Malta
Malta is a country in the Mediterranean
Sea made up of 3 inhabited islands (Malta, Gozo and Comino.) It lies 50 miles
from Sicily, Italy and 176 miles from Tunisia. It has a population of 475,000
people in 122 square miles making it the fifth most densely populated country in
the world. From 1812-1964 Malta was a British Colony ruled from London with the
British Monarch being the Head of State. From 1964-1974 Malta was a
Commonwealth Realm (with Queen Elizabeth II as the Queen of Malta.) Since 1974
Malta has been a Republic with a President and part of the British Commonwealth
of Nations (but no longer a Commonwealth Realm.) It joined the European Union
in 2004 and the Eurozone in 2008. Malta may be a tiny country, but it has played
a major role in the history of both Europe and the world.
(Map of Malta)
First Great Siege:
The First Great Siege of Malta
happened from May 18-September 11, 1565 when the Ottoman Turks tried to take
the islands and establish Islam first in Malta and then through Italy. 35,000
Turks died, 2,000 Knights of Malta troops died and 7,000 Maltese civilians died
before the Christians/Malta won. The
Christian Maltese victory became one of the most celebrated events in Sixteenth-Century
Europe. Voltaire said, "Nothing is better known than the Siege of
Malta", and it undoubtedly contributed to the eventual erosion of the
European perception of Ottoman invincibility. The Siege was the climax of an
escalating contest between a Christian alliance and the Islamic Ottoman Empire
for control of the Mediterranean.
Second Great Siege:
The Second Great Siege of Malta happened
during World War 2 from June 11, 1940 to November 20, 1942 between Fascist Italy
and Nazi Germany on one side and the Allies on the other. The British Colony of
Malta was surrounded on all sides by the Axis (in the Mediterranean and in
North Africa.) In June 1940 there were 250,000 people on Malta with the majority
of the population living within 4 miles from the capital, Valetta.
On September 3, 1939 Malta automatically
went to war with Germany when the United Kingdom declared war. Whatever
defenses and weapons on the island were transferred to British Gibraltar or
British Egypt as the British Government in London deemed Malta to be indefensible.
That started the Phony War period where little action or fighting occurred. On
June 10, 1940 Italy declared war on the UK and so also on Malta itself and within
hours the Italians bombed Malta for the first time.
Most Bombed Place:
Malta became the most bombed place
in World War 2 (taking into account the size of the island at 17 miles by 9
miles) In the 2 year and 5 month Siege the Italians and the Germans dropped 15,000
tons of bombs on Malta with 6,700 tons of bombs on Valetta’s Grand Harbour
alone. The Italians bombed Malta from June 1940 until December 1940 and the
Germans bombed Malta from January 1941 until October 1942. The Germans and Italians
first planned to invade and occupy Malta through amphibious landings (Operation
Herkules) so that its supply ships could go between German-occupied Europe and
German-occupied North Africa with no interference from the British, but decided
to simply starve and bomb Malta out of the war. The ancient limestone tunnels
throughout the island were used as air raid shelters and helped limit the
number of those killed and wounded.
The Mosta Dome:
(Mosta Dome Today)
Basilica of the Assumption of Our
Lady (also known as the Mosta Dome) in Mosta, Malta was built between 1833 and the
1860s and at one point had the third largest unsupported dome in the world. At
4:40 pm on April 9, 1942 the German Luftwaffe dropped three bombs on the
church, and two of them deflected without exploding. However, one 500 kg high
explosive bomb pierced the dome and entered the church, where a congregation of
more than 300 people were awaiting early evening mass. The bomb did not
explode, and a Royal Engineers Bomb Disposal unit defused it and dumped it into
the sea off the west coast of Malta. This event was interpreted as a miracle by
the inhabitants, and a similar bomb is now displayed in the sacristy at the
back of the church, under the words Il-Miraklu tal-Bomba, 9 ta' April 1942
(meaning "The Bomb Miracle, 9 April 1942").
Maltese Radar:
Malta had the second-best radar
in the British Empire (after the UK.) While the radar stations and crews
announced air raids over Malta itself they also tracked Italian, Vichy French
and German air and sea movements from North Africa, Italy, Greece and
Yugoslavia and gave that information to Allied bases in Egypt, Israel and the
UK so they could be bombed.
