British Forces Gibraltar
| British Forces Gibraltar | |
|---|---|
 British Forces Tri-Service badge | |
| Active | 1889–current |
| Country |  Gibraltar |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Branch | Strategic Command[1] |
| Part of | Strategic Command. Subordinate to Director of Overseas Bases. |
| Headquarters | Devil's Tower Camp |
| Anniversaries | Battle of Trafalgar |
| Commanders | |
| Commander of British Forces Gibraltar | Commodore Steve Dainton |
| Commanding Officer, Royal Gibraltar Regiment | Lieutenant Colonel Simon Dyson |
| Commanding Officer, Gibraltar Squadron | Lieutenant Commander Lloyd Cardy |
| Commanding RAF Gibraltar | Wing Commander Annella Doherty MBE RAF |
British Forces Gibraltar is the British Armed Forces stationed in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. Gibraltar is used primarily as a training area, thanks to its good climate and rocky terrain, and as a stopover for aircraft and ships en route to and from deployments East of Suez or Africa.
History[]
British Armed Forces in Gibraltar had been predominantly naval-led since the 1890s. In the 1950s discussions about the creation of NATO's Allied Forces Mediterranean led to the Flag Officer Gibraltar being placed in command of NATO forces in the area.[2]
However, many years later, the British Royal Navy captain serving as Head of Sea Section in Operations Division, SHAPE, was to have to deal with the re-absorption of Spain into NATO in the early 1990s. Arranging the NATO-Spain-Gibraltar-UK linkages involved "delicate negotiations," but British plans, to Captain Peter Melson's knowledge "committed no forces to defence of the Strait, while Spain was willing to commit substantial elements of their ORBAT [order of battle, their armed forces]."[3]
The last UK based army battalion, 3rd Battalion Royal Green Jackets, left Gibraltar in 1991 and the Royal Gibraltar Regiment took charge of local defence under the new headquarters British Forces Gibraltar.[4]
HM Dockyard, Gibraltar[]
HM Dockyard, Gibraltar was active from 1895 to 1984. The dockyard was used extensively by the Royal Navy, docking many of the Navy's most prestigious ships. In the early 1980s a decision by the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence to cut back the Royal Navy surface fleet meant that the dockyard was no longer financially viable.[5]
In 1984 the dockyard passed into the hands of the UK ship repair and conversion company, A&P Group. A government grant and a prospect of lucrative Royal Fleet Auxiliary refit contracts did not help A&P Group however and they passed the yard into the hands of the Government of Gibraltar.
The current dockyard is still used by the Royal Navy and is referred to as 'Her Majesty's Naval Base Gibraltar (HMNB Gibraltar)'.[1]
Permanent units[]
Though Gibraltar's current garrison is much smaller than it had been before the end of the Cold War, a sizable force still exists, including:[1]
Ministry of Defence
- Armaments Depot, Gibraltar,[1] Defence Equipment and Support
- Kings lines oil fuel depot, Oil and Pipelines Agency
Army
- Royal Gibraltar Regiment (Hybrid), at Devil's Tower Camp (Mixed infantry-focused unit)
- Buffadero Training Centre
Navy
- Windmill Hill Signal Station[1]
- Her Majesty's Naval Base, Gibraltar[1]
- Gibraltar Squadron, at Her Majesty's Naval Base, Gibraltar[1][6][7][8][9]
- River-class offshore patrol vessel: HMS Trent (P224)[10] – permanently deployed at Gibraltar since April 2021[11][12]
- Archer-class patrol vessels:
- Cutlass-class patrol vessels (replacing Archer-class 2021/22):[15]
- HMS Cutlass (arrived in Gibraltar, November 2021)
- x3 Pacific 24 Rigid-hulled inflatable boats
- Gibraltar Squadron, at Her Majesty's Naval Base, Gibraltar[1][6][7][8][9]
Air Force
Flag officer commanding[]
Senior Officer, Gibraltar[]
Post holders included:[16][17]
- Captain Claude E. Buckle: August 1889 – February 1892
- Captain Atwell P.M. Lake: February 1892 – January 1895
- Captain James A.T. Bruce: January 1895 – January 1898
- Captain Charles C. Drury: January 1898 – September 1899
- Captain : September 1899 – October 1902 (later V.Adm Sir William Harvey Pigott)
Flag Officer, Gibraltar[]
Post holders included:[16]
- Vice-Admiral Sir William A. Dyke Acland, Bt.: October 1902 – July 1904
- Rear-Admiral Sir , Bt.: July 1904 – September 1906
- Rear-Admiral Sir James E.C. Goodrich: September 1906 – September 1909
- Vice-Admiral : September 1909 – October 1912
- Vice-Admiral Frederic E.E.Brock: October 1912 – October 1915
- Rear-Admiral Bernard Currey: October 1915 – July 1917 (and as Senior Naval Officer and in charge of all Naval Establishments, Gibraltar)
- Rear-Admiral Sir : July 1917 – July 1919
