Lord Airey's Battery

Lord Airey's Battery
Part of Fortifications of Gibraltar
Upper Rock Nature Reserve, Gibraltar
O'Hara's Battery (foreground, right) and Lord Airey's Battery (midground, left)
Map of O'Hara's Battery (A-E), Engine Room (F), Equipment Exhibit (G), and Lord Airey's Battery (H)
Lord Airey's Battery
Coordinates	36°07′29″N 5°20′36″W / 36.124784°N 5.343277°W / 36.124784; -5.343277
Type	Artillery Battery
Site information
Owner	Government of Gibraltar
Open to the public	Yes
Site history
Built	1890-1891

Lord Airey's Battery is an artillery battery in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. It is located near the southern end of the Upper Rock Nature Reserve, just north of O'Hara's Battery. It was named after the Governor of Gibraltar, General Sir Richard Airey. Construction of the battery was completed in 1891. The first gun mounted on the battery was a 6-inch breech loading gun, which was replaced with a 9.2-inch Mark X BL gun by 1900. The gun at the battery was last fired in the 1970s. In 1997, it was discovered that Lord Airey's Shelter, adjacent to Lord Airey's Battery, was the site chosen for a covert World War II operation that entailed construction of a cave complex in the Rock of Gibraltar, to serve as an observation post. The battery is listed with the Gibraltar Heritage Trust.

Lord Airey's Battery is in Gibraltar, the British Overseas Territory at the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula. The artillery battery is located near the southern end of the Upper Rock Nature Reserve, in the Upper Battery area, which also includes O'Hara's Battery and Spur Battery, although the latter's gun was removed in Project Vitello. It is positioned on O'Hara's Road, just north of O'Hara's Battery. The gun is at an elevation of 418 metres.

The battery was named after General Sir Richard Airey (1803 – 1881), who served as Governor of Gibraltar from 1865 to 1870. Earlier, during the Crimean War, he had served in the capacity of quartermaster-general to FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan. While Airey was regarded very favourably by his superiors, including Lord Raglan, public perception was that he was one of those responsible for the inadequate provisions during that war, as well as the disastrous Charge of the Light Brigade. Upon his return to England, he insisted that an investigation be conducted, and he was exonerated of all charges. Airey achieved the full rank of General in 1871 and led the Airey commission on army reform in 1879-1880.