After spending much of the previous day moving into position opposite the defenses of Gibraltar, the men of the Ostmark Armee were ready to launch themselves against the British on September 6. The Rock's exhausted defenders were subjected to sustained artillery barrage throughout the night of September 5 and into the morning. As the sun made it's appearance on the horizon, tens of thousands of German soldiers left their positions and attacked all along the line.
To their credit, the British defenders put up a determined resistance, but cracks began to form in their line almost immediately. Foxholes and trenches were overrun and bunkers isolated and knocked out one after another. As German troops poured into the rear of the defense line, the defenders had to choose between continuing to hold their positions and being trapped by the advancing enemy or withdrawing in order to continue the fight. Not ready to give up the fight just yet, those that could fell back to positions under the shadow the Rock.
German paratroopers knocking out a bunker in Gibraltar
With the main defense line broken, German forces were ready to bring the fight for Gibraltar to a close and continued attacking the British who had pulled back along the narrow coast along either side of the Rock. It was decided that the Ostmark Armee would attack along the west coast, while the I. Fallschirmkorps would attack along the eastern coast.
If the Germans had expected a quick end to the fighting after breaching the main defense line, they were disabused of that notion almost immediately. The British were now occupying positions within inhabited areas that could only be approached along a very narrow strip of land. Even with their vastly inferior numbers it was not hard to put up an effective resistance. There was also the fact that any approach to either of Gibraltar's coasts was completely covered by positions both atop and cut into the Rock itself. As attacks began along these bottlenecks, the Germans quickly realized that Gibraltar would not fall until the Rock was cleaned of all enemy presence.
As morning gave way to afternoon, elements of the I. Fallschirmkorps were able to reach the base of the Rock and began trying to push into the small village that ran along the eastern coastline. As they advanced, some of the troopers came upon what appeared to be a sealed entrance of some kind. Explosives were quickly called for and the entrance was blown open to reveal a tunnel than ran into the Rock. The troopers advanced into the tunnel and were quickly met with resistance from inside. Generalleutnant Student was quickly informed of this hoped for entryway to the defenses within the Rock and he ordered the men of the SS-Jäger-Bataillon to come up from their reserve position and enter the Rock.
Generalluetnant Kurt Student
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Helmut moved, bent low, behind Skorzeny as he led the way toward the Rock. They had come under fire almost immediately upon nearing the famous landmark and some casualties had been taken. Soon the entrance into the Rock that had been blown open was before them. Troopers were still firing into the opening, apparently engaging defenders inside as Skorzeny called for a halt and summoned his officers to him. Helmut and the rest huddled close as their leader said, "Alright, once we get inside it's likely that there will be numerous sections of tunnel. That means splitting up. Now, we don't know what we're going to be up against in there, so stay in radio contact. If you get into trouble get word to the rest of us right away. And rememb-"
Helmut suddenly felt something warm and wet strike him in the face. It went into his eyes and he shut them against the sting as someone yelled "Sniper!"
Without thinking, he dropped flat on his stomach. He began rubbing at his eyes to clear them and felt bits of soft matter come away from his face. He opened his eyes tentatively and found himself nose to nose with Skorzeny. Skorzeny was staring at back at him, but Helmut needed only a glance to see that it was a dead stare. He'd been shot in the back of the head and had a large exit wound on the right side of his forehead.
Helmut looked around and saw that some of the men were firing up at the Rock where the shot had presumably come from while the rest were, like him, hugging the ground. The other officers were all staring at him and he realized that he was now in command. He pointed toward the Rock and said to them, "You know the plan. Let's get in there and wipe the bastards out."
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Private Richard "Richie" Powell turned away from the Vickers machine gun and seized hold of one of the cloth belts that lay ready nearby. As he had been trained to do, he smoothly fed the belt into the gun and it was soon once agian banging away at the Germans below the small firing position that had been cut into the Rock for use as a machine gun position. The range had been carefully plotted out and Richie had no doubt that the Germans crowding into the narrow strip of land that gave access to the western shore of Gibraltar were having a very bad time of things. Added to the fire from the Vickers gun was that of several riflemen who also occupied the small "bunker".
Hundreds of rounds, all carefully fed by Richie, were sent down among the Germans until the now empty cloth belt fell to the floor amid a pile of spent casing. Richie was reaching for another belt when an explosion came from the entrance behind him. The force of it knocked him flat, which was actually a blessing as bullets began pouring overhead into the bunker. He was just pushing himself to his feet when he saw what looked like a tied together bundle of the German "potato masher" type grenades come bouncing across the floor. The first bundle was followed closely by another and Richie began scrambling away from them.
The explosion was deafening inside the small space. Richie felt the heat of it wash over him and the air blow out of his lungs. He sat up carefully and was amazed to discover that he was uninjured. Germans in strange looking helmets were moving into the doorway and pointing their weapons at him and shouting. It was then that Richie realized that he couldn't hear anything. He put a hand to his ear and it came away bloody. A German loomed over him and shouted something at him. Richie, not able to understand, simply looked back at him and the German seemed to get angry. He grabbed Richie by his uniform shirt and hauled him bodily over to where the other survivors were being gathered. As he was forced down onto the ground near his comrades he saw another German walk into the bunker. He spoke words that Richie could not hear, but from the way the others reacted to him it was clear that he was an officer.
The German officer had an MP40 in his hands and as he spoke he pulled the ammunition clip out of it and tossed it carelessly away before pulling another from his belt and sliding it into place. He turned toward Richie and the others and Richie got a good look at his face for the first time. He had a handsome face with the kind of hard features that you saw on the propaganda posters that the Germans liked so much. His eyes were an icy blue and cruel looking. He began speaking to them and, though the German's words went unheard by him, from the set of the German's features and the way his eyes blazed, Richie could tell that the words were angry ones.
Wondering if the German was giving them some sort of instruction, Richie looked to his comrades for a clue, and was startled by the looks of fear on their faces. He looked back to the German and saw him slid the bolt back on his weapon.
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After an assault within the Rock itself that lasted for the rest of the day, the famed bastion was cleared of British troops and was under the control of the Germans. With German troops now occupying positions above them, the result of the battle became a foregone conclusion and Major General Collett offered the unconditional surrender of his remaining garrison to Generalleutnant Student.
In a formal ceremony held at dawn on Spetember 7, 1940 the Union Jack was lowered amid the ruins of the town of Gibraltar and replaced by the flag of the German Reich.
Members of the SS-Jäger-Bataillon parade into Gibraltar on the day of the surrender
