大象传媒

What an impressive sight Gibraltar is from the sea dominating the skyline, the symbol of British power from 1704 and an anathema for successive Spanish governments over the centuries yet, as I quickly discovered, the population, mostly evacuated to Britain, were largely of Genoese and Morroccan descent. Nevertheless it is still a bone of contention and we wouldn鈥檛 be happy with Portland Bill for instance being occupied by a foreign power. We arrived in the harbour with its detached Mole where it seemed half the Royal Navy was moored and two separate moles. We tied up to the South Mole, the gangplanks were lowered and we disembarked under the critical eyes of 100s of soldiers who from their broad grins and remarks obviously thought we looked as silly in our topees as we all felt. The assembled company were largely bareheaded and bare-chested. Those with head gear were wearing the usual forage caps. There was a good deal of sorting out for the rank and file but I was quickly in a car and whisked off to Europa Point at the South of the Rock. I was taken to the Regt. Office and the adjutant introduced himself in a very friendly fashion and ushered me in to the C.O. If he was surprised by this apparition unlike the adjutant he showed no sign and said I was going to Windmill Hill which was above Europa Point and reached by a rickety wooden ladder but which could also be reached by road by a circuitous route. A pleasant few officers there living in a shabby little isolated house with the rank and file in huts and two 9.2 howitzers 鈥� great big brutes ensconced in two elaborate concrete pits. I knew all about 25pdrs of course and those horrible and ineffective little 2 pdr anti-tank guns and was familiar with the 6鈥� howitzer from my Watford experience but this was something new. The weather continued to be pleasant but the food was a dreadful come down from the Cunard White Star haute cuisine.

About the end of July I was to be Harbour Defence Officer. Oh dear!! It was a ten hour stint - I think 鈥� I鈥檓 not sure but I found myself at dusk sitting up the top of a construction 鈥� a small tower with a glass compartment, a number of clipboards and a phone and a complete view of the harbour and anchored ships outside. I read the orders umpteen times, all addressed to ABO Duty Officer, South Mole. There were a few calls for Duty Officer TOC6. I had no idea what TOC6 was and replaced the phone 鈥� nothing to do with me! Then when I suppose it had been dark for some time there was an agitated call for "Duty Officer 鈥� there鈥檚 a submarine in the bay, shall I expose?" Obviously someone involved in exposure, which could only mean searchlights. Oh dear that鈥檚 my phone call. I dithered and the message was repeated several times with even more urgency 鈥� so I had to make my mind up. What with the fate of the shipping anchored outside the harbour in my hands I made the fatal decision 鈥淓xpose鈥�. There was an immediate tremendous illumination of the whole bay. There in the middle was a submarine flying the White Ensign. Oh God. I wished I wasn鈥檛 there 鈥� to put it mildly. What had I done? Within a minute the phone rang 鈥� I answered, "Duty Officer South Mole". A furious voice shouted "Flag Officer Gib. What the bloody hell have you done? I鈥檒l have you Court Martialled, why haven鈥檛 you answered the phone?" I replied that I hadn鈥檛 had any calls until the inquiry about the search lights. He replied that there had been a number of unanswered calls. I maintained that I had heard only requests for DO TOC6 and as it was none of my business replaced the phone. There was a stunned silence and then "My God, how long have you been on the Rock?" and I said "3 weeks on Windmill Hill". There was another few seconds of silence and then another more subdued 鈥淢y God鈥�. Rather be in a hole in the desert listening to German tank tracks. I was relieved at perhaps 6 o鈥檆lock and went back to Windmill Hill for a sleep 鈥� which I don鈥檛 think I had 鈥� and a late breakfast. I decide to say nothing about the disaster and nothing was ever said. There must have been some inter-service strong language but within days, the Field Artillery 鈥� but no fields in Gibraltar - land artillery subalterns were removed from Harbour Defence duties which were to be undertaken by the Coast Defence Artillery only. Everyone in my regiment was very pleased because as several said, they never felt confident on the job anyway. And what about the Duty Officer TOC6 鈥� whoever he was? Well I discovered there were 6 twin six pounders on the Moles 鈥� TOC1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and the Duty Officer South Mole happened to be perched up adjacent to TOC6. So mystery solved. As I was clearly responsible for the change I thought I might be very popular if I claimed credit but would also unfairly look like a clot. So as I said nothing was ever revealed and it remained a top brass secret.

