The Europa Batteries are a group of

artillery batteries In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit or multiple systems of artillery, mortar systems, rocket artillery, multiple rocket launchers, surface-to-surface missiles, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, etc., so grouped to faci ...

in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. Facing the North African coast, they are the most southerly batteries in Gibraltar and were built to cover ships approaching from the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...

. They run along the fortified clifftops of

Europa Point Europa Point (Spanish and Llanito: Punta de Europa or Punta Europa), is the southernmost point of Gibraltar (the southernmost point of the Iberian Peninsula being Punta de Tarifa 25 km southwest of Gibraltar). At the end of the Rock of Gibra ...

from

Camp Bay The Bay of Isles is a bay wide and receding , lying between Cape Buller and Cape Wilson along the north coast of South Georgia. It was discovered in 1775 by a British expedition under James Cook and so named by him because numerous islands (at ...

on the west side of the

Rock of Gibraltar The Rock of Gibraltar (from the Arabic name Jabel-al-Tariq) is a monolithic limestone promontory located in the British territory of Gibraltar, near the southwestern tip of Europe on the Iberian Peninsula, and near the entrance to the Mediterr ...

to the

Europa Advance Batteries Europa Advance Batteries were a group of three artillery batteries in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. They are located north east from Europa Point. Description The group of batteries are located east of Europa Advance Road nor ...

on the east side. The batteries were constructed in the 18th century on top of an old coastal wall built by King Charles V of Spain. There were originally only two batteries at the Point – in 1762 these were the Five Gun Battery, which mounted five 18-pdrs, and Europa Point Battery, which had a single 18-pdr. A third position, Deadman's Hole Battery, was later constructed and by 1859 the three batteries had 25 guns between them. They were subsequently reorganised into a series of seven batteries. 1st Europa Battery was a three-gun battery situated on the coastal defence wall south of

Woodford's Battery Woodford's Battery was an artillery battery in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. It is located at Europa Flats between the Defensible Barracks and the ''Officer's Barracks'' and Eliott's Battery. The battery was built before 1738 as a ...

. 2nd Europa was also referred to as Point or Deadman's Hole Battery and was situated a little way to the east, behind a demi-bastion at the southern end of the wall. 3rd Europa or Lighthouse Battery was situated next to the

Europa Point Lighthouse The Europa Point Lighthouse, also referred to as the Trinity Lighthouse at Europa Point and the Victoria Tower or La Farola in Llanito, is a lighthouse at Europa Point, on the southeastern tip of the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar, ...

and mounted three guns. The refurbished

Harding's Battery Harding's Battery is a restored artillery battery in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. It is located at Europa Point and includes the Europa Sunken Magazine that is now used as a visitor centre. History This battery is on Europa P ...

was originally built on top of what was the 7th Europa Battery in 1859 and it was positioned between what became the 1st and 2nd Europa Batteries. A

Bofors 40 mm Bofors 40 mm gun is a name or designation given to two models of 40 mm calibre anti-aircraft guns designed and developed by the Swedish company Bofors: * Bofors 40 mm L/60 gun - developed in the 1930s, widely used in World War II and into the 199 ...

anti-aircraft gun was situated at Harding's during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

References

Batteries in Gibraltar {{Gibraltar-struct-stub