British Forces Gibraltar

British Forces Gibraltar
Active 1889-current
Country United Kingdom (Gibraltar)
Allegiance  United Kingdom
Branch Royal Navy
British Army
Royal Air Force
Part of UK Ministry of Defence
Commanders
Current
commander
Commodore Tim Henry

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.

Entrance to HMS Rooke at Queensway, Gibraltar - headquarters of Gibraltar Defence Police.

The last UK based army battalion, 1 Royal Green Jackets, left Gibraltar in 1991 and the Royal Gibraltar Regiment took charge of local defence under the new headquarters British Forces Gibraltar.[1]

Permanent units

A handful of units are permanently based in Gibraltar for its territorial defence:

  • HQ, British Forces Gibraltar
  • Royal Gibraltar Regiment - the territory's permanently based light infantry battalion, consisting of both regular and reserve elements.
  • Joint Provost and Security Unit
  • Royal Navy Gibraltar Squadron - two Scimitar class patrol boats, HMS Scimitar and HMS Sabre, and three Pacific 24 Rigid-hulled inflatable boats
  • RAF Gibraltar - Gibraltar's military airfield has no resident units, but is utilised as and when required by aircraft on deployment or exercise.
  • Gibraltar Defence Police - a civilian police force responsible for enforcing civil law on Ministry of Defence property in Gibraltar, and is responsible to Commander, British Forces Gibraltar. It also maintains two patrol boats and two 24 ft Rigid-hulled inflatable boats charged with protecting Gibraltar's maritime facilities. These are berthed alongside the Royal Navy's five vessels of the Gibraltar Squadron.

Former facilities

Administration

Senior Officer, Gibraltar

Post holders included:[2][3]

Flag Officer, Gibraltar

Post holders included:[4]

  • Vice-Admiral Sir William A. Dyke Acland, Bt.: October 1902-July 1904
  • Rear-Admiral Sir Edward Chichester, Bt.: July 1904-September 1906
  • Rear-Admiral Sir James E.C. Goodrich: September 1906-September 1909
  • Vice-Admiral Frederick S. Pelham: 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 Heathcoat S.Grant: July 1917-July 1919
  • Rear-Admiral Sir Reginald Y.Tyrwhitt, Bt.: July 1919-January 1921
  • Rear-Admiral Henry B.Pelly: 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 Cyril S. Townsend: April 1927-April 1929 (also Admiral Superintendent of H.M. Dockyard, Gibraltar)
  • Rear-Admiral Berwick Curtis: April 1929-April 1931
  • Rear-Admiral Thomas N. James: April 1931-May 1933
  • Rear-Admiral Francis M. Austin: May 1933-May 1935
  • Vice-Admiral Sir James M. Pipon: May 1935-May 1937
  • Rear-Admiral Alfred E. Evans: May 1937-May 1939

Flag Officer, Gibraltar and North Atlantic

Note:During the early part of World War Two the Gibraltar command was elevated to a new North Atlantic command.

Flag Officer, Gibraltar and Mediterranean Approaches

Post holders included:[5][6]

Flag Officer, Gibraltar

Post holders included:[7]

  • Vice-Admiral Ernest R. Archer: December 1946-June 1948
  • Vice-Admiral Patrick W.B. Brooking: June 1948-June 1950
  • Vice-Admiral Lord Ashbourne: June 1950-May 1952
  • Rear-Admiral St. John A. Micklethwait: May 1952-October 1953
  • Rear-Admiral Harry P. Currey: October 1953-May 1956
  • Rear-Admiral Roy S. Foster-Brown: May 1956-February 1959
  • Rear-Admiral Philip F. Powlett: February 1959-March 1962
  • Rear-Admiral Erroll N. Sinclair: March 1962-July 1964
  • Rear-Admiral Thomas W. Best: July 1964-November 1966
  • Rear-Admiral Michael F. Fell: November 1966-April 1968
  • Rear-Admiral Ian W. Jamieson: April 1968-October 1969
  • Rear-Admiral A. Rodney B. Sturdee: October 1969-January 1972
  • Rear-Admiral Hubert W.E. Hollins: January 1972-May 1974
  • Rear-Admiral Sefton R. Sandford: May 1974-September 1976
  • Rear-Admiral Michael L. Stacey: September 1976-January 1979
  • Rear-Admiral Gwynedd Pritchard: January 1979-January 1981
  • Rear-Admiral D. John Mackenzie: January 1981-January 1983
  • Rear-Admiral George Vallings: January 1983-March 1985
  • Rear-Admiral Peter G.V. Dingemans: March 1985-September 1987
  • Rear-Admiral the Hon. Nicholas J. Hill-Norton: September 1987-January 1990
  • Rear-Admiral Geoffrey Biggs (January 1990-April 1992)[8]

Commander British Forces, Gibraltar

Post holders included:[9]

  • 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)[10]
  • Commodore Allan Adair (19 January 2005 – 1 May 2007)[11]
  • Commodore Matthew Parr (1 May 2007 – February 2009)[12]
  • Commodore Adrian Bell (February 2009 – September 2010)[13]
  • Commodore Tom Karsten (September 2010 – November 2012)[14]
  • Commodore John Clink (November 2012 – August 2014)[15]
  • Commodore Ian McGhie (August 2014 – July 2016)[16]
  • Commodore Mike Walliker (July 2016 – August 2018) [17]
  • Commodore Timothy Henry (August 2018 - Present) [18]

See also

Notes

  1. "The British Army in Gibraltar". Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
  2. Mackie, Colin. "Royal Navy Senior Appointments from 1865". gulabin.com. Colin Mackie. pp. 163-164. March 2018. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  3. Harley, Simon; Lovell, Tony. "Gibraltar - The Dreadnought Project". www.dreadnoughtproject.org. Harley and Lovell, 26 November 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  4. Mackie. 2018.
  5. "Naval Commands and Flag Officers (Hansard, 10 April 1946)". hansard.millbanksystems.com. Hansard: vol 421 cc1897-9. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  6. Whitby, Michael (2011). Commanding Canadians: The Second World War Diaries of A.F.C. Layard. Vancouver, Canada: UBC Press. p. 362. ISBN 9780774840378.
  7. Mackie. 2018.
  8. page 125
  9. Mackie. 2018.
  10. "Body of Gibraltar commander found". BBC News. 9 January 2005. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
  11. "The Permanent Joint Headquarters". Gov.uk. Archived from the original on 5 May 2007. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
  12. "Military teams triumph in the Gibraltar Triathlon". News. 14 August 2008. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
  13. "Gibraltar: British could have fired on Spanish police launch". News Focus. 12 December 2009. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
  14. "CBF Gibraltar promotion to Rear-Admiral". Gibraltar Chronicle. 4 September 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
  15. "Commodore John Clink is new CPF". Gibraltar Chronicle. 17 October 2012. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
  16. "New CBF for Gibraltar as Commodore Clink Accepts Rear Admiral Promotion". Your Gibraltar. 3 June 2014. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
  17. GBC News (2016-07-13), CBF Retires, and Stays in Gibraltar, retrieved 2016-07-14
  18. GBC News (2018-08-31), CFormer Gibraltar Squadron commander, Commodore Tim Henry, to take over as CBF on Tuesday, retrieved 2018-09-02

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