In London , home @-@ comers were making claims on the evacuees ’ wartime accommodation and 500 Gibraltarians were re @-@ evacuated to Scotland and 3 @,@ 000 to camps in Northern Ireland . Although the Governor , Lt. General Sir Noel Mason @-@ MacFarlane , fought valiantly on behalf of the evacuees and did not accept the lack of accommodation as a sufficient reason for the delays . As late as 1947 there were still 2 @,@ 000 in Northern Irish camps . The last of the evacuees did not see the Rock again until 1951 .