StraitTales2

 

The Quarterly Official Directory of the Colony and Garrison of Gibraltar for the 4^thQuarter, October 1949, Issue 424.           

 Recently I was offered a window onto the Gibraltar of more than 70 years ago, in the form of The Quarterly Official Directory of the Colony and Garrison of Gibraltar for the 4th quarter, Oct 1949, Issue 424. It was priced then at one shilling (or 5p today) when a typical weekly wage was around £5.  So at 20 shillings to the pound the directory's price would equate to around £5 today and just a few minutes inspection revealed a world that might seem barely credible, to anybody under 40. 

 Addresses occupy the first 24 pages, comprising Officers of the Royal Navy, Army, Air Force, Civil and Dockyard Services, Executive Council, Justices of the Peace, City Council, Foreign Consuls, Clergy and others having an official connection. It is immediately noticeable that the use of capitals is restricted to those in Imperial Service and "others having official connection" are all lower case... or is that caste? Reflecting the attitude of the times; an asterisk alongside an entry denotes wife also resident… a warning to traders perhaps?

 The residences of Officers makes interesting reading: a Major Balfour lived at Patio Momo, Scud Hill.  Long gone - I think - is Lieutenant Ballantyne's house, Trench Hut, Signal Station Road. Major Anley, 1/Royal Northumberland Fusiliers lived at White Rock Camp, which I'm sure is still here - but camouflaged as a bus stop at the entrance to Catalan Bay. The home of Captain Marquis was New Bungalow; Europa which I suspect was more recently demolished to make way for the new mosque.

 Next is a 3 page business directory containing many well known firms and some that are no longer with us. We are informed that W J Ellicott & Son, Naval, Military and Ladies' Taylors were patronized by Royalty and that Saccone & Speed were insurance agents for Liverpool, London and Globe. But what happened to Gieves and the English Outfitters, sole agents for Austin Reed Ltd of Regent St? Well, The English Outfitters became TEO.

 The Governor, HE General Sir Kenneth Anderson's government included Financial Secretary, The Hon A E Cook, who was signing pound notes long before his son, comic genius Peter, had been let loose on the world.

On page 41 a beaming cartoon policeman directs Colonial Officers to fly home via BEA, whose comfortable Viscount airliner would whisk them to London in only 9 hours. In fact the Vickers Viscount did not come into service until the following year, so perhaps this timing was for a Douglas DC3. A year or two later the Viscount promised to deliver you in 4 hours 10 minutes. If you wished, Tangier was only half an hour away by GB Airways reliable de Havilland Dragon-Rapide biplanes.

 The next 6 pages of Boards and Committees contain many familiar names, yet the Anti-Rat Coordinating Committee would identify members only by occupation (Captain of the Port, Chief Medical Officer, etc). The exception being the Secretary, EH Davies Esq. who by some quirk of fate had the unfortunate telephone number A.666.

 The Resettlement Board would continue to function for several years more, as many Gibraltarian families - evacuated during the war - had still to be returned home, though the war had been over for nearly 5 years. The attempt to excise civilians from the garrison had not succeeded but excuses to delay their return were still being promoted.

Issue 424 continues with a directory of the Armed Forces, listing officers' posts and telephone numbers and then separately, each RA Coast Battery and AA Battery by location and staff complement. We learn that Headquarters Royal Artillery was at 'Jaws Corner' that 21 (Gibraltar 1779-83), 28 & 150 Coast Batteries were installed at Europa.  Stationed at Windmill Hill were 54 AA, 94 (New Zealand) HAA, 114 HAA and 164 LAA.  43 (Lloyds Company) were at Devil's Gap and the Radar Troop was commanded by a subaltern, Lieutenant Barnes.

 Seven pages later we come across the first local names. If you've not already guessed they are listed in the GDF Training Establishment at West Battery, where Battery Captain CA Norton is assisted by Lieut. RJ Peliza and Lieut. JL Fabre, each destined to go on to greater things. Entries continue with details of Royal Engineers, Intelligence Officers, The Royal Corps of Signals, Officers of HM Dockyard and any amount of information which would have been classified as secret some 5 years earlier and would become so again, just a few years later, during the cold war.

