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INTERNATIONAL
DESK
MALTA
The Little Island
ThatCould
,...,
Valletta, Malta
l.wo British tourists were
looking at the plaque high on the wall in
Valletta's main street. It read: "To honour
her brave people 1 award the George Cross
to the Island Fortress of Malta to bear
witness to a heroism and devotion that will
long be famous in history. George
R.l.,
April 15th, 1942."
"What's all that about?" the young woman
asked her friend.
"Don't know," I heard him reply. "They must
have been brave or something."
Don't know!
1 had thought that everybody who
visited Malta would know why the late King George
VI had awarded Britain's highest meda! for civilian
gallantry to the Maltese people.
But then, 1942 is a long time ago, and the Second
Wor ld War finished before most people alive today
were born. So let's tell the story once again.
It
is
inspiring, and it will help us to understand the tough
little nation of Malta today.
It
is Malta's blessing-and curse-to be situated
near the geographic center of the Mediterranean
Sea, about 60 miles south of Sicily. There are three
islands that make up the Maltese group: Malta-17
miles by 8, the smaller Gozo, and tiny, almost
deserted Comino. T oday Malta is a tourist haven for
visitors from all over Europe, who come to take
advantage of the magnificent climate and sti ll
reasonable cost of a holiday. But in t he first years of
World War 11, Malta was one of the most dangerous
places on earth.
ln those days, Malta was a part of the British
Empire. When the armies of Hitler and Mussolini
March 1984
swarmed across Europe and North Africa, Malta
found itself surrounded and isolated. After France
capitulated, Malta was separated from the closest
friendly Allied-held territory, Gibraltar, by more
than 1,000 perilous miles. Military strategists
reluctantly decided that the islands were indefensible
and would have to be left to their fate.
1t
seemed to
be just a matter of time before Malta, with its
magnificent harbors and vital dockyards, succumbed
to invasion and occupation. But both sides, Axis
and
Allies had underestimated the Maltese people.
The task of softening up Malta befare invasion
was given to Mussolini's air force. The fi rst bombs
fell in the early dawn of
1
une 11, 1940.
1t
was the
first of more than 3,300 air raids during the next
three years. Day after day the bombers carne
back- raining down thousands of tons of explosives,
pulverizing the picturesque towns and villages as
they tried to beat tbe people into submission.
But the Maltese didn't give in.
At the start of the bombardment, there were only
four serviceable aircraft available to meet the attackers
in the air. They were slow, practically obsolete Gloster
Gladiator biplanes- good in their day-but hardly a
match for Mussolini 's bombers
and fighters. One Gladiator
·• Malta
was kept in reserve for spare parts. The others.
affectionately named
Faith. Hope
and
Charity,
took to
the air time and time again, todo battle with the ltalians.
The three little airplanes-always short of fue! and
spares, often going aloft on "a wing and a
prayer"- seemed to live charmed lives as their exhausted
RAF pilots succeeded in inflicting sorne damage on the
vastly superior enemy force.
(Faith
still survives. and has
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