Military Movements Review: September
YGTV’s article series continues - each month, David Sanchez will review military visits to the Rock. Drawing on his in-depth knowledge and photographic skills, the articles will provide readers with valuable background facts to the aircraft and vessels that pop into the Rock.
By David Sanchez
September 2020 will go down as a month in which many enthusiasts felt as if the good old days were back for our Naval Base and RAF Gibraltar. It proved to be a seminal, jam packed 30 days in which we said hello to a few new faces and a sad farewell to some old friends.
The air picture was crammed with movements right from the start, A400 ZM406 arrived on the 2nd and repeated her visit on the 13h of the month with the awe inspiring C17 making an appearance in the form of ZZ174 on the 14th and 15th.
More A400 visits were seen in the third week of the month with ZM403 calling on the 19th as well as the following day when she was also joined by ZM404.
It was as of the 17th of the month however when the movements really ramped up at sea and in the air with a very many enthusiasts running around the rock with lenses pointed skywards and out to sea.
The Type 23 frigate HMS Argyll kicked off proceedings with a visit on the 17th of the month on her way home from another successful Gulf deployment. The 19th saw a harbinger of exciting times arrive with Westland Wildcat AH1 ZZ403 calling at RAF Gibraltar after making a series of circuits round the Rock. That could only mean that the Littoral Strike Group (Experimental) was close by and this was confirmed the very next day when we witnessed a sight not often seen at our naval base. Right from the start of that unforgettable Sunday we had a grand total of three large Royal Navy warships entering port one after the other in the form of the Type 45 destroyer HMS Dragon with the amphibious warfare vessels HMS Albion and RFA Lyme Bay joining her on the Rock. This was indeed a sight to behold with many commenting that recent events make it most welcome and very, very long overdue. In the air Wildcat ZZ403 was joined by her sister airframe ZZ404 deploying off RFA Lyme Bay and spending the next few days conducting training sorties with Royal Marines seen rappelling from the helicopters. Upon departure the Wildcats recovered aboard ‘mother’ (RFA Lyme Bay) just off the North Mole in a show of military strength and sovereignty which is very long overdue in our waters.
Another colourful sight was to be seen at RAF Gibraltar on the 21st with the attractive red white and blue livery of BAe 146 ZE701 arriving on a transport flight. It did make a welcome change from so much barely grey!
The only low point in the month came on the 23rd when the MoD chartered RoRo Anvil Point arrived and embarked our old faithful friends HM Ships Sabre and Scimitar which were returned to the UK. Although practically everyone on the Rock is in agreement that larger craft which can demonstrate greater presence than these two small vessels are needed, it was a sad parting to see the veterans of so many successful operations and demonstrators of British Sovereignty in Gibraltar for so long depart for the very last time. They will sorely be missed and fondly remembered, especially by those who ended up seeing them closer than they should!
The month ended with a flurry of transport moves at RAF Gibraltar with A400 ZM402 arriving on the 23rd and C17 ZZ177 landing the next day. Finally, a hat trick of yet more A400s with ZM403 and 402 on the 25th and ZM404 closing proceedings on the 30th saw out one of the very busiest months for MoD Gibraltar in practically a decade.
The sense of relevance to military affairs to our city was revitalised in a massive way this September and comes at a very crucial time when the locally dreaded Strategic Defence and Security Review is close to publication. Many a time have we felt the sharp end of the inevitable cuts that these reviews bring but we hold our breath and cross our fingers that maybe this time we have proved our usefulness and unbeatably strategic importance so as to weather these cuts and perhaps even experience some very much needed growth in this key aspect of our City’s life.
I often say that unlike better times when the reassurance of military visits was a constant, these days are categorised by big peaks and deep, unnerving troughs. Still recent times have shown a steady upwards curve so it is hoped that the final quarter of the year proves just as exciting and varied as the rest of it!
