The Story of Malta. The aerial siege of the island,

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3 The Story of Malta The aerial siege of the island,

4 PREFACE Much of the original artwork produced specially for this volume was created with data from period photographs and drawings. All design and layout was accomplished with Adobe InDesign CS4; the artwork using Photoshop CS2. The Maltese aerial campaign has always been a fascinating incident, especially because of the legendary aerial combats between the Allies and the Germans that unfortunately has been dimmed by other luminescent aerial engagements of the war. The research for this manuscript was done using a large collection of scholarly works, dating from recent studies to an official history published in Confronted by a depth of information, it became important to explain the story with brevity. Clarity and succinctness consequently superseded lengthy detail. Time constraints prevented me from pay enough attention to some of the finer details. I am especially displeased with the maps but with other projects pressing for attention, I must move on. Nevertheless, if you should have a comment, an addendum or comments, kindly don t hesitate to contact me. There is an link on the last very page. It is my hope that you will find this manuscript as interesting and pleasurable as it was for me to write and illustrate it. Akhil Kadidal 2010

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6 The Story of Malta Akhil Kadidal A British Imperial island during the Second World War, Malta occupied a place in the narrows of the Mediterranean and was thus in an ideal position to interdict Axis shipping. It was a rocky aircraft carrier from which the British could launch attacks on Sicily, and its deep natural harbor gave the Royal Royal Navy an excellent base. In short, Malta was a thorn in the enemy s side. The Italian leader, Benito Mussolini was determined to take it for his own, and in June 1940, he had the men and the machines to do it. But Mussolini (and later the Germans) had badly underestimated the fighting spirit of islanders and the British. GRAND HARBOR The deep water harbor at Valletta, Malta s capital, gave the Royal Navy a perfect operating base. THE PLAYING FIELD Malta, in the center of the Mediterranean is surrounded by enemy territory. It was a pivotal link on the Allied line of communications from Great Britain to the Middle East. All artwork created specially for this document by the author. Design, layout and typesetting by author. 1

7 Malta first came under attack by Axis bombers on 11 June 1940 just one day after Italy declared war on Britain and just one day after the Battle of Britain officially began in faraway England. The island was just 90 kilometers (55 miles) from Italian-held Sicily and was an easy target for the Regia Aeronautica (the Italian Air Force) which had 475 fighters, 674 bombers, 233 scout and observation planes, 129 naval reconnaissance aircraft, 42 shipboard fighters and 200 other miscellaneous types. Augmenting this frontline force were hundreds of second-line aircraft capable of being pressed into service if necessary. The British on the other hand had almost no combat-worthy aircraft on Malta. When war had broken out in September 1939, the island had just 42 antiaircraft guns, and not a single aircraft. The local airfields were in a state of disrepair. Fortunately for the defenders, Air Commodore Forster Sammy Maynard of the Royal Air Force (RAF) had become the Air Officer Commanding of Malta in January Maynard soon went to work, building up Malta s aerial defenses. His first action was the creation of a temporary fighter flight in March, based at the Hal Far airfield under Wing Commander G. R. O Sullivan. Unfortunately, this fighter flight was merely a unit on paper. Apart from several mediocre examples of Fairy Swordfish biplanes and a single radio-controlled DeHavilland Queen Bee, it had virtually no combat-worthy machines. Further probing revealed the existence of six un-assembled Royal Navy Gloster Gladiator fighters in crates at the Kalafrana stores. Over the protests of the navy, air mechanics went to work, hastily assembling the aircraft, while Maynard began to recruit pilots. His own aide, Flight Lt. George Burgess was the first to volunteer. Others soon followed the most senior being, Squadron Leader Alan C. Jock Martin, Flying Officer William Timber Woods, and Flight Lt. Peter Keeble from the Hal Far airfield staff. By Italy s declaration of war on June 10, the reported strength of the flight was a mere six Gladiators, with two aircraft held in reserve and used for spares. The remaining four later affectionately nicknamed Faith, Hope, Charity and Desperation by the Maltese, were flown by seven pilots in relays and would take on the Italians for the next three weeks. A day after their declaration of war, the Italians began their first attack. 2

