At the outbreak of World War II, Malta was Britain’s most important Mediterranean naval base. During World War II, Malta became the most bombed place on earth – 6,700 tons of bombs fell in just six weeks.  As such, it was to protect east-west supply lines while blocking the passage between Italy and North Africa.

When Mussolini plunged Italy into the war on June 10, 1940, Malta knew for sure that it was destined to play a frontline role.  Malta, being a British colony and geographically close to Italy, was one of the first countries to suffer causalities from Italian attacks. 

Europe was nine months into the conflict when, the first attacks over Malta took place on Tuesday 11th June 1940, only a day after the Italian leader Benito Mussolini declared war against Great Britain and its allies. The first air-raid, occurring some time before seven in the morning, horrified the Maltese and tremendous chaos ensued. From Fort Saint Elmo the first war-victims were announced. The Harbour areas were immediately evacuated. The three mostly hitted cities in Malta in World War II were Cospicua, Vittoriosa and Senglea.

At that point, Malta’s entire anti-aircraft resources were forty-two guns, two dozen searchlights and three Gloster Gladiator biplanes which had been discovered in crates and hurriedly assembled. The Gladiators, christened Faith, Hope and Charity, were matched against two hundred Italian aircraft based 60 miles (100km) north in Sicily.

 

Many a city and town in Malta has its own memorial commemorating Maltese victims of the 1940-1945 War. In those years, Malta suffered greatly from terrible and fierce air-attacks, resulting in the deaths of many people and the destruction of houses and edifices.  Some 35,000 buildings throughout the islands suffered damage or were destroyed during the war.  Malta’s worst period of the war was in early 1942, when the air raids never ceased. In April alone, 6700 tons of bombs rained down on the island and about 11,000 buildings were set into ruins.

Under a deluge of bombs dropped on the Three Cities, the residents cowered, sometimes for weeks on end, in a claustrophobic warren of underground tunnels and honeycombed rooms in the bedrock underneath the landward fortifications of Vittoriosa.

Many families sought refuge in towns where attacks were sparse and less dangerous.   Large numbers of the population from Valletta and Grand Harbour relocated to safer parts of the island. The old railway tunnel between Valletta and Floriana provided a sanctuary for many during the bombing raids and, people sought shelter in Mdina.  

Other families who lived in the Harbour cities, or whose livelihood depended on the Malta Drydocks, preferred to dig shelters in the bastions encircling the Three Cities and the City of Valletta.

Overnight, everyday life for the Maltese underwent a dramatic change.

On the 16th January 1941 battleship HMS Illustrious entered Malta. She needed repairs at the Malta Drydocks and berthed close to Parlatoria Wharf. This arrival gave rise to bitter German attacks, whose aim was the destruction of HMS Illustrious. The onset was a long one, and the Cottonera and its immediate area were rocked to their very foundations.

Ultimate control of the central Mediterranean hinged on supply lines and in the early months of 1942 the Allies suffered heavy shipping loses in the Malta-bound convoys. For much of the year the country’s civil and military population was reduced to near starvation levels, relying on communal feeding service and being forced to eat their diminishing animal stocks.

Destruction was widespread. This, however, was not enough, since two days later the attack was resumed, and death and havoc were intensified.   In the summer of 1942, Malta was in dire need of food and fuel to continue its struggle against the Axis powers. Britain sent a convoy of 14 merchant ships under armed escort. As the ships neared Malta they came under massive air and sea attack. Nine merchantmen were sunk; the five remaining included the tanker Ohio, with 11,000 ton of fuel critical to Malta’s survival. On August 13, four vessels limped into Grand Harbour. More prayers were offered to Santa Maria and on the morning of the 15th the Ohio reached Malta.

During the years 1941 and 1942 not only did many civilians loose their lives but misery was also at its height; there was a great shortage of food and other basic necessities, disease was rife and the ruin of historical monuments was all around. If the number of Maltese nationals who died on the island was a great, the same could also be said about those who died far from their native shores at the service of the Royal Navy.

It took the Allied assault on Sicily in 1943 to effectively end Malta’s close involvement in the war. The island acted as a fighter base during the operation to capture Sicily’s airfields and once this had been achieved the Axis powers were unable to continue their harassment of shipping in the central Mediterranean. For Malta, three years of war had been intense. The islands had endured some of the most ruthless bombing of World War II and it was primarily because the buildings were of stone that huge sections of the towns were not destroyed in the air raids. Nearly 1500 Maltese civilians were killed in the air raids.  The clearing up operations lasted for years. Valletta’s bombed seaboard was still in rubble into the 1950’s and the rebuilding of town around Grand Harbour, now collectively known as the Three Cities, took nearly a decade.

In recognition of the suffering endured by the Maltese and their valour displayed during the war, a special message from the British King, George VI, informed the people of Malta that they had collectively been awarded the George Cross for their unyielding bravery “…to bear witness to a heroism and devotion that will long be famous in history.” 

‘ To honour the brave people I 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'.

This quote comes from the citation issued by King George VI on April 15, 1942 to honour the people of Malta and Gozo who at the time, were enduring incessant bombing raids.

This citation was again read out on September 13 of the same year by H.E. Viscount John Gort VC., Governor and Commander-In-Chief , in St. George's Square, Valletta , when presenting the medal to Chief Justice, Sir George Borg who received it on behalf of the besieged Islanders.

On the 7th April 1942 King George VI of England awarded the People of Malta the George Cross medal, which to this day can be found on the Maltese flag.    

In November, many Canadians will be reading about, watching or attending Remembrance Day ceremonies in their local communities. For some, their memories will take them back to war-torn Europe.

But few Canadians are aware of the Malta Memorial, a monument to the 2,298 Commonwealth aircrew who lost their lives in the various Second World War air battles and engagements around the Mediterranean and who have no known grave.

After the Second World War ended, and with its pivotal contribution to the air war in the Mediterranean, Malta was the chosen location for the memorial.

The Malta Memorial is a 15-metre column of Travertine marble. It is carved with a light netted pattern and on the top is a gilded bronze eagle 2.4 metres high. The column stands on a circular base around which the names are inscribed on bronze panels.


Built on land donated by the government of Malta, it is located in the area of Floriana to the south side of the Triton Fountain, close to City Gate, the entrance to Malta’s capital city of Valetta.  At the base of the column itself, a bronze panel bears the following inscription:

"Over these and neighbouring lands and seas, the airmen whose names are recorded here fell in raid or sortie and have no known grave. Malta, Gibraltar, Mediterranean, Adriatic, Tunisia, Sicily, Italy, Yugoslavia, Austria. Propositi insula tenax tenaces viros commemorat."

The Latin epigram translates to "An island resolute of purpose remembers resolute men."

The Malta Memorial has bronze plaques contained the names of Royal Air Force aircrew, the names of 285 men who were members of the Royal Canadian Air Force, Royal Australian Air Force, Royal New Zealand Air Force, South African Air Force as well as three names under the heading Royal Air Force of Newfoundland.

Although the generation that lived and prevailed through the War calamity is steadily diminishing, the great number of publications, memorials and monuments to be found in Malta will forever revive the painful memory of the War and Malta’s truly impressive role in it.