can batter the fortress of Gibraltar into pieces, but whether that is so or not they can make the Straits impossible for shipping and make the harbour valueless for naval purposes. Since this Government came into power we have repeatedly heard suggestions that first Malta and then Hong Kong are indefensible and would in case of war not be defended. The Government have not committed themselves, but it is remarkable that we have heard these suggestions more and more frequently. It would be very disturbing to find Gibraltar added to these indefensible places which were previously regarded as essential to Imperial communications. I hope the Government will be able to give us some little comfort. I beg to move.

LORD STRATHCONA AND MOUNT ROYAL

My Lords, the noble Lord has raised a question which, as your Lordships can readily imagine, has been for a long time under the close attention of His Majesty's Government. It is true that from time to time guns have been added to the defences on both sides of the Straits of Gibraltar since the beginning of the Civil War in Spain. Most of these guns were added during the early period of that war for the protection of Spanish Nationalist territory. The whole question of these defences was dealt with fully by the Minister for the Co-ordination of Defence in the course of a debate in another place on July 27 last. In that debate the Minister for the Co-ordination of Defence said—I cannot do better than quote his words—that in the circumstances of the Spanish Civil War and in the light of events I think the House will agree that the presence of these guns"— the Algeciras guns— is quite intelligible and that it is not necessary to imagine or invent any sinister intentions with regard to this country. There is no reason, the Government think, having carefully considered it, for raising the question at all or for any scare or anxiety as to the situation. The Minister added: As to the opposite shore Ceuta always has been heavily armed. There were guns there before the war"— that is the Civil War. It is true that there have been additions to the existing armament but we have been well aware of the guns, and, except that every gun anywhere is a potential threat to anything that comes within its range, it cannot be said that these guns are a threat to Gibraltar or to the shipping. The Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, dealing with the same subject a few days before, on July 19, said: We reserve the right to take the matter up at any time in any manner we consider appropriate. I am not aware of any alteration in the situation since those statements were made which would justify a change of attitude on the part of His Majesty's Government, but I must say that it would appear to be possible that the noble Lord who moved this Motion, as he indicated in his speech, has details which do not precisely accord with the information in the possession of His Majesty's Government. I should be very grateful, therefore, if the noble Lord would place me in possession of the reports from which his information is derived, and I shall be happy to look further into the matter.

LORD FARINGDON

My Lords, I should like to thank the noble Lord for his reply. He most certainly shall have all the details I have. I am sorry that I cannot feel as comfortable as His Majesty's Government apparently feel. I cannot think that His Majesty's Government have accounted in any way for this increase in the arming of the Straits of Gibraltar on both sides. The present state of the Civil War in Spain does not seem, as I said before, to account for that. In fact, it would seem to me that in any ordinary war for a commander to expend his arms, when he had not, or was not supposed to have, unlimited quantities of them, in places where they were not required would seem to be suspicious. His Majesty's Government have expressed complete confidence and faith in the assurances of the Italian Government that they do not intend to take any economic, political or territorial advantage from the presence in Spain of Italian troops. I can only assure His Majesty's Government that their faith and confidence in the Italian Government, as I have reason to know from very well placed informants recently returned from Salamanca, is not shared by the Franco authorities. We on this side of the House cannot share, and I do not believe that the country as a whole shares, the complacency of His Majesty's Government. However, I will not press my Motion.

Motion for Papers, by leave, withdrawn.