- Rear-Admiral Sir Reginald Y.Tyrwhitt, Bt.: July 1919 – January 1921
- Rear-Admiral : January 1921 – January 1923 (also Admiral Superintendent, Gibraltar Yard)
- Rear-Admiral Walter M. Ellerton: January 1923 – April 1925
- Rear-Admiral Richard G.A.W.Stapleton-Cotton: April 1925 – April 1927 (also Admiral Superintendent of H.M. Dockyard, Gibraltar)
- Rear-Admiral : April 1927 – April 1929 (also Admiral Superintendent of H.M. Dockyard, Gibraltar)
- Rear-Admiral Berwick Curtis: April 1929 – April 1931
- Rear-Admiral : April 1931 – May 1933
- Rear-Admiral : May 1933 – May 1935
- Vice-Admiral Sir : May 1935 – May 1937
- Rear-Admiral Alfred E. Evans: May 1937 – May 1939, as Rear Admiral-in-Charge, and Admiral-Superintendent HM Dockyard Gibraltar[18]
Flag Officer, Gibraltar and North Atlantic[]
- Rear-Admiral Norman A. Wodehouse: May–November 1939
- Admiral Sir Dudley B. N. North: November 1939 – December 1940
- Vice-Admiral Sir G. Frederick B. Edward-Collins: December 1940 – December 1942
Flag Officer, Gibraltar and Mediterranean Approaches[]
Post holders included:
- Vice-Admiral Sir : December 1942 - January 1943
- Admiral Sir : January 1943 - August 1943
- Vice-Admiral Sir Harold M. Burrough: September 1943 – January 1945[19]
- Vice-Admiral Sir Victor A.C. Crutchley: January 1945 – December 1946[20]
Flag Officer, Gibraltar, postwar[]
Post holders included:[16]
- Vice-Admiral Ernest R. Archer: December 1946 – June 1948
- Vice-Admiral : June 1948 – June 1950
- Vice-Admiral Lord Ashbourne: June 1950 – May 1952
- Rear-Admiral : May 1952 – October 1953
- Rear-Admiral : October 1953 – May 1956
- Rear-Admiral : May 1956 – February 1959[21]
- Rear-Admiral : February 1959 – March 1962
- Rear-Admiral : March 1962 – July 1964
- Rear-Admiral : July 1964 – November 1966
- Rear-Admiral Michael F. Fell: November 1966 – April 1968
- Rear-Admiral : April 1968 – October 1969
- Rear-Admiral A. Rodney B. Sturdee: October 1969 – January 1972
- Rear-Admiral : January 1972 – May 1974
- Rear-Admiral : May 1974 – September 1976
- Rear-Admiral : September 1976 – January 1979
- Rear-Admiral Gwynedd Pritchard: January 1979 – January 1981
- Rear-Admiral : January 1981 – January 1983
- Rear-Admiral George Vallings: January 1983 – March 1985
- Rear-Admiral : March 1985 – September 1987
- Rear-Admiral the Hon. Nicholas J. Hill-Norton: September 1987 – January 1990
- Rear-Admiral Geoffrey Biggs (January 1990 – April 1992)[22]
Commander British Forces, Gibraltar[]
Post holders included:[23]
- Rear Admiral Jeremy Sanders (April 1992 – December 1994)
- Major-General Simon Pack (December 1994 – April 1997)
- Commodore Alastair Taylor (April 1997 – June 1999)
- Commodore Andrew Willmett (June 1999 – December 2001)
- Commodore Richard Clapp (December 2001 – May 2004)
- Commodore David White (May 2004 – 8 January 2005)[24]
- Commodore Allan Adair (19 January 2005 – 1 May 2007)[25]
- Commodore Matthew Parr (1 May 2007 – February 2009)[26]
- Commodore Adrian Bell (February 2009 – September 2010)[27]
- Commodore Tom Karsten (September 2010 – November 2012)[28]
- Commodore John Clink (November 2012 – August 2014)[29]
- Commodore Ian McGhie (August 2014 – July 2016)[30]
- Commodore Mike Walliker (July 2016 – September 2018)[31]
- Commodore Timothy Henry (September 2018 – July 2020)[32]
- Commodore Steve Dainton (July 2020 - )[33]
See also[]
Notes[]
- ^ a b c d e f g h "FOI(A) regarding British Forces Gibraltar" (PDF). What do they know?. 5 May 2021. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
- ^ "Memorandum from the Military Representatives Committee" (PDF). NATO. Retrieved 9 January 2016. and "Chronology and Organisation of Allied Command" (PDF). NATO. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
- ^ Peter Melson (2014). "NATO in Transition: Five Years in SHAPE 1989 to 1994". The Naval Review (Magazine) (UK): 161.
- ^ "The British Army in Gibraltar". Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
- ^ Horseman, Martin, ed. (March 1982). "RN Dockyard in Gibraltar to close". Armed Forces. Shepperton: Ian Allan. p. 44. ISSN 0142-4696.
- ^ "QHM Gibraltar". GOV.UK. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
- ^ Channon, Max (1 August 2019). "The Royal Navy Gibraltar Squadron officially Rock!". PlymouthLive. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
- ^ "All change at the top for Gibraltar Squadron | Royal Navy". www.royalnavy.mod.uk. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
- ^ "FOI(A) regarding Forces overseas" (PDF). What do they know?. 23 November 2020. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
- ^ "HMS Trent (P224) | Royal Navy". www.royalnavy.mod.uk. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
- ^ HMS TRENT Heads To Gibraltar For LENGTHY DEPLOYMENT