8 1940 THE PIONEERS Flight Lt. George Burgess (left) with Air Commodore Sammy Maynard. (National Archives of Malta) Seven air-raids alone struck Malta that day, with 25 tons of bombs falling on Hal Far airfield, the Burmola armament depot, the seaplane base at Kalafrana. To everyone s dismay, the Gladiators failed to score, but were more fortunate eleven days later on the 22nd, when George Burgess, his attack watched by a stirred Maltese population below, intercepted an Italian bomber formation. Burgess, his twin machine-guns blazing, riddled a tri-motor Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 bomber flown by First Lt Francesco Solimene. Transformed into a blazing comet, the Savoia fell into the sea off Kalafrana Bay. It was an encouraging first victory. Days later, the Gladiators were still fighting. Desperation and another reserve Gladiator had been lost in crashes, but none of the RAF pilots had been killed and morale was high. Then in July 1940, twelve Hawker Hurricanes flown off from the carrier HMS Argus, landed in Malta. The Hurricane, a modern if outclassed fighter, had arrived at a prodigious time, just as the Italian attacks were growing in intensity. By December, the enemy raiders, numbering 70 to 80 aircraft, were gallantly opposed by a handful of Gladiators and Hurricanes. By the end of the year, three of the British pilots had become aces and their exploits had turned into legend. Photos of the pilots soon began to crop up in every shop and office in Valletta, next to portraits of the king and holier crowd. Gloster Gladiator Mk I When Italy declared war in June 1940, it had only 150 C.200s in service. Even then, the type served extensively in the Mediterranean. Capable of 312 mph, the aircraft was well liked by its pilots, but its inadequate armament of only two 12.7mm machine guns was a let down. THE EARLY OPPONENTS The Gladiator was the last of the RAF s biplanes and served admirably in the Mediterranean until its withdrawal in The aircraft portrayed here is Charity, one of Malta s defenders. The maneuverable aircraft, capable of 257 mph, was armed with four.303 machine guns and proved a match for its Italian counterpart below. Macchi C.200 Saetta 3

9 THE SUPREMOS Hitler with the Italian leader, Benito Mussolino (right). Hitler had initially not planned for any German involvement in the Mediterranean. His hand would be forced by the Italian setbacks in He would later dispatch an elite aerial formation, Fliegerkorps X to batter Malta. (IWM) PREFLIGHT Oberfeldwebel Ernst Laube of the elite 7./JG26 sits in his Me109E at Gela airfield, Sicily. Laube would claim only one kill over Malta. (Jagdwaffe: J.R. Smith) 4

10 1940 UPPING THE ANTE As the aerial action intensified, the RAF equipped its squadrons with a miscellany of aircraft. Italy s entry into the war had stressed Malta s importance in the Mediterranean to the Air Ministry in London, and Britianbased squadrons were hurriedly dispatched to the theatre. One of the first to arrive were Wellington heavy bombers from No. 148 Squadron, a squadron (No. 830) of Royal Navy Swordfish biplanes that flew in from Southern France, and several four-engined Short Sunderland flying-boats from Egypt. The latter were based at Kalafrana Bay, an important floatplane and refueling base. These reinforcements, as small as they were, nevertheless turned Malta into an important staging area when the Italians invaded Greece that October. The Wellingtons were soon carrying out attacks against Italian bases in Albania and northern Greece while the Sunderlands laid mines deep in enemy waters. But operations on the island were not limited THE PHOTOGRAPHIC to faraway objectives. In the first weeks of June, EVIDENCE Warburton s pictures the Sunderlands sank two Italian submarines of a packed Taranto harbor. in nearby waters, while the Fairy Swordfish (National Archives of Malta) torpedo biplanes shadowed Italian transport ships destined for Tripoli and Benghazi in North Africa. At the same time, meantime, further measures to increase Malta s air power were underway. 5

11 THE AFTERMATH After-action reconnaissance photos taken on the following day shows the damage caused by the raiders. (IWM) 6

