AROW Street
 | |
| AROW Street tunnel, Gibraltar | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Location | Gibraltar |
| Operation | |
| Work begun | 1942 |
| Owner | Government of Gibraltar |
| Technical | |
| Construction | limestone |
| Tunnel clearance | lorry |
AROW Street is a tunnel in Gibraltar.[1] The 1942 tunnel like Gibraltar's Great North Road was large enough to take Army ammunition trucks.
Description
The tunnel was planned in January 1942 and was designed to be large enough to drive Army tucks laden with ammunition. Along the tunnel were chambers intended to contain stores of ammunition and supplies. The tunnel is entirely within the Rock of Gibraltar behind the east side which overlooks the Mediterranean.
The name of the tunnel was based on the initials of the man in charge of tunnel[2] Lt Col A R O Williams, of 178 Tunnelling Company, Royal Engineers. Arthur Robert Owen Williams (1905-1989) was known as "ARO". He had trained as a miner in South Africa and was in charge of tunneling operation in Gibraltar during World War II. When he left the army he was also given an OBE.[3] ARO also gave his name to a road tunnel on the east side of the rock called Williams Way.
One entrance during the Second World War was via Monkey's Cave. Soldiers in the Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers would enter AROW Street through Monkey's cave and make their way to their instrument workshop located in the Rock. The engineers would get to their cave along this internal road. Their cave had windows which allowed them to work with natural light and they could see views the Straits of Gibraltar.[4]
References
- ↑ Eley, Colonel D.M. (1957). The Gibraltar Tunnels.
- ↑ Haycraft, Col. T. W. R. "THE GIBRALTAR TUNNELS p.5". siegebattlefieldtours.com. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
- ↑ "ARO Williams OBE Obituary". J. Inst South African Mining and Metallurgy p.300. 1989.
- ↑ Staples, George. "Monkey's Cave to Instrument Workshops, REME,". georeme.co.uk. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
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