In the Footsteps of WW2’s Great Leaders at Gibraltar

Mr Hans J. Cön, one of the excellent guides to Gibraltar’s WW2 Tunnel Tour.
According to Hans, he is “… the last German POW of Gibraltar.”

The guided tours of Gibraltar’s WWII Tunnels, opened to the public for the first time in 2005, allow people to walk in the footsteps of many of the great leaders of the war years who visited the Rock Fortress – including British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Free French leader General de Gaulle, Poland’s General Sikorski, and the Allied Supreme Commander General Eisenhower. Gibraltar was however one place during the war years at least that no German soldier, sailor or airman ever visited.

However, one of the excellent tour guides who bring the interesting history of the tunnels to life is Hans (seen in the photograph above) a German who said he was “… the last German POW of the war!” Hans, and his fellow tour guide Richard Desoiza (a Gibraltarian), also do the narration for the official Gibraltar WWII Tunnels DVD. This explains about the history of the Fortress from the 1700s onwards and is certainly excellent value for money for anyone with an interest in WWII or indeed Gibraltar.

There are many original photographs from WWII that can be seen during the tour. The one seen in the above photograph with Hans shows the cooks baking inside the Rock using electric-powered ovens. Electricity was used for ovens inside the Rock rather than oil, wood or solid fuel to minimise fumes inside the tunnel.