Princess Royal Battery

Ref: HLFP3/604

Formerly known as Willis' Battery, and later, Queen Anne's Battery or Queen's Battery, it was renamed in the late 18^th Century after Charlotte, Princess Royal, the eldest daughter of George III.

The battery was constructed about 1705, upon the second declivity at the north end of the Rock of Gibraltar. It had a fan-like plan and, in 1727, featured twelve guns. At that time, "nearly all the guns in Willis's were six-pounders, and in the journal of the siege it is mentioned that a three-pounder in Queen Anne's battery did great execution in the enemy's works." The precise date of its renaming from Queen’s Battery is uncertain, but since it was still referred to by that name during the 14^th Siege, it was likely renamed Princess Royal sometime after 1783, in honour of Princess Charlotte, eldest daughter of King George III.

Colonel Skinner noted in 1758 that during the 13^th Siege of Gibraltar, two guns were hauled up the Rock and installed at a site known as Willis’s Battery, which was later renamed Queen’s Battery. Following the 11^th Siege, the Prince of Hesse ordered the construction of several batteries along the precipice overlooking King’s Lines.

Old Princess Royal Battery (below) and new Princess Royal (Charlotte's )Battery above.

By 1834, the battery was armed with nine 24-pounder guns and was recorded as one of the Willis’s Batteries. The same armament remained in 1859, but by 1853 it had been updated to seven 32-pounders and two 7-inch RBL guns. The 1861–1863 War Department map (WO 78 4448) depicts the battery with seven platforms and embrasures facing the front, along with two pivot mountings and racers for traversing carriages on the left flank—clearly intended for the RBL guns. The battery is shown in a distinctive half-moon configuration and was referred to as 4^th Willis’s Battery.

In 1884, two 80-pounder RML guns, originally allocated to Victoria Battery, were recommended for transfer to Princess Royal Battery. Although the proposal was approved by the Director of Artillery, there is no evidence they were ever installed. By 1885, the original 32-pounders had been replaced with five 64-pounder RML guns, reduced to three by 1889, and all had been removed by 1900.

The 7-inch RBL guns were removed in 1889 to make way for a 6-inch BL emplacement near the site. The present 6-inch site lies on the north face of the Rock, overlooking North Front Cemetery and directly east of Princess Caroline’s Battery. The original Princess Royal Battery was located near the entrance to the Middle Galleries with the new 6-inch position.

Construction began in February 1889 and was completed in March 1891 with the installation of a 6-inch BL Mark IV gun. This was removed in 1902 and replaced with a 6-inch BL Mark VII gun on a central pivot Mark II mounting, completed on the 27^th May 1904 at a cost of £2,291. The intention had been to place two 6-inch BL Mark IV guns on this position, one with a range of 6,000 yards to fire on Spanish land batteries and another with a range of 12,000 yards to bear on warships approaching from the Mediterranean. In the event only one 6-inch gun was mounted. The new gun’s arc of fire ranged from 254° through 360° to 118°.

Princess Royal Battery (Willis's) 6 inch Mk VII breach loading gun in 1903.

Princess Royal Battery/Royal Battery, 1905.

This weapon was itself dismounted in January 1911 to equip the newly constructed Lewis’s Battery. However, the emplacement continued to be used. In December 1915, another 6-inch Mark VII gun was transferred from South Battery for the duration of the First World War and remained in place at least until 1924. It is absent from the 1928 Defence Scheme, indicating its removal occurred sometime between 1924 and 1928. The emplacement had underground bombproof shell cartridge stores and shelter for the gun crew.

Between 1912 and 1918, 4.7-inch QF guns from the moveable armament were temporarily stationed at the site. One was installed behind an embrasure from 1912 to 1914 but was removed to England in October 1914. Another was later placed on the cliff edge and known as the Ramp Gun.

Princess Royal Battery section line.

Princess Royal Battery/Royal Battery (Rock Gun) with a 6 inch Breech Loader (BL) Mk VII, circa 1905 facing north.

Princess Royal 4-inch Gun

By October 1940, a 4-inch naval gun had been sited here for the land defence of the North Front. Although not positioned in the original 6-inch emplacement, it retained the name Princess Royal. Construction was delayed until February 1941, and the gun was manned from the 11^th March 1941. It had no specific operational role beyond engaging several pillboxes in the Neutral Ground, and on the 22^nd March 1941, it was ordered to be moved to South Demi Bastion.

Princess Royal AASL Site

A 90 cm Anti-Aircraft Searchlight (AASL) was installed near Princess Royal Battery in April 1941, but it was removed before March 1944.

A 40 mm Bofors LAA gun—one of four that arrived with the 82nd HAA Regiment on the 27^th June 1940—was installed in the old 6-inch emplacement by the end of June but was transferred to Jews’ Cemetery on the 29^th August 1940. A new gun was issued and installed on the 21^st April 1941, becoming operational three days later. It was later replaced with a Mark 3 Bofors and predictor on the 29^th October 1941, with the original sent to Buena Vista as a reserve.

Later, single 2-inch projectors were deployed, and on the 5^th October 1942, these were replaced by three Twin Z projectors. On the 7^th February 1944, the site was taken over by 451 LAA Battery when the LAA defences were consolidated into a single 18-gun battery. At that time, the site was equipped with two 40 mm Bofors guns (one mobile) and three Twin Z projectors.

The site was declared non-operational on the 17^th July 1944 and was unmanned thereafter. The equipment was removed in December 1944, though the site itself was maintained for many years.