Why Forgotten Portugal was one of the Most CRUCIAL Countries in WW2

[Morena]

[QUOTE=Brás Garcia de Mascarenhas;6667019]I don't know if it had anything to do with the Blue Division to be honest but I doubt. Probably the invasion didn't take place merely because the Nazi forces were already too concentrated in the invasion of the Soviet Union and couldn't afford to split their forces to concentrate in another region. What I do know is that had they eventually invaded Spain, their main goal was to capture Gibraltar. They were willing to conquer Spain just to get hold of this strategic base in the Mediterranean sea. [/QUOTE

OK, I found a reference to it:
"To troops, the Spaniards are a crew of ragamuffins. They regard a rifle as an instrument that should not be cleaned under any pretext. Their sentries exist only in principle. They don't take up their posts, or, if they do take them up, they do so in their sleep. When the Russians arrive, the natives have to wake them up. But the Spaniards have never yielded an inch of ground. One can't imagine more fearless fellows. They scarcely take cover. They flout death. I know, in any case, that our men are always glad to have Spaniards as neighbours in their sector"

Lol
You can take a measure of pride in that too, as some were Portuguese.

[Brás Garcia de Mascarenhas]

[QUOTE=ChildofMud;6668749]

I don't know if it had anything to do with the Blue Division to be honest but I doubt. Probably the invasion didn't take place merely because the Nazi forces were already too concentrated in the invasion of the Soviet Union and couldn't afford to split their forces to concentrate in another region. What I do know is that had they eventually invaded Spain, their main goal was to capture Gibraltar. They were willing to conquer Spain just to get hold of this strategic base in the Mediterranean sea. [/QUOTE

OK, I found a reference to it:
"To troops, the Spaniards are a crew of ragamuffins. They regard a rifle as an instrument that should not be cleaned under any pretext. Their sentries exist only in principle. They don't take up their posts, or, if they do take them up, they do so in their sleep. When the Russians arrive, the natives have to wake them up. But the Spaniards have never yielded an inch of ground. One can't imagine more fearless fellows. They scarcely take cover. They flout death. I know, in any case, that our men are always glad to have Spaniards as neighbours in their sector"

Lol
You can take a measure of pride in that too, as some were Portuguese.

Trust me, whatever the Germans might have written about the Blue Division it would still not be what would keep them from invading a country if it was in their interest. They also had great esteem and admiration for the Anglo-Saxons despite being on opposite sides during the war.