12 On 17 August, Argus again flew off twelve Hurricanes for Malta, but they had been launched too far offshore, and only four arrived. These were joined in September by three Martin Maryland light bombers that made a perilous journey from England. The Marylands formed the nucleus of a new unit, No. 431 Flight, which soon began flying long-range reconnaissance. On 10 November 1940, a Maryland flown by Flying Officer Adrian Warburton, under orders to photograph the Italian fleet at the great naval base at Taranto in southern Italy, returned with pictures showing the dispositions of five Italian battleships, 14 cruisers and 24 destroyers. The information was subsequently passed on to Admiral Sir Andrew Browne Cunningham, commander of the British Mediterranean Fleet, who used it to plan a daring night-time torpedo attack on Taranto, intent on knocking the Italian fleet out of the war. The date for the attack was originally set for the night of 21/22 October (the anniversary of the battle of Trafalgar) when a full moon would help the aircraft to their targets. But a fire aboard Cunningham s newest carrier, HMS Illustrious, delayed the attack to the night of 11/12 November, when a three-quarters moon was available. This delay caused another problem. The original raid had been intended to use both Illustrious and the older carrier, HMS Eagle. At the last minute, however, Eagle was pulled back to port because of battle damage. On the appointed night, a force of 24 antiquated, Fairy Swordfishes from Illustrious Nos. 813, 815 and 819 Squadrons made ready for the attack. At 8:35 pm, the first wave of twelve aircraft launched from the carrier stationed off the Greek island of Cephalonia (Kefallania), some 275 km (170 miles) southeast of Taranto. Led by Lt. Commander Kenneth Hooch Williamson, the Swordfishes approached Taranto two-and-half hours later only to be met by a furious barrage of ack-ack fire. Italian sound detectors at port had given the game away. Braving the flak, two Swordfishes dropped flares, bathing Taranto harbor in a golden light, while six other Swordfishes swooped into attack. Flying just above the waves and under the range of the larger ack-ack guns, the Swordfishes evaded looming barrage balloons and zig-zagged through streams of ground fire. Nearing the targets, the British dropped their torpedoes. One, launched by Williamson and his navigator, Lt. Norman Blood Scarlett, plunged into the battleship Conte di Cavour. The vessel sank within minutes. Soon afterwards, torpedoes from other Swordfishes struck her sister-ship, the Littorio while bombs were dropped on the harbor s fuel stores and the nearby seaplane base, setting off a towering blaze. An hour later, the second wave arrived. They struck Littorio with a second torpedo and damaged the battleship Caio Duilio. By the end, three of Italy s battleships had been put out of action, one permanently. Two cruisers and two auxiliary ships were also sunk. Only two Swordfishes had been lost, including that of Williamson and Scarlett. Ditching in the harbor, the two men swam ashore and were taken prisoner after enduring a beating by enraged Italian sailors. Stunned by the attack, Mussolini moved the rest of the fleet to Naples, leaving the Royal Navy a free hand in the Mediterranean. On the other side of the world meantime, the Japanese had been watching. The lessons of Taranto would be employed against the U.S. Navy at Pearl Harbor a year later. 7

