DickHardman

A document came to light in the top secret files of the offices of British naval intelligence giving details of the plan, codenamed Operation Tracer, which was hatched during the darkest days of the Second World War.[20] Six men were to be sealed in a cave with only two small openings to the outside world and left with enough supplies for one year. They were told there would be no way out and anyone who died within the chamber would have to be embalmed and cemented into the walls. Only if Germany was defeated within a year would they be released.[20]

The volunteers—two doctors, three signalmen and their leader—would run an observation post from the two 12-inch (300 mm) by 6-inch (150 mm) slits, one looking due east out over the Mediterranean and the other west over the Strait of Gibraltar and the harbour and wireless back all shipping movements to the British Admiralty.[20] The potential menace of Germany’s invasion was seen as a potential threat and by late 1941, ideas for a series of secret observation posts (first in Gibraltar and later in other places like Malta and Aden) were put together as Operation Tracer.[20]

Work in Gibraltar began immediately under Commander Geoffry Birley and his chief engineer Colonel Fordham. The site chosen at Lord Airey’s Battery on the southern tip of the Rock already had an existing tunnelling scheme for a shelter.[20] Extensive trials of the equipment began in January 1942 under the eye of MI6 radio expert Colonel Gambier-Parry. Much thought was also given to the type of men needed for such a strange and demanding task.[20] A member of Scott’s ill-fated expedition to the Antarctic, Murray Levick was called up as Surgeon-Commander to advise on survival techniques.[20] There were practical matters such as diet, exercise, sanitation and clothing to consider as well as vital ‘psychology of the personnel’.[20] The full team was in place by the end of summer 1942 and their cavern fully equipped and ready for occupation.[20] A comprehensive manual was prepared on all aspects of the operation and it was considered that similar secret lookout posts should be prepared throughout the world in the event of future wars. However, Operation Tracer was never needed, as Adolf Hitler turned his attention away from Gibraltar and towards the Eastern Front.[20]

The operation had been clouded in mystery until the discovery of papers at the Public Records Office in Kew UK.[20] Previously in the 1960s, details of the story were told to a journalist by his intelligence service contacts and he wrote these up as ‘Operation Monkey,’ yet facts were very sparse.[20]

In 1997 'Stay Behind Cave' (as it was nicknamed) was discovered in Gibraltar by the Gibraltar Caving Group,[21] but no account was ever obtained from anyone associated with the mission.[20] The discovery came about when the group encountered a strong gust of wind in a tunnel. Further searching led them to break through a wall into chambers which had never been used and had remained sealed for over 50 years.[22]

In November 2006 Jim Crone and Sergeant Major Pete Jackson, senior tunnel guide with the Royal Gibraltar Regiment, met possibly the only member of Operation Tracer still alive when they travelled to meet Dr. W. A. Bruce Cooper at his home in England.[20] Cooper, 92 at the time, provided an opportunity to shed light on the operation with his direct involvement in the mission as a Surgeon-Lieutenant in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve (RNVR).[20] He recalled stories about his colleagues, his training, and his feelings about the task.[23]

Military history of Gibraltar during World War II - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia