Children discover history of the WWII Tunnels

Youngsters explored the history behind the World War II Tunnels as part of the Gibraltar National Museum’s ‘Walks Through History’ initiative, a series of educational summer workshops on local history.

Phil Smith, Senior Guide at the Gibraltar National Museum began by explaining the importance of Gibraltar as a strategic military base during the war, including Operation Torch.

Operation Torch opened a second front in North in the Mediterranean when the Allies invaded French North Africa during the conflict.

The 50km tunnel complex was built to home around 17,000 allied soldiers and was a city within the Rock, with the purpose of quashing Operation Felix, the planned Nazi invasion of Gibraltar.

The tunnels had accommodation blocks, hospital wings, storerooms, kitchens, washrooms and building areas, meaning that soldiers did not have to leave the intricate tunnels system.
Bigger tunnels were included within the network, used to transport supplies and goods through the complex.

A Woman’s RAF block was also situated within the tunnels, much to the surprise of the children.

Mr Smith emphasised that the construction of the tunnels was very much a team effort, with help from others including UK and Canada.

Life at the tunnels were advanced for its time, including a drainage system, a ventilation system and defence systems in case of a gas attack.

A wide selection of props, models, photographs and remains are available in the site to allow visitors to get a more accurate insight into what was a completely different lifestyle to our own for those residing in the tunnels.

Mr Smith added that the Great Siege Tunnels were also used during WWII, a connection was built between the two tunnel systems within the Rock in order to help the soldiers during the war years.