13 THE LUFTWAFFE STEPS IN By the end of November 1940 it was all too clear to Hitler that the Italians were being checked over Malta. He quickly dispatched the Luftwaffe s Fliegerkorps X (Air Corps 10), veterans of the Battle of Britain, to Sicily on 10 December. For its commander, Lt. General Hans Geissler, the mission was clear: gain control of the skies over the central Mediterranean, allowing the transportation of the newly-formed Afrika Korps to North Africa, which was to be then supplied by fuel, munitions and food. For his task, Geissler had 141 aircraft, although this was later increased to 243 by May almost twice the number of the Italian aircraft based in Sicily. Despite these massive reinforcements, however, two Allied convoys managed to make it to Malta unscathed, bringing with them almost 60,000 tons of food, fuel and ammunition. Even worse for Geissler, the under-strengthened RAF units on Malta had destroyed 23 Italian bombers and 12 fighters by the end of the year, while the island s AA gunners had damaged a further 187 bombers and seven fighters. Yet, the dawn of 1941 beckoned optimistic hopes for the Germans. On January 9, when a convoy of four merchant ships set off from Gibraltar to Malta, escorted by Force H consisting of the carrier HMS Illustrious, the battleships HMS Warspite and Valiant, a screen of cruisers and five destroyers, Geissler seized his chance. These ships, he decided, would become his first victims of the year. Italian Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 bombers based in Sardinia and Sicily, were the first into the attack. Four Fulmar fighters from Illustrious No. 806 Squadron were scrambled and had just exhausted their ammunition when a German force of fortyplus Ju87 Stukas and Ju88s appeared on radar. Four more Fulmars were immediately scrambled, but it was too late. Geissler s squadrons were experts in anti-shipping and quickly showed their trade. In six and half minutes, Illustrious was pounded by six 500 kg bombs. The cruiser Southampton was sunk and the another cruiser, Gloucester,damaged. The four Fulmars in turn, shot down five Stukas, but one of the victims crashed into Illustrious aft end, damaging the crippled carrier further. Fortunately, Illustrious had been solidly built and her armored flight deck was able to withstand the strike, but this latest attack had scarred the flight deck, preventing her Fulmars from landing. The fighters were forced to retreat towards Malta. In their absence, Illustrious became a sitting duck. Her commander, Captain Boyd, desperate to reach Malta before the enemy returned, took the carrier on the shortest heading towards Valletta; a route that wound through the perilous Sicilian Channel between Malta and Sicily. They were soon under attack once again that late afternoon by fifteen Ju87s, escorted by an equal number of Me110s from III/ZG26. Despite air cover from Malta in the form of nine Hurricanes and three of her own Fulmars, Illustrious was hit again. Incredibly, she would survive this and another attack by torpedo bombers before entering Valletta s Grand Harbor at 10 pm, her ordeal far from over. Three days later on the 16th, Fliegerkorps X returned to finish the job, but the British were ready. Brigadier N.V. Sadler, an experienced artillery officer who had commanded the Dover guns during the battle of Britain, was the Anti-Aircraft (AA) commander in Malta and had concentrated his guns around Valletta to create a formidable box around Illustrious. Supporting his troops were gunners on other ships in the harbor, including those on the Australian cruiser HMAS Perth, and the gunners 8

14 1941 on the Illustrious herself. At 1:55 p.m., a mere hour and ten minutes after the preparations were made, the Germans struck. The air-raid siren began its ominous wailing. Scanning the skies, the defenders spotted ominous black specks of bombers heading their way almost eighty Stukas and Ju88s. The British gunners swung into action. The pre-planned antiaircraft barrage was fearsome, but the first wave of sixty-five Ju88s flew through it by executing a shallow dived from 8,000 ft. Following close behind were the Stukas, diving down from 10,000 ft. The defending fighters: the trio of Fulmars from Illustrious, four Hurricanes and a pair of Gladiators (survivors from the original six), sniped at the bombers from beyond the range of the barrage. Finding their fire ineffective, they threw caution to the winds and followed their targets into the anti-aircraft barrage. In a memorable incident, one of the Stukas came through the barrage and flew so low down the harbor that it just managed to clear the 15-foot sea wall at the entrance. As it did so, a Fulmar, which had kept on its tail, opened fire and sent it crashing into the sea beyond. The attackers soon expended their munitions and withdrew. The attack had been a dismal failure. A single bomb had struck Illustrious, causing minor damage. In return, ten of Geissler s planes had been shot down five by the RAF and the Fleet Air Arm. The Maltese public, meantime, had suffered as many of the bombs had gone into homes and shops in Valletta and the surrounding areas. The nearby civilian neighborhoods of the Three Cities area had been especially hard-hit and over 200 houses had been destroyed with another 500 damaged. The Germans re-appeared on the 18th, but this time they had switched their targets to Malta s airfields. The grass fighter airstrip at Takali was already unusable because of recent heavy rains and German bombs turned it into a bog. The Germans then concentrated on the Illustrious again on the 19th, but six Hurricanes, one Fulmar, and one Gladiator joined the ack-ack guns in beating off almost eighty raiders. Again, Illustrious suffered some near misses but the defending fighters claimed eleven shot BITTER HOMECOMING Convoy ships (often survivors of heavy attacks) usually pulled into a port that was smoldering and in ruins. (IWM) 9

