Beefsteak Cave

Beefsteak Cave is a cave in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. It is located in the south of the Rock, between Europa Point and Windmill Hill.^[1]

Beefsteak Cave
Map showing location in Gibraltar.
Coordinates	36°06′46.0″N 5°20′44.2″W

History

During the three-and-a-half-year-long Great Siege of Gibraltar the population of the Rock made use of the caves to shelter from the bombardment. This cave was used by Gibraltarians whilst Poca Roca Cave was prepared for use by the Governor of Gibraltar (but never used).^[2]

During World War II this cave and Coptic Cave were chosen to be part of Operation Monkey which created two decoy caves. These caves were intended to deflect any investigation by invaders of Gibraltar who were looking for spies left behind by the British.^[3] The real plan to leave behind spies in a cave was called Operation Tracer and the existence of this plan was no more than a rumour until the cave was discovered in 1997 by the Gibraltar Caving Group.^[4]

References

1. "The Middle Palaeolithic industry in Beefsteak Cave (Gibraltar)". Uhu.es. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
2. Drinkwater, John (1786). "2". History of the Late Siege of Gibraltar. London: Spillbury. p. 356. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
3. Coptic Cave Archived 2014-02-22 at the Wayback Machine, Underground-Gibraltar.com, Gibraltar Museum, accessed January 2013
4. "Stay Behind Cave - The Unique Finding of a Forgotten Story". georeme.co.uk. Gibraltar Heritage - The Magazine of the Gibraltar Government Heritage Division. 2002. Archived from the original on 10 January 2012. Retrieved 11 January 2013.