The George Cross:
On April 15, 1942 the George
Cross (the medal is awarded only for acts of the greatest heroism or the most
conspicuous courage in circumstances of extreme danger) was awarded to the
island of Malta by King George VI in a letter to the island's Governor,
Lieutenant-General Sir William Dobbie, so as to "bear witness to the
heroism and devotion of its people" during the great Siege they underwent
in the early part of World War II. Italy and Germany besieged Malta, then a
British colony, from 1940 to 1942. The George Cross was incorporated into the
Flag of Malta beginning in 1943 and remains on the current design of the flag.
Malta Convoys:
The only way to get food, fuel,
weapons, planes, medicine and people into Malta during the Siege was through
armored ship convoys that left from either Gibraltar (1,103 miles away) or
Egypt (1,154 miles) through Axis controlled waters with many Allied ships
destroyed by the Germans before they could reach Malta. The Malta Convoys (as they became known)
lasted from June 27, 1940 – December 31, 1943 and only included 17 convoys.
Despite its eventual success: 1,600 Maltese Civilians were killed (those who
worked at the British airfield or at the Grand Harbour), 5,700 British, New
Zealander, Canadian, South African and American Soldiers died (includes those
on the land, the sea and in the air),
707 Allied planes were shot down, 31 Merchant Navy ships were sunk, the
Royal Navy lost:1 battleship, 2 aircraft carriers, 4 cruisers, 1 minelayer, 20
destroyers/minesweepers and 40 submarines.)
Operation Pedestal:
By August 1942 the situation
within Malta (for both the Allied troops and the Maltese civilians) had reached
a critical point where if a convoy did not make it to the island with food and
fuel the island would have to surrender to the Italians and the Germans or its
people would starve to death. Operation Pedestal was launched from England
through Gibraltar towards Malta with 50 ships (including the SS Ohio and its
12,000 tons of oil.) The convoy was to be protected by two battleships, three
aircraft carriers, seven cruisers, 32 destroyers and seven submarines, the
largest escort force yet. The remnants of the convey made it into Valetta’s
Grand Harbour on August 15, 1942. The
Allies had lost 550 airmen, sailors and soldiers, thirteen vessels, including nine merchantmen,
one aircraft carrier, two cruisers and a destroyer but the Royal Navy and the
Merchant Navy had saved Malta. The arrival of about 32,000 short tons (29,000
t) of general cargo, together with petrol, oil fuel, kerosene and diesel fuel,
was enough to give the island about ten more weeks' supply beyond the few weeks
that the existing stocks would last.
Siege Lifted:
November 8-16, 1942 saw Operation
Torch (the British, Americans, Free French, Australians and Canadians) invade
and occupy French Morocco and French Algeria in North Africa from the Germans
and the Vichy French. The Germans no longer had complete control over the
Mediterranean Sea and so supplies could more easily be sent to Malta on a
regular basis. The Germans also stopped bombing Malta and focused their
attention on other fronts (like Stalingrad.)
Siege Aftermath:
People:
7,500 British, Canadian, South
African and American soldiers and airmen were killed or wounded (this number only
includes those killed on Malta itself and not in the convoys.)
1,581 Maltese civilians were killed
and 3,780 wounded.
17,240 German and Italian
soldiers, sailors and airmen were killed (this number includes those killed in
the air and at sea around Malta.)
Buildings:
In the densely
populated island, 5,524 private dwellings were destroyed, 9,925 were damaged
but repairable and 14,225 damaged by bomb blast. In addition 111 churches, 50
hospitals, institutions or colleges, 36 theatres, clubs, government offices,
banks, factories, flour mills and other commercial buildings suffered
destruction or damage, a total of 30,000 buildings in all. The Royal Opera
House, Palazzo Correa in Valletta, the Birgu Clock Tower, parts of the
fortifications of Senglea, and the Governor's House of Fort Ricasoli were
destroyed. Other buildings such as Auberge de Castille, Auberge de Bavière, the
Casa del Commun Tesoro and parts of Fort Manoel also suffered extensive damage
but were rebuilt after the war.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Malta_(World_War_II)
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