15 down. The the AA gunners claimed eight. The Germans then inexplicably abandoned Illustrious and turned their attention to the concrete bomber airbase at Luqa on the 26th in an attempt to cripple the defending fighters (who rarely used it for emergency flights). The airbase was temporarily knocked out and six Wellington bombers were destroyed on the ground. But the enemy lost eleven of their own, bringing total losses, in a one week period, to 30 airplanes alarming losses. Grimly aware that he needed fighters to handle the RAF, Geissler requested reinforcements from Berlin. In response, the Luftwaffe transferred a single squadron from Jagdgeschwader 26 (Fighter-Wing 26), based in France on 9 February. This Messerschmitt Me109E unit, although a mere squadron, was formidable fighting force. Its commander, Oberluetnant (First Lt.) Joachim Münchberg, was already an experienced ace with 23 victories over France and England. Münchberg would down his first Maltese victim, a Hurricane three days after his arrival in the theatre, marking the first of the unit s many victories. On the other side, the RAF found it s Mark I Hurricanes badly outclassed by the Messerschmitts, even though the German squadron numbered never more than nine strong. Flight Lt. James MacLachlan of the soon-tobe formed No. 261 Squadron was to experience first-hand the superiority of German tactics and equipment during an unforgettable encounter with Münchberg himself on February 16. (See box, next page). By when the German AIR VETERAN German pilots like this man were highly competent. Oozing with confidence, many were veterans of previous campaigns, including the Battle of Britain and the Russian front. FLIEGERKORPS CHIEF A visibly pleased Geissler awards the Iron Cross 1st Class to one of his men, circa early (Jagdwaffe: J.R. Smith) 10

16 TIME-OUT Lt. Joachim Münchberg relaxes with his dog. (Bundesarchiv) 7./JG26 Emblem Jagdgeschwader (JG) 26 Badge squadron returned to France in early June, 41 RAF aircraft had fallen to its guns 18 to Münchberg alone. The initiative fell to the Luftwaffe, who with the Italians, were able to amass 400 airplanes against the Malta, which had only 20 Hurricanes, 16 Wellington Bombers, 12 Fairy Swordfish naval torpedo bombers and the three American-made Martin Maryland reconnaissance bombers. Even so, the island s new air commander, Air Vice-Marshall Hugh Pugh Lloyd, who took over from Maynard that May, was not discouraged. He spent virtually all of his time on Malta s three airfields, Hal Far, Luqa and Takali, overseeing improvements to the runways and defenses. During February and March, Fliegerkorps X maintained bombing strikes against Malta, while the Italians flew reconnaissance missions and escorted German bombers. All through these two months, German bombers supported by Me110 s and experienced Me109E pilots from JG26 and JG27 attacked Malta s airfields and Valletta harbor incessantly. The Wellington bomber fleet was all but destroyed on the ground, and the Stukas set upon every Allied convoy approaching the island. In desperation, senior RAF commanders detached seven Hawker Hurricanes Mk Is belonging to No. 274 Squadron from Egypt in early March. The newcomers, ill-used to the intense air combat over the island were quickly brushed aside by the Me109s and nearly all were lost. By mid-march, just as the island appeared to be tottering on the brink of defeat, the bombing suddenly eased. Many of the Geissler s aircraft had been transferred to the Balkans. It was exactly the respite that the British had been praying for. On 3 April, twelve Hurricane Mk IIAs, flown by experienced Battle of Britain veterans, left the carrier HMS Ark Royal, and guided by two naval Skua aircraft, headed for Malta, almost 322 km (200 miles) away. At the halfway point, they met a Sunderland flying boat and were led into Malta. These twelve Hurricane along with the earlier remnants of Gladiators and Hurricanes formed No. 261 Squadron that month. Later, on April 27, the arrival of a further 23 Hurricanes enabled Lloyd to form a second fighter squadron, No. 185 Squadron, at Hal Far airfield. Bristol Blenheim light-bombers of No. 82 Squadron also arrived in mid-may, being the first of many light bomber squadrons to be rotated to Malta for low-level anti-shipping operations. Large deliveries of Hurricanes continued during late May and early June from the carriers Victorious, Furious and Ark Royal, but many of these flew on to North Africa after having re-fueled at Malta. Nevertheless, a few Hurricane units did stay, such as the heavily-experienced No. 249 Squadron, 11

