StraitTales2

 

The Rock's Reply:                                         

 During the dark days of World War II, this Fortress came under aerial bombardment both from the Vichy-French and Italian aircraft from Sardinia. However, the barrage Gibraltar was able to put-up, made such raids both costly and ineffective for the attackers.

 In June 1940 there were just eight AA (anti aircraft) guns deployed on the Rock. There was such a shortage of anti aircraft guns and searchlights in Britain that Gibraltar’s allocation was diverted to Malta; in the belief that the island would be first on Mussolini’s list. Consequently Gibraltar’s air defence relied heavily on the guns of warships in the Bay. Despite the threat of air raids on London – the Blitz was imminent – they managed to send sixteen more guns immediately and eventually Gibraltar managed to put up a significant barrage from more than sixty AA guns strategically placed around the Rock.

 The two basic AA weapons were the Heavy AA (known as Ack Ack) which fired 3.7 inch shells and the Swedish Bofors, 40mm Light AA, which were called Pom Poms from the sound they made when firing.  In addition, each Heavy AA was supported by standard Navy issue 20mm Oerlikons, which were rapid fire weapons designed to engage low flying targets.

 A total of 36 Heavy Ack-Ack were grouped in batteries of two or four from Glacis (2) and Montague Bastion (2) via the Navy Ground Reclamation (4) to Napier Battery (4) with the largest concentration around Europa (12).

 It was from Europa that AA gunners put up the so-called Box-Barrage.  In essence this was a square of vertical fire above the south of the Rock.  Any aircraft managing to fly into the box would be very lucky to get out again.  In practise this forced the enemy to fly at much greater altitude with a consequent lack of bombing accuracy. Thanks to the box-barrage many bombs fell short into the sea, and many more overshot into La Linea.

 Unfortunately, the RAF was suffering similar problems to the French & Italians. In September 1941 the Butt Report determined that only 10% of bombs dropped (by the RAF) from 15,000 feet landed within 5 miles of target and in some border regions, bombs failed to hit the right country.

 Members of the Gibraltar Defence Force were attached to the Royal Artillery, to operate the Rock's anti-aircraft guns. Solomon Benyunes remembers his days with the 54th AA, serving four 3.7 inch guns at West battery, Windmill Hill Flats. “My job was on the Predictor; which along with the Target Identifier (TI) and the Range Finder formed a command post directing the fire of the battery”. Each of these had its own function, without which the gunners were firing blind.  The TI tracked the aircraft and reported to the range finder. In turn the range finder provided bearing and range so that the two men on the predictor could align their hairline sights. Number One would align his sight horizontally and Number Two would place his vertical line right on the nose of the aircraft. The resulting information was relayed electrically to two repeaters (bearing and elevation) in front of the gunners, who could then discharge at exactly the right point; that is the spot where the aircraft would be, when the shot arrived.

Mr Benyunes also recalls the RA Sergeant who gave him his gunnery instruction. He was very strict - a martinet - but then that was his job; to teach youngsters to handle these dangerous weapons. “He had a thin, vee-shaped moustache and we used to refer to him, slightly disrespectfully, as;  dihedral-by-the-root - a term related to aircraft recognition.” The penalty for not paying attention to your instructor was pretty stiff too. An offender was made to run down the hill and back again cradling a live shell in his arms! I’m sure that helped focus the mind wonderfully. 

 A young Arthur Ferrary, later to become Gibraltar Regiment C.O. manned the Oerlikons at Napier Battery above Rosia Bay. “They were a cross between an anti-aircraft gun and a machine gun; the best toys I ever had.”  Toys maybe, but they helped a 17 year old grow up very quickly. Arthur, like Solomon Benyunes at West Battery, and many more of the soldiers manning these fearsome weapons were only teenagers and were shooting down aircraft before they could drive. 

 A key part of operating the barrage was the searchlight.  Introduced in 1938 the standard WW2 searchlight was powered by a carbon arc lamp (just like a cinema projector) whose intensity was improved by a large concave mirror at the rear.  This drum assembly had a built in fan to extract the heat and rotated on a ball bearings base. It had two principal uses; searching for aircraft and providing ‘artificial moonlight’ by reflection from the underside of clouds. Of the dozens in place on the Rock during the war, I can find only one – and that badly vandalised – and I have yet to meet any of the soldiers who manned one.  

First published at Gibraltar Magazine 2004.    Paul Hodkinson.