GIBRALTAR: Where’s Winston?

In war-torn 1943, Winston Churchill sent a top-secret, high-priority order winging to one of his subordinates. It concerned a dwindling garrison at Gibraltar. Legend has long held that when the last of the famed Barbary apes leave Gibraltar, the British will soon follow. With the pack reduced to seven, Churchill was taking no chances. A troop transport was dispatched to North Africa to get more apes.

The ape pack now numbers 40, but one among them, an amiable grey-coated fellow named Winston, was easily the most popular ape on the Rock. In 1954, when Britain’s Queen visited her Mediterranean stronghold, proud Winston was granted an official audience with Prince Charles and Princess Anne.

Winston, mannerly and conscientious, was never late to meals. So when he failed to answer mess call one day last month, a search party was organized to comb the rugged heights of the Rock. They searched every crevice and called the ape loudly by name. No answer. Last week Gibraltar officialdom issued a sad bulletin: “Rock ape Winston has been missing since ninth December and must now be presumed dead. He is, accordingly, struck off the strength of the fortress from that date.”