86 GERMANY TRIUMPHANT 1939 –1941
Following Mussolini’s declaration of war
on Britain on June 10, 1940, the Italian air
force launched their first attacks on Malta.
The capital city of Valletta, including its
port (known as the Grand Harbor), and
Hal Far (one of Malta’s three airfields)
were blitzed. The Luftwaffe soon joined
the assault with further aerial bombing.Starvation threat
The siege reached its climax in spring
1942, when the Germans decided to bomb
and starve the island into submission.
Food, fuel, and other essentials ran short
as convoys trying to reach Valletta were decimated. Facing almost
continual air raids, the islanders were housed in caves and tunnels
that could withstand bombs, which helped them survive the repeated
attacks. Eventually the Allies broke through Axis lines in August 1942
and delivered supplies to the besieged island. Operation Pedestal, as
this convoy was known, suffered heavy casualties, but Malta was
saved. By the time the siege ended in November 1942, the Axis air
forces had attacked the island 3,343 times, winning Malta the
unwanted distinction of being the most bombed place on Earth.THE SIEGE
OF MALTA
The British colony of Malta was strategically important
to the Allies, who used the island as a base to attack the
Axis forces’ supply lines in the central Mediterranean. As
a result, neutralizing the island became an Axis priority.
△ Italian air attack on Malta
An Italian Savoia-Marchetti SM.81 tri-motor bomber makes its bomb run over Malta’s
Grand Harbor naval base, in Valletta. The Regia Aeronautica (Italian air force) had 350
bombers ready for action only 20 minutes’ flying time away from the island.△ Courage recognized
Britain’s King George VI awarded
the George Cross to Malta in
April 1942, in recognition of the
population’s remarkable bravery.US_086-087_F_Siege_of_Malta.indd 86 04/03/19 10:47 AM