The Devil’s Dyke was built by the Black Watch Regiment during the Second World War. It cut right across eastern section of the isthmus from the northern face of the Rock right up to the sea and was supposed to act as a tank trap preventing access to the Catalan Bay area. Luckily it was never put to the test. The Scots, incidentally, probably preferred its alternative name - the Caledonian Canal. It would not be the only place in Gibraltar that they would christen with a Scottish name:
Ailsa Craig – The large rock to the south of Sandy Bay (see LINK) – shown on the right in this photograph - was named Ailsa Craig by Black Watch soldiers stationed in Gibraltar during WW II ( Late 19th century )
As regards the Devil’s Dyke, they named the pathway that ran across it the Forth Bridge.
Aerial views of the Devil’s Dyke (Unknown )
Contemporary plan
One other name associated with both the Devil and the Dyke also appeared on the scene in 1943 during which numerous bore-holes were drilled all over the place - but especially along the isthmus - in an attempt to find an improvement in the Rocks water supply. Under the watchful eye of Lieutenant General Mason-Macfarlane - the man responsible for demolishing the Devil’s Tower (see LINK) - one of these was drilled close to the Dyke and was inevitably named the Devil’s Dyke Borehole. Drilling was abandoned soon after work began without the discovery of any water when the drilling speed markedly decreased and the consumption of diamonds rose to unacceptable levels
No 31 marks the position of the Devil’s Dyke Borehole ( 200 Years of British Hydrogeology - J. D. Mather )
Mason Macfarlane talking to a couple of local worker in North Front and close to the Dyke – It wasn’t just the soldiers that did all the work – perhaps these two even had a hand at digging out the Dyke (Unknown )
Post-war US Navy aerial photo with the Devil’s Dyke still in place ( 1948 ) (See LINK)