A month or so later I was transferred to the troop at Europa Point 鈥� six inch howitzers and 25 pounders. I was much happier. These guns were sited yards from a Georgian building Bleak House the R.A. Gibraltar Officers鈥� Mess 鈥� steeped in history and tradition and posh. It was spacious and quite formal 鈥� for dinner anyway. A few regular officers swanked and wore dress uniform for special occasions, Dark Blue buttoned up to the neck with chain mail epaulettes and dark blue trousers with a wide red stripe and the food, not Cunard White Star of course but with basic army rations supplemented with fish and fruit and vegetables from Spain paid for by a general subscription to Mess Funds. I had a really spacious bedroom and I bought my batman Gunner Bryant down from Windmill Hill 鈥� now doubling up as a very smart mess waiter.

The troops were in barracks close handy, which had been badly damaged by French Jean Martin Maryland twin engined bombers which had bombed Gibraltar in the late summer of 1940 in retaliation for the attack on the French Med fleet in Oran in Algeria when Churchill was scared that the Germans would take it over. We were never bombed during my stay in Gibraltar. The Italians who had 4 engined bombers had at least two attempts in 1941 鈥� I think - but searchlights illuminated the sky, the 3.7s and 2 batteries put up such a barrage that the bombs were jettisoned and some landed in Spain. Gibraltar was really a sitting target.

There were 6鈥� howitzers in the garden of Bleak House. There was a derelict hard tennis court too 鈥� but soon 25 pdrs were positioned there. It was a good idea to move troops about because Gibraltar was an incredible place approx 3 miles long 陆 mile wide and packed with troops and sailors and a change of location meant that local knowledge of all the tunnels and galleries and nooks and crannies, as already demonstrated, was essential. There were 4 infantry battalions, 2nd Kings (Liverpool Regt), 2nd S.L.I. 鈥� both regular battalions, 4th Black Watch, a T.A. battalion and sometime after I arrived Beds and Herts 鈥� 5th I think and each battalion had its own sector. In addition of course there were the additional R.E. including tunnelling experts. The tunnellers were always white with dust from the limestone which was regularly blasted and 鈥渕ucked out鈥� by working parties of infantry and artillery and hard work it was and many suffered from bleeding blisters but in many ways it was useful because it was about the only serious exercise that many had although the place was full of P.T. instructors persecuting the troops.

In 1942 I was sent on the dreaded 鈥淗ardening Course鈥� and was subjected to a regime that I reckon was designed for really fit troops to become super fit. The stories I had heard about it and had decided were really over the top, grossly exaggerated were true. It was a 14 day course, or was it 10 and seemed 20, with about 30 or 40 other ranks and two subalterns. I became very friendly with Morgan the other officer from the S.L.I. and we suffered together. After the first day we could hardly walk, the pains in the legs were awful and some of the troops, some overweight, were in a shocking state. Some became 鈥� what shall I say 鈥� uncooperative and suffered even more. Running up hills, climbing rock faces 鈥� that really frightened me going up was difficult but negotiated but coming down was terrifying and with the standard P.E. and additional press ups and sit ups we were exhausted. We, that is officers, ate separately but otherwise there was no distinction except naturally, the officers had to do things first and set an example. In that sort of situation, as in many others, as an officer it simply has to be done and the public humiliation of not doing it and the subsequent consequences were dreadful to contemplate. So in some ways it was easier. A few of the men left the course and preferred punishment of one kind or another. Eventually it was all over and I must say we decided that we ached less than we had after Day 1. What bliss to get back to privilege, good food and a comfortable bed.

One regular duty was O.P. duty. How I remember so well Kings Lines and Pidsley鈥檚 Advance, the route to the O.P. which was a long slit high up in the North Face of the Rock with a superb view over the airfield 鈥� the ex-Race Course from way back, La Linea the frontier town and San Rogue beyond, the Spanish pillboxes along the frontier, adjacent to the frontier wire. To the N.E. there were views of the coast to Estapona and the high mountains, snow capped in winter, beyond. But it was boring 鈥� the log book (24 hrs) reported and occasional viewing of a few soldiers mules, visiting pillboxes. Once I saw what I thought was a Russian medium H.G. being manoeuvred in the area. The only real excitement was at night in 43 when an aeroplane overshot the runway from the W and then seen to rev suddenly as though it was taking off again but then there was silence. I reported it straight away to GHQ 鈥� and was thanked and told they already had the info and a Liberator had indeed landed in the sea. That was the plane that General Sikorski was on and was killed. This was a great blow as he had fled to France in 1940 and organised a Polish army in exile which made a great contribution to the Allied cause, particularly in Italy.