17 which arrived on 21 May, relieving the already-devastated 261 Squadron which was moved to Palestine after taking heavy losses. The air echelon of No. 46 Squadron also arrived in early June, and was renumbered No. 126 Squadron. In all, during the three months from April to June 1941, the Royal Navy ferried 225 Mark II Hurricanes to Malta and by the beginning of July, the defenders had three Hurricane squadrons. The surplus of Hurricanes even allowed Lloyd to form the MNFU (Malta Night Fighter Unit) commanded by an old RAF hand, Squadron Leader George Powell-Sheddon, who had fought under the famed RAF ace, Douglas Bader, during the battle of Britain. Night fighting with the Hurricane was no easy task. The long nose hindered visibility, while the bright exhaust flames on the nose ruined night vision. Yet, Powell-Sheddon set an example by shooting down two enemy planes during his tour of over Malta and by winning the Distinguished Service Order (DSO). With four fighter units at his disposal, Lloyd wanted to wreck enemy air power before it became strong again. The RAF soon complied by flying night sweeps over Sicilian airfields. The Italians, lacking the support of Fliegerkorps X (which had left Sicily for the German invasions of Russia and Greece) fought back but were overwhelmed. Little surprise, considering their obsolete fighting force of 41 machine-gun armed Macchi Mc.200s and 29 older CR.42 biplanes that could do little against the modern cannon-armed Hurricanes. By the end of October 1941, new squadrons of Bristol Blenheim Mk IVs, Wellingtons, Photo-reconnaissance Hawker Hurricanes and Marylands had appeared on Malta. In November, a detachment from No. 242 Squadron was flown off HMS Ark Royal, and together with a similar force from No. 605 Squadron (which also arrived that month) brought the number of RAF fighter squadrons to five. The price for this reinforcement was stiff, however. Ark Royal was torpedoed by U-81 and sunk only hours after No. 242 had departed for Malta. With this loss, all further Hurricane deliveries ceased. Since August 1940, twelve separate carrier sorties had succeeded in flying off 361 fighters towards Malta, of which 303 had actually arrived. Of that, a further 150 aircraft had moved on to North Africa. Two deliveries of attack aircraft had also been carried out. One involved Swordfishes to replace losses in 830 Squadron, while another, in October 1941, brought forth Fairy Albacore torpedo-bombers from No. 828 Squadron, Royal Navy. The island s anti-shipping fleet was also bolstered by the arrival of Bristol Beaufighters that year. The Beaufighters, in company with Swordfishes and Albacores, began to target Axis shipping in the area with devastating effect. In November, 63 percent of the General Erwin BLAZING FURY A furious barrage of ack-ack fire is aimed at yet another incoming enemy raid. (National Archives of Malta) RESOLUTE COMMANDER Air Vice- Marshal Lloyd. (National Archives of Malta) 12