 At page 109 we reach Sport, Recreation and Culture, which at 29 pages is the biggest individual section of the directory. Amongst the sports clubs many were military-only though some stipulated; Civilians, at the discretion of the committee and yet others; Ladies are not eligible for membership.

 The none-military clubs had different selection criteria. For the princely sum of 5 shillings a year, members of the Calpe Institute might enjoy music (a full symphony orchestra, operatic and choral societies) photography (a fully equipped dark room) drama, literature, cinema, hockey, a library... and enjoy up to 75 periodicals.

 Other clubs required yearly subscriptions of £3 and limited the number of members. One at least, when referring to membership ballots, makes the observation that; two black balls shall exclude. I wouldn't wish to add further comment.

 Prominent amongst the advertisements is AE Ferrary, Hardware Merchants and General Contractors. As well as being contractors to the City Council, REs, Port Department and Admiralty they were suppliers of Hardware, Tinware and Cutlery, Brass Steel and Copper rod and Hoop-Iron of all sizes. They were agents for Michelin tyres and tubes, Japlac, KLG spark plugs, Magicoal fires, Lino...  and my favourite; Rippingilles Stoves.  Made famous before World War 1 (and recalled by Erskine Childers novel Riddle of the Sands) the Rippingilles No. 2 was a pressure stove favoured by yachtsmen for its reliability and universal availability.

 The section on Taxi, Bus and Cab fares is very interesting.  A motor taxi would take you from John Mackintosh Square to Waterport Wharf for 1/6 or all the way to Catalan Bay for 3/- (three shillings). The most expensive journey was Waterport to Europa at 4/6. (less than 25p) By comparison, for 4d (2p) a motor omnibus would carry you from the airport to Rosia Parade or Casemates to Europa. Horse drawn cabs offered the choice of fares-by-distance or fares-by-time, (depending upon your intentions) and the table reproduced here was the basis of your contract with the cabbie.

 Permits, Registration and Fortress Regulations informs us that “All civilian persons in, or entering Gibraltar, shall be registered at the Police Permit & Registration Office, CPS, Irish Town.” Residence Per­mits etc were also issued here but read on... Section 15 of the Aliens and Strangers Order makes it an offence for any alien to be found in Gibraltar without lawful excuse (a sentence of 3 months in prison). Like­wise it is an offence under section 16(A) for an alien to land from any vessel without authority to do so; then in bold type; it is also a serious offence to harbour an alien who is not authorized to be in Gibraltar. This then, was the Colonial Administration's attitude to tourism.

 If you wished to visit Spain you could present your passport to the Spanish Consulate General in Irish Town, who - for 8/4d - would affix a visa for six months.  For frequent daily visitors to the Campo, a Carnet de Control could be purchased containing tickets for 80 entries. Unlike the visa, those entering on a Carnet had to obtain permission from the Delegacion de Fronteras to remain overnight. Our Frontier Gates opened daily at 6am and remained so until 1am, except on Saturdays when they stayed open till 2am. No person resident in the Colony will be allowed to leave through the gates after 1045pm or enter Spain after 11pm.  Slightly different times applied to Non-Residents but in all cases... No person shall be allowed to pass through the Gates, enter or leave Spain at any other time than those prescribed above unless he has previously obtained a late pass. The military remained in charge of the gates during the closed periods.

 A large part of the Upper Rock was open to British subjects on produc­tion of identity card or passport. However, two main areas and several smaller ones were reserved for exclusively military use. Cars were permitted on Queen's Road from 2pm to dusk but were forbidden to venture to any higher level without a special day-pass from the Defence Security Officer. All told, the Regulations and the directory give a very clear message.

Although the days had long gone, that when a civilian approaching an officer - walking on the pavement - was expected to step off into the gutter to allow the King’s Commission to pass...  little had really changed. Gibraltar remained a garrison where civilians were only tolerated, as long as they towed the line… and frequently, tugged the forelock too.

 

My thanks to Joe Gomez, One Up Services, for the loan of the directory.