‘Port of Call’ remembered

Back in the late ‘70s, the Gibraltar Chronicle boasted a regular series entitled Port of Call which covered the sailings into and around the Rock.

While these articles no longer feature in the newspaper, writer Mark Iles still fondly remembers his time in Gibraltar as a correspondent.

He returned recently for a short stay where he noted the changes in Gibraltar’s landscape over the past few decades.

“I served with 8th Surveillance Troop RA in 1977/8 based in the large hanger next to the runway crossing point at RAF North Front,” he said.

“I enjoyed my time in Gibraltar immensely - and indeed I later named my first house (near Salisbury) ''Mons Calpe'' after the Bland Line ferry which I had made many a trip to Tangier on.”

After his posting on the Rock, his unit was transferred to Celle, Germany, from where he and other soldiers from 8th Surveillance Troop would return for adventure training exercises in Morocco.

After a period of loan service in Zimbabwe in 1992, Mr Iles was posted to Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan and finally, at the age of 55, Iraq.

He still keeps an eye on the sailings in Gibraltar, and was saddened to read about the fate of the MV Mons Calpe, partially sunk in Maputo harbour, Mozambique, in 1997.

Over the years, his fondness for the ship (he believes he was on her last voyage as the Mons Calpe before she was sold off), meant that he has followed news stories about her, how she was renamed the City of Limassol in 1986, Igoumenitsa Express and then Hellenic Spirit in 1987, Lily T in 1988, Afrikia in 1991 and Africa in 1992.

“It is a shame that the MV Mons Calpe never made it back to Gibraltar for a similar retirement role [to RMS Queen Mary’s, a moored visitor attraction in Long Beach, California].”