18 DESTROYERS Two Me110Ds from Zerstörergeschwader 26 (Destroyer-wing 26) prowl the Mediterranean on an interdiction mission. (Bundesarchiv) Rommel s Africa Korps much needed supplies went down with merchant ships, and in December, German troops received only 30,000 out of 70,000 tons of oil, rations and ammunition destined for them. This struck Rommel hard, coming at a critical time when the Allied Eighth Army was beginning a major armored offensive (Operation Crusader ) against German and Italian units besieging the Libyan port of Tobruk. Determined to eliminate Malta for good, Hitler threw a reinforced German air corps into the fray. The aerial conflict which had already been so intense would turn into an engagement of legendary proportions. THE RETURN OF THE LUFTWAFFE Although Malta s defenses had improved, its civilian population continued to suffer terrible privations. The enemy flew raids at all hours. By day, nimble fighters, dodging the defenses in ones and twos, made fast hit-and-run attacks on civiliandominated targets. By night, heavy and medium bombers droned overhead in the dozens, raining down bombs on cities and towns. To make things worse, the constant raids on naval supply convoys ensured a constant shortage of food and commodities. The Maltese in turn introduced stringent rationing, built sandstone shelters and hoped for the best. There was little else they could do. By the end of 1941, control of the Mediterranean had fallen to Axis forces. Malta hung on, a thorn in the enemy s sides, its eclectic batch of squadrons causing major losses to Axis shipping. During the five months between June to October 1941, the Royal Navy and the RAF sank 200,000 tons of shipping between them. Such losses began to have an adverse effect on the Afrika Korps in North Africa. Rommel wanted the island invaded, but a proposed airborne assault codenamed Operation Hercules never got beyond the planning stage. So the Germans decided to pound Malta to oblivion. The task of destroying Malta was entrusted to Fliegerkorps II (itself under Field Marshal Albert Kesselring s Luftflotte 2 13

19 veterans of the Battle of Britain and Russia). As Kesselring stepped up his offensive, the Maltese took to the air raid shelters and many began living in the vast natural caves beneath Valletta. A blackout was enforced; fuel and food shortages became uncommonly familiar. The air raids, which had begun on 22 December, increased to a nearly unendurable crescendo by 1 March 1942 (and would continue non-stop for the next forty days). Three RAF squadrons (126, 185 and 249) and a mixture of flights and detachments, all equipped with Hurricanes held the line against a numerically superior enemy. Their mission: hold back the enemy, who often numbered 200 raiders. Since June 1940, the defending fighters had been credited with the destruction of 199 enemy aircraft with a further 78 probables, to which the AA defenses added 50 victories. But the cost had been high: at least 90 Hurricanes, 3 Fulmars and 1 Gladiator had been lost in action, while a further ten Hurricanes and two Fulmars were lost in accidents. In addition, scores of fighters had been lost on the ground. As for other aircraft, eight Marylands and two other reconnaissance aircraft had been lost up to the end of 1941, as were three Beaufighters, one fighter Blenheim and large numbers of bombers destroyed in the air and on the ground. Enemy losses amounted to 135 bombers (80 of them German) and 56 fighters, plus some reconnaissance and transport types. The leading RAF aces of the day were Sergeant F.N. Robertson of 261 Squadron with ten victories, and Squadron Leader Sandy Rabagliati of 126 Squadron and the by now-incapacitated Flight Lt. James MacLachlan, both with eight kills. Defense of the island had reached intensely challenging levels. The nerve center of RAF operations was the Central Fighter Operations Building, situated THE OLD AND THE NEW The Vic was the established pre-war RAF combat formation in the first three of years of war, and persisted in some places even after that. The Vic had a twelve-aircraft squadron flying in four groups of three aircraft - each tightly spaced and cramped. This made flying diffciult because the pilots concentrated more on avoiding collisions rather than watching for the enemy. The Finger Four ( right) formation was devised by the Germans and was superior. This formation enabled the standard four-aircraft flight to break away easily into pairs and allow for a quick pursuit, with each pilot covering each other s tail. 14