The ceilings of the tunnels were lined with corrugated iron to stop the water percolating through the rock but it often did and could be messy underfoot in places. We did one or two exercises where most of the garrison went underground for 24 hours or so. It was most unpleasant and claustrophobic. In retrospect with hindsight, we had considerable forces in Gibraltar to resist an assault which would never have been made by the Spanish or the Germans. It was of vital importance for the Navy and R.A.F. which flew convoy and anti-submarine flights out in the Atlantic, yet it could have been easily made untenable by artillery from Spain, which as field artillery could have been moved frequently and which would have been impossible to contend with from Gibraltar! Why didn鈥檛 Franco join Hitler that would have been an obvious alliance to the advantage of both with Gibraltar out of operation.

A visit to the R.N. Cinema by the harbour was one of the highlights of our existence. It was a large very plain building with a roof of corrugated iron. Early Autumn 1942 鈥楪one with the Wind鈥� was the film 鈥� popular and the cinema was packed. It had been very hot and most of the Navy, Army and Airforce other ranks removed shirts. Lo and behold, before the film started half a dozen Wrens in their white tropical uniform arrived in front where seats were reserved for officers. Absolute sensation, cheering and whistling. "Shirts off, shirts off" came the shout. I was adjacent to the women whom I saw wore cardigans relishing the effect they had had on these hundreds of sex starved men. The film promptly started and all was quiet. When the battles started the sound of the cannon echoing off the roof was tremendous. When the battle for Atlanta was in progress the noise was unbelievable and we realised in intervals in the fighting that we couldn鈥檛 hear the dialogue and the guns rumbling in the distance was not the Union Artillery but thunder at Gibraltar. The noise absolutely overwhelmed the film by the large hailstones on the corrugated iron roof plus the thunder. An afternoon to be remembered.

Further to the Wrens 鈥� who we understood were communication ratings in Gibraltar for future operations which we guessed would be North Africa, probably Algeria. There was a tunnel through the Rock from the harbour side to the Med side. There was no road right the way round the Rock, the cliffs on the Med side to the south were sheer to the sea, but initial work had begun. There were two small sandy bays, firstly Catalan Bay which was reserved for other ranks and Sandy Bay further south which officers used for an occasional swim. There was the usual anti-landing scaffolding defence system and of course there鈥檚 a very small tide difference in the Med so we swam in and out of the scaffolding - and then of course the few Wrens arrived and were to use Sandy Bay. One Saturday afternoon one of my friends and I decide to swim at Sandy Bay and borrowed two bicycles to go through the tunnel. It was messy underfoot and narrow so we were in single file. A few hundred yards in to the tunnel, dimly lit, we spotted two white figures in front, Wrens. Tony rang the bell on his bike and the girls in single file stepped aside but kept walking. I was just a few yards behind and just as I was to pass them the girl at the back stepped back in the middle of the tunnel and I hit her fair and square dead centre and I didn鈥檛 know what to grab, the brakes or the girl sitting astride the front mudguard. Any way we came to a halt and she dismounted. Oh dear the back of her skirt had horrible wet and sticky grey mud right up the middle and she was very very upset. I apologised but she said 鈥測ou should have rung your bell鈥� and I said 鈥渨ell the front cyclist did鈥� and expressed my sorrow again She was very very upset and I felt awful but she didn鈥檛 take too kindly to my suggestion that I should rub her behind with my handkerchief. It was not the beginning of a beautiful friendship. But at least it was the first time I had ever had my arm round a girl鈥檚 waist and I鈥檝e always remembered the incident 鈥� waist or perhaps it was higher.

One of our other treats was to have tea at the Garrison Library on Saturday afternoon. It was a pleasant Victorian (I suppose) building well stocked with books in the old library version, hard backed, reinforced with leather backs and golf leaf lettering. I wasn鈥檛 keen on drinking parties and spent a lot of spare time reading. They were all there from the 18th, 19th and early 20th Century British, American, French and Russian novelists and a good selection of poetry and non-fiction, particularly Naval and Military and I read a few Jeffrey Farnol鈥檚 which I had read as a teenager. The other night out was at the Yacht Club 鈥� non-functioning except for social occasions but where they served dinner on Saturday evening 鈥� always fruit in some guise, tinned red salmon and salad and fruit again, and of course sherries of every description were readily available. It was a change of scenery where Army and Navy swapped yarns. So it wasn鈥檛 a bad life when one considered what others were doing, but I had been in action so perhaps didn鈥檛 feel as guilty as some. I remember an old hand remarking that we were safer there than civilians in large towns in England.

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