Gibraltar Caving Group

History

The Gibraltar Caving Group is based in Gibraltar, the British Overseas Territory at the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula. It forms the Caves and Cliffs Section (also known as the Caving and Climbing Section) of the Gibraltar Ornithological and Natural History Society (GONHS), which was established in 1976. That section of the society is composed of members with substantial caving and climbing experience. The Gibraltar Caving Group's role in Gibraltar includes cave exploration, avian rescue, rare plant discovery, and cave research. They are also instrumental in clearing regions that would otherwise be difficult to access. The group should be distinguished from the Gibraltar Cave Science Unit. While the second organisation is also a division of the GONHS and is composed of skilled cavers and climbers, the primary mission of the Cave Science Unit is the oversight of monitoring and sampling projects in the caves. The two divisions have some members in common.

The Gibraltar Caving Group discovered the location of the long-sought-after Operation Tracer in December 1996. It had become known locally as Stay Behind Cave, as the official name was a mystery at the time. The group that made the discovery comprised Richard Durrell, Jean Paul Latin, Mark Ainsworth, and Ian Bramble. They had heard rumours of a secret military complex in Gibraltar since they were children. The group had analysed the possible locations and realised that in order for the World War II observation post to monitor both the Mediterranean Sea and the Bay of Gibraltar, the chamber would have to be positioned very high up in the Upper Rock. Examining the interior of the room and its associated passages, they found that the west side observation post over the bay was a slit that was concealed with a concrete wedge. The east side observation post had a larger opening through which someone could climb onto a narrow ledge and still be concealed. The group also found the remains of a bicycle that had been used to generate electricity and power a ventilation system.

In October 2002, the Gibraltar Caving Group conducted an urgent environmental survey of Little Bay Cliff after the allocation of the bid for the planned cliff stabilisation project, but before the work commenced. The survey was done on behalf of the Government of Gibraltar and included visual inspection and photography of the site. In 2004, members of the caving group collaborated with the Royal Holloway University of London's Department of Earth Sciences on a project to determine the reaction of speleothems to weather and seasons. New St. Michael's Cave in Gibraltar was utilised as an on-site laboratory.

References

References

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6. "Welcome to Underground Gibraltar". Gibraltar Museum Caving Unit.
7. (7 August 2012). "Volunteers descend on history of Gibraltar's 200 caves!". Gibraltar news from Panorama.
8. "Experience Nature for Yourself". The Gibraltar Ornithological & Natural History Society.
9. "Cave Science Unit/GONHS". Cave Science Unit/GONHS.
10. (2002). "Stay Behind Cave - The Unique Finding of a Forgotten Story". Gibraltar Heritage - The Magazine of the Gibraltar Government Heritage Division.
11. "Operation Tracer - Stay Behind Cave". About Our Rock.
12. (7 April 2012). "Operation Tracer - 'Stay Behind Cave'". Tom Finlayson.
13. "Envisioning Spain's Border". [[Vassar College]] International Studies.
14. "Forum GIEX - Speleological Research Group of Jerez". GIEX.