Key Locations
The Rock Hotel, 3 Europa Road
This renowned art deco hotel has a great location on the side of The Rock, enjoying a panoramic view over the Mediterranean to North Africa. Many intelligence officers passed through here during the war, and it has also hosted two incarnations of Bond - Sean Connery and Roger Moore. Sip a sundowner cocktail - perhaps a Gin on The Rock or a Rock Ape - as you take in the views over the harbour, and imagine what went on above and below its waters at the height of the Second World War.
The Tunnels, Willis’s Road, Gibraltar Nature Reserve
Where better to get to grips with Gibraltar's pivotal role in the Second World War than in these tunnels carved out of The Rock. A fascinating collection of artifacts from the period, and excellent explanatory panels. Unfortunately the 'stay behind cave' at the heart of Operation Tracer is not open to the public, but you can visit the Espionage Room in the tunnel complex, which highlights the secret side of Gibraltar's wartime history.
The Horseshoe Bar, 193 Main Street
Take a step back in time when you visit this traditional pub, on the bustling Main Street. Once a favoured watering hole for sailors of the Royal Navy, they christened it 'The Donkey's Flip Flop'. Today its collection of naval memorabilia recalls the days when Gibraltar was a major naval base.
Some suggested spots to duck into to check plans or lose a tail...
SOME SUGGESTED SPOTS TO DUCK INTO TO CHECK PLANS OR LOSE A TAIL
Pre-Mission Briefing
A SELECTION OF RECOMMENDED READING TO PREPARE FOR YOUR MISSION
Defending the Rock: How Gibraltar Defeated Hitler - Nicholas Rankin
A must read for anyone wanting to learn more about the role Gibraltar played not just in the Second World War itself, but also in the run up to it. In particular, Rankin investigates Hitler's dealings with Franco, and his unfulfilled plans to capture this strategic asset. This very readable account also provides extensive detail on the intelligence war waged on and from the Rock, as Britain balanced the risks of keeping a flow of labourers moving daily on and off its territory with the risk of enemy spies and saboteurs joining the flow.
Secret Intelligence Agent - H. Montgomery Hyde
The author of this memoir, a Belfast born barrister and future Member of Parliament, provides a colourful account of his wartime service in British intelligence. Initially working alongside Guy Burgess in its Section D, he moved on to postal interception in Gibraltar, which he describes as going 'to war with a steam kettle'. He also covers his subsequent postings to Bermuda, and then to the British Security Coordination office, the intelligence operation established in New York by Winston Churchill in 1940.
A Game of Moles: The Deceptions of an MI6 Officer - Desmond Bristow with Bill Bristow
Another memoir of secret service life, Bristow was a friend of Kim Philby's and served with him in MI6's Iberian Section. He writes extensively of his time in Gibraltar, where he was responsible for MI6's counter-intelligence operations, and also of the activities of other intelligence organisations operating there. He remained in MI6 after the war, serving in Madrid. His memoir was controversial, echoing allegations made by his friend Peter Wright in Spycatcher that senior figures in MI5 and MI6 were working for the Russians.
I Was Monty’s Double - M. E. Clifton James
Clifton James, an actor, tells the story of how he was plucked from the obscurity of the Royal Army Pay Corps to impersonate General Bernard Montgomery, to whom he bore an uncanny resemblance. He played the lead role in Operation Copperhead, a deception scheme designed to mislead the Germans of Allied intentions in the run up to D-Day. A high profile visit to Gibraltar formed one element of the plan. Clifton James went on to star as himself in the post war film version of this memoir.
Claude and Madeleine - Edward Marriott
The extraordinary story of the fiery Corsican naval officer Claude Peri and his lover Madeleine Bayard, who fled France on board their ship Le Rhin. With Le Rhin reflagged as HMS Fidelity, and equipped with concealed weaponry, Peri and Bayard worked with the SOE out of Gibraltar, ferrying agents and picking up escapers. Later in the War the ship served as a commando carrier and in that role set out on its final ill fated mission to the Far East.
some suggestions to while away the hours if you find yourself in the stay behind cave...
Safe House Suggestions
A Dangerous Place - Jacqueline Winspear
This espionage adjacent mystery, set in the spring of 1937, conjures up the atmosphere of pre-war Gibraltar, harbouring refugees fleeing the Spanish Civil War raging across the frontier. Winspear's heroine, Maisie Dobbs (this is book 11 of a series), finds herself in the murky world of spies and double agents as she investigates the murder of a local.
A Delicate Truth - John le Carré
One of Le Carré’s later novels, at its heart is a counter-terrorist operation to capture a major jihadist arms dealer in Gibraltar, provides a more contemporary take on the Rock. Cloaked in secrecy by its authors, a Foreign Office Minister and a private security firm, a junior official suspecting a conspiracy seeks to uncover what really happened in Operation Wildlife. Le Carré grapples with the recurring theme of the espionage world - loyalty to the system or personal conscience.
Darkness in Gibraltar: The Rock Feels No Pain - Paul S. Bradley
This contemporary mystery (one of the author's Andalusian series) uses the factual story of the Operation Tracer “Stay Behind Cave” as a basis. A team investigating an explosion in southern Spain, whose victims include a Gibraltar police officer, follow leads to the Rock's labyrinth of tunnels and uncover an old conspiracy which brings new threats.
The Living Daylights - MGM
For Episode #007 what better than this? The dramatic opening sequence gives a stunning aerial view of the Rock, as a team of 00 agents parachute into a training exercise designed to test its security. But the exercise is compromised, and Timothy Dalton's Bond (in his first outing in the role) finds himself hot on the tail of an assassin. One of the challenges for the production team was making sure the Rock's resident apes didn't get in the way as Bond careers down the Rock's twisting roads on the roof of a burning Land Rover.
For those seeking further inspiration, we recommend checking out Spybrary