View source for Forward Operating Base Gibraltar

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}
{{Infobox military installation
|name = FOB Gibraltar
|ensign=Flag of the International Security Assistance Force.svg
|ensign_size=150px
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|location = [[Helmand Province]]
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|country = Afghanistan
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|pushpin_map_caption = Shown within Afghanistan
|pushpin_label = FOB Gibraltar--> 
|ownership = [[International Security Assistance Force]] (ISAF)
|operator = [[British Army]]<br>[[Royal Marines]]
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'''FOB Gibraltar''' was a British-manned [[Forward Operating Base]] in [[Helmand Province]], [[Afghanistan]] next to the [[Helmand River]], near the town of [[Sangin]]. It was named after the port of [[Gibraltar]], which was the lynchpin of British Naval dominance in the Mediterranean.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.michaelyon-online.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2045:death-in-the-corn-part-i-of-iii&catid=34:dispatches&Itemid=55|title=Death in the Corn: Part I of III|last=Yon|first=Michael|date=15 September 2008|accessdate=24 September 2008}}</ref>

The mission for FOB Gibraltar was to train and support Afghan soldiers and take [[Taliban]] pressure off the Sangin area, so that the soldiers and the [[Provincial Reconstruction Team]] (PRT) could try to secure the population while improving their quality of life.

Taliban fighters who attacked FOB Gibraltar during the summer of 2008 referred to the base as the 'mouth of hell' or 'devil's place'.<ref name="mouthofhell"/> Of the 160 men of [[2nd Battalion, Parachute Regiment]] (2 PARA) who manned the base, almost one in three were killed or wounded, a higher casualty rate than that suffered by British soldiers during the Second World War: Five killed in action, 14 seriously injured, and another 30 wounded.<ref name="mouthofhell">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/oct/26/military-afghanistan|title=Survivors of the 'mouth of hell' back with tales of a deadly tour of duty|last=Townsend|first=Mark|date=26 October 2008|publisher=The Observer|accessdate=3 November 2008}}</ref> The Base was last occupied by C Coy 2 Rifles prior to the closure of the FOB in June 2009. C Coy 2 RIFLES moved to [[Forward Operating Base Wishtan|FOB Wishtan]] near [[Sangin]].

==List of companies in FOB Gibraltar==
*lash coy 2 York's secured and built 
*D Company, [[40 Commando]], [[Royal Marines]] (December 2007 – April 2008)
*C Company, [[2nd Battalion, Parachute Regiment]] (April 2008 – October 2008)
** Temporarily supported by half of B Company, [[3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment]] during July 2008.{{sfn|Bishop|2009|p=141}}
*Z Company, [[45 Commando]], [[Royal Marines]] (October 2008 – April 2009)
*C Company, [[2nd Battalion, The Rifles]] (April – October 2009)

==See also==
* [[List of ISAF installations in Afghanistan#Helmand Province|List of ISAF installations in Afghanistan]]

==References==
===Citations===
{{reflist}}

===Bibliography===
*{{cite book |last1=Bishop |first1=P |title=Ground Truth |year=2009 |publisher= HarperPress |location= UK |isbn=978-0-00-729665-1}}

{{coord missing|Afghanistan}}

[[Category:Military bases of the United Kingdom in Afghanistan]]


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