Gibraltar's “Stay Behind Cave”

Kyt · Oct 29, 2008

www.gibfocus.gi - Gibraltar news

Dr Bruce Cooper, 93 years old, retired Surgeon Lieutenant in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve, returned to Gibraltar last week and was able to confirm that Gibraltar's infamous “Stay Behind Cave” was indeed the secret chamber from which he and five other men would have spied on Germans if Gibraltar had been captured during WW2. Dr Cooper is the only living member of the top secret operation code named Tracer.

The visit to Gibraltar was organized by British film Producer Martin Nuza (Gold Productions Studios) with the assistance of Jim Crone (discovergibraltar.com) as part of Mr Nuza’s latest film project specifically about Operation Tracer. This follows on from Mr Nuza’s successful documentary about Hitler's plan to capture Gibraltar named “Operation Felix” which was filmed earlier this year.

The Rock Hotel became home once again for Dr Cooper as it had been sixty six years before in 1942 when he first arrived during the second world war. This brought back many memories which helped the intensive interview sessions in which Dr Cooper explained to the cameras of Gold Productions Studios his memories of this top secret operation.

The MOD in Gibraltar greeted Dr Cooper and his family with open arms by organizing a number of events which included a trip on board a Gibraltar Squadron patrol boat, a visit to his old surgery at the Naval dockyard plus a personal interview with Commodore Matt Parr Commander British Forces Gibraltar.

During a particular tour of the second world war tunnels hosted by Mr Richard Desoiza, Dr Cooper surprised everyone when he recognized himself in one of the archive military photographs on display at the entrance to the tunnel system. Another highlight of the visit was Dr Coopers attendance as a special guest at the annual Battle of Trafalgar ceremony at Trafalgar Cemetery. After the service he said “I feel very overwhelmed and I wish to thank everybody who has been so kind to me.”

The main event of the week was a visit to “Stay Behind Cave” which was a hidden chamber constructed for Operation Tracer back in 1941. The plan was for six men to be sealed into the secret chamber if Gibraltar was captured by the Germans. There would be no way out and anyone who died within the chamber would have to be embalmed and cemented into the walls. The volunteers comprising two doctors, three signalmen and an executive officer, would spy on the Germans from two vantage points, one looking due east over the Mediterranean and the other over the harbour.

They were expected to send radio messages about German activity back to GCHQ. Many complex considerations where made during the construction and the planning of the mission, these included enough provisions to keep them alive for one year and a pedal bicycle which would have been used to charge the batteries via a dynamo and adequate water and waste disposal.

Dr Cooper and his family were escorted to the site by a team lead by the Director of the Gibraltar Museum as well as Sergeant Major Pete Jackson senior tunnel guide with the Royal Gibraltar Regiment. The group travelled through a number of chambers and small tunnels to reach the entrance of “Stay Behind Cave”. Dr. Cooper was placed in a wheelchair for his own comfort and safety since the journey had to be made under torch light. Martin Nuza filmed the event and captured the moment when Dr. Cooper stood up from the wheelchair and peered into the entrance of “Stay Behind Cave” saying “Yes, I remember this, yes indeed!”.

Dr. Coopers identification of the entrance to “Stay Behind Cave” has been greeted with great relief by local historians, and rumours which have existed for many years that an alternative secret chamber exists can now be disregarded until more substantial evidence comes along.

“I am very excited about having met Dr Cooper personally during the course of the week long visit and heard about operation Tracer from his own lips, a man who felt he would have been shot if the Germans had discovered them spying. The same man who sat next to German officers for coffee in the nearby Spanish towns of La Linea and San Roque during the war, and who saw action as early as 1939 on board the destroyer HMS Versatile. A true hero of which we should all be grateful for the sacrifice he was prepared to undertake if Operation Felix had gone ahead as planned.” Explained Mr. Nuza.

When Mr. Nuza organized Dr Cooper’s visit to Gibraltar with the assistance of Jim Crone of discovergibraltar.com, they hoped that Dr Cooper’s memory would still be okay taking into consideration his 93 years of age, but they soon realized during the course of the interviews that the age was no problem and Dr Cooper soon revealed many very interesting pieces of information about himself, the second world war, operation Tracer and also the Falklands campaign in which he was also a medical officer on board the hospital ship SS Uganda. Dr Cooper was able to dispel some myths and rumours surrounding Operation Tracer and Mr Nuza will reveal these in the forthcoming documentary.
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Antipodean Andy · Oct 29, 2008

Very cool. I'll have to keep an eye out on the ABC down here.

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Gibraltar's “Stay Behind Cave”

Kyt Άρης

Antipodean Andy New Member

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Gibraltar's “Stay Behind Cave”

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Kyt Άρης

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