Second World War underground accommodation chambers inside Gibraltar’s Rock.
Fordham's Accommodation are underground parallel chambers within the Rock of Gibraltar, part of the extensive Second World War tunnels. Enlarged from Liddell's Union Tunnel, they were named after Colonel H M Fordham, Chief Engineer in Gibraltar. The tunnels were designed to house underground accommodation and associated facilities for garrison personnel.
Fordham's Accommodation are underground parallel chambers within the Rock of Gibraltar, built during the Second World War as part of the extensive tunnels of Gibraltar. The chambers were created by enlarging the original Liddell's Union Tunnel, which extends southward to the Calpe Hospital chambers, used by both civilian and military patients when only essential civilians were allowed to remain in Gibraltar. The complex was named after Colonel H M Fordham OBE, MC, who served as Chief Engineer in Gibraltar from 1940 to 1941. The wider wartime tunnelling project aimed to provide sufficient underground accommodation to allow a garrison of 16,000 to live below ground and resist a siege for up to a year, including water supply, electric light and power, sanitary arrangements, hospital and laundry. In this section of tunnels, the overall accommodation capacity was 6,000. Within the chambers, army huts such as Nissen, Iris and Romney huts, or concrete block buildings, were constructed to protect occupants from drips and small rock falls. Frosted glass windows helped maintain a sense of normality underground. Ventilation and drainage were carefully managed through clear air spaces, drainage channels and interconnecting tunnels, while excavation used diamond drills and gelignite.
