Gibraltar Vet Discusses Secret Lair

More than 60 years after the end of World War II, a former British navy doctor is shedding light on a mission to safeguard the Rock of Gibraltar.

Dr Bruce Cooper, 92, is the sole surviving member of a six-man team that volunteered to be sealed inside a hidden cave should the rock be captured by the Germans. Provisioned with canned food and a freshwater cistern, the "Stay-Behind-Cave" was to serve as an observation post and radio realy station. A bicycle linked to a generator would provide electricity and drive a ventilation system while affording the men a means of exercise.

Fortunately, the Germans never did capture the rock, the war ended and the team returned to civilian life. Their concealed aerie remained a secret until, 1997, when a caving group chanced upon it. Only now has Cooper broken the seal of his own silence.