Yet still the Rock was regarded with ambivalence. That changed for good during the American War of Independence. Spain took advantage of a distracted Britain and in 1779 Gibraltar came under one of the longest sieges in history. The British garrison held out against bombardment from land and sea, suffering periods of near starvation and scurvy. But overstretched as it was, the Navy managed to break through the blockade on several occasions. The resilience of the garrison and the resolve of the British sailors became the stuff of legend. Admiral Rodney won a resounding sea victory in the dead of night; on land a Spanish assault was disrupted by a valiant sortie that destroyed enemy fortifications and guns. When the attack came, 7,500 British troops repelled 30,000 French and Spanish sailors and 35,000 soldiers. The British held out against the odds for almost four years, one of the forgotten triumphs in our military history.
Source link : https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/gibraltar/10234059/Gibraltar-our-invincible-Rock-in-a-friendless-sea.html
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Publish date : 2013-08-10 03:00:00
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