 Complete the following phrase:  Gibraltar was directly attacked, both overtly and covertly, on several occasions during the war. Vichy French aircraft carried out bombing attacks in 1940 after the surprise attack on their fleet by the royal navy and there were sporadic raids from Italian and German long-range aircraft, though the damage caused was not significant. Francos position changed subtly from one of neutrality to non-belligerence, which in practice meant allowing the Axis powers to operate covertly against Gibraltar from Spanish territory. Despite Francos willingness to overlook German and Italian activities in and around the Bay of Gibraltar, he decided not to join Hitlers planned Operation Felix to seize the territory. A major factor influencing his decision was the vulnerability of Spains food supplies, as the country was unable to feed itself after the destruction of the Civil War. It relied on grain imports from the Americas, which would certainly have been cut off had Franco gone to war with the Allies. Hitler eventually abandoned Felix to pursue other priorities such as the invasions of Yugoslavia and 