The Great North Road is a large

road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

tunnel A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...

in the

British Overseas Territory The British Overseas Territories (BOTs), also known as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs), are fourteen dependent territory, territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom. They are the last remna ...

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

. It was constructed by the British military during World War II inside the

Rock of Gibraltar The Rock of Gibraltar (from the Arabic name Jabel-al-Tariq) is a monolithic limestone promontory located in the British territory of Gibraltar, near the southwestern tip of Europe on the Iberian Peninsula, and near the entrance to the Mediterr ...

and remains property of the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

to this day. The road allowed lorries to travel from the north to the south of Gibraltar entirely within the Rock. The tunnel still contains the remains of World War II buildings such as

Nissen hut A Nissen hut is a prefabricated steel structure for military use, especially as barracks, made from a half-cylindrical skin of corrugated iron. Designed during the First World War by the American-born, Canadian-British engineer and inventor Majo ...

s, kitchens, offices as well as a generating station and period

anti-submarine net An anti-submarine net or anti-submarine boom is a boom placed across the mouth of a harbour or a strait for protection against submarines. Examples of anti-submarine nets * Lake Macquarie anti-submarine boom *Indicator net * Naval operations in ...

Background

During World War II the British military constructed an underground bombproof city for 16,000 troops with enough supplies to last sixteen months, entirely within the Rock of Gibraltar. Facilities included a

telephone exchange A telephone exchange, telephone switch, or central office is a telecommunications system used in the public switched telephone network (PSTN) or in large enterprises. It interconnects telephone subscriber lines or virtual circuits of digital syst ...

, a generating station, a water desalination plant, a hospital, a frozen food store, a bakery, ammunition magazines, a vast

Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME ) is a corps of the British Army that maintains the equipment that the Army uses. The corps is described as the "British Army's Professional Engineers". History Prior to REME's for ...

(REME) shed where damaged vehicles and equipment could be repaired and roads. The road was built within a tunnel started when the 180 Tunnelling Company of the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

was created in 1940. The following year the 180 Company was joined by the 170 and 178 Companies.

The road tunnel

The tunnel starts at Maida Vale behind the old Casino at

Europa Road Europa Road is a major road in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. It begins near Trafalgar Cemetery and Trafalgar Road and connects the centre with the southern tip of the territory at Europa Point. Along its way the road passes The R ...

and travels north behind the

Rock Hotel The Rock Hotel, also known as Rock Hotel, is a historic hotel in the British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. It has been described as "one of the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean's most famous hotels," and as "an ins ...

Brigade Headquarters A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division. B ...

and

Doncaster Adit Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

. At this point the road forks into several other minor tunnels dug to house kitchens and an ammunition magazine. The entrance to

Wilson's Cave Wilson's Cave is a cave in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. It was named after Major W. H. Wilson, Royal Engineers, Company Commander. Location Magazine Ramp, Great North Road Tunnel (circa 1944). History Wilson's Cave is a large n ...

is also located here having been discovered while carrying out blasting the rock during the magazine's construction. The wide road continues north where it joins the Raglan Battery Shelter. The tunnel would allow military lorries to travel within the Rock. The Great North Road ends at the now abandoned Calpe Hole Generating station; however, the tunnel system continues all the way to the north face of Gibraltar where the World War II tunnels join the Galleries dug out during the latter part of the 18th century, now known as the Great Siege Tunnels. With the addition of

Fosse Way The Fosse Way was a Roman road built in Britain during the first and second centuries AD that linked Isca Dumnoniorum (Exeter) in the southwest and Lindum Colonia (Lincoln) to the northeast, via Lindinis (Ilchester), Aquae Sulis ( Bath), Corini ...

in 1944 it was also possible to travel from the tunnel system within the

Northern Defences Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

down the complete length of the Rock to emerge on the southeast side of Gibraltar. After 1941 much of the spoil from mining was used for

land reclamation Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamati ...

into the Bay of Gibraltar to extend the runway of what is now Gibraltar International Airport to long and later to in length with a width of . Tunnelling created about 7,500 tons of spoil a day and the surplus was used for other land reclamation projects. The runway was required in order to carry out

Operation Torch Operation Torch (8 November 1942 – Run for Tunis, 16 November 1942) was an Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of secu ...

, the allied attack on French North Africa, from Gibraltar. In November 1942, U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower set up his headquarters within the

Admiralty Tunnel Admiralty Tunnel is a tunnel in Gibraltar.Eley, Colonel D.M. (1957). ''The Gibraltar Tunnels''. The tunnel was used for the purpose of bringing stone from the east side. During the Second World War the tunnel contained an operations centre where ...

to plan the Allied invasion of North Africa which would lead with the help of Montgomery's 8th Army to capturing the whole of North Africa.

After World War II

In 1956 a dinner was served within one of the Great North Road's large side chambers to celebrate the centenary of the formation of the Royal Engineers. It was an apt celebration as the Royal Engineers can trace their history back to the

Soldier Artificer Company The Soldier Artificer Company was a unit of the British Army raised in Gibraltar in 1772 to work on improving the fortifications there. It was the Army's first unit of military artificers and labourers – the existing Corps of Engineers was entir ...

which was formed on the Rock to dig Gibraltar’s first tunnels during its Great Siege. Today the tunnel system remains

property and they are used to train troops for subterranean work. Guided tours can be arranged to view the remains of the World War II installations such as the kitchens,

s, the abandoned generating station and anti-submarine nets which would have been used to close off Gibraltar Harbour to protect the Allied ships berthed there. The approximately two-hour tour normally starts at Maida Vale, at an entrance behind the old casino on

, and proceeds through several large chambers visiting Brigade Headquarters and continues for almost arriving at the Calpe Hole Generating Station.

References

: {{Coord, 36.1444, -5.3491, region:GI, format=dms, display=title Tunnels in Gibraltar Road tunnels