20 February-March 1942 deep underground. In function, it resembled Fighter Command s sector command stations during the Battle of Britain. In terms of equipment, however, it was woefully neglect. To add to Lloyd s worries, the Germans had improved their tactics. Enemy bombers would usually form up over Comiso, Sicily and with their Me109 escorts, head for Malta s airfields or the Grand Harbor. Their bombing run usually involved a shallow dive or a steep dive-bombing attack. To prevent the bombers from interception, the Germans often sent groups of Me109s to pave the way, while another group flew above the bombers, acting as top cover. The Me109s almost always possessed the vital tactical advantage of height and position above the scrambling Hurricanes advantages which were used with deadly effect. The British squadrons operated in shifts. Everyday, beginning from 4:30 am to 1 p.m., the first flight would wait out the day in the anticipation of enemy attack. At noon, the second flight would take over. As the day wore on and the sun rose higher and higher, the metallic parts of the Hurricanes heated up, channeling the hot air into the cockpit which soon became stifling furnace. The pilots soon took to waiting in their seats with nothing but a sleeveless shirt, a life jacket, a pair of shorts and a pair of boots. When the enemy did come, the pilots had to struggle to get their lumbering Hurricanes up to the 15,000 ft, the altitude flown by the Germans MacLachlan vs. Münchberg At about 9.15 we were ordered to scramble. We climbed to ft. We were still climbing over Luqa when six Me109s screamed down on us out of the sun. We immediately broke and formed a circle. Just as I took my place in the circle I saw four Me109s coming down out of the sun. I turned back around them and they overshot me. I looked round very carefully, but could see nothing, so I turned back into the tail of the nearest Hun who was chasing some Hurricanes. We were all turning gently, so I cut the corner and closed in on the Hun rapidly. I was determined to get him, and must have been concentrating on his movements so intently that, like a fool, I forgot to look MacLachlan (National War Museum Association) in the mirror until it was too late. Suddenly, there was a crash in my cockpit bits and pieces flew everywhere. Instinctively, I went into a steep spiral dive, furiously angry that I had been beaten at my own game. My left arm was dripping blood hanging limply by my side. Everything happened so quickly that I have no clear recollection of what actually took place. -MacLachlan s diary entry, Feb 16. MacLachlan was able to bail out east of Ta Venezia before his stricken Hurricane crashed. His loss was one of two claims awarded to Münchberg that day, and the British pilot (who subsequently had his arm amputated) had the ignominious honor of being kill no. 26 on Münchberg s list. 15

21 DITTY BOX Built in 1918, HMS Argus was the world s first flush deck carrier. During the war, she was the only British carrier of capable of transporting aircraft with non-folding wings down to hangers. no easy matter considering the Hurricane s maximum climb rate of a mere 2,850 feet per minute. To make matters worse, there was no radar capable of giving them early-warning and until January 1942, no senior officer with experience in directing fighter operations. The current wing commander of the Central Fighter Operations Building was an experienced fighter pilot who had previously led a squadron. But he had no experience controlling fighters from the ground. By the end of February, Malta s three airfields had been badly scarred by bombs, and the Valletta dockyards were a shambles. In response, Air Marshal Arthur Tedder of RAF Middle East Command asked Group Captain Basil E. Embrey, a successful RAF air leader, to investigate and recommend improvements. Embrey visited the island in late January and made an untarnished report of what he found lacking. His report stated that only the Spitfire Mk V, which had a climb rate of 3,180 feet per minute, the necessary firepower and fighting ceiling, could operate against the raiders. Second, he rejected an earlier notion that radar could not work on Malta, and recommended its immediate installment. Lastly, he suggested that the job of senior fighter controller go to a serving officer of at least Group Captain rank to give authority, while that of the standard controller be given to a seasoned expert, preferably a former Fighter Command Sector controller. The British government, which was already considering sending Spitfires to Malta, immediately acted on the report and authorized a consignment in March. In the meantime, Group Captain A.B. Woodie Woodhall, a sector controller with No. 12 Group in England was dispatched to the island within days of Embrey s report and began to set up a comprehensive defensive network. Six radar stations were formed, their controllers based in caves under Valletta, called the Ditch. Yet, the situation was far from rosy. On a typical day, an RAF squadron could field an average of six battle-weary Hurricanes against a mass of new Me109Fs and high-speed Junker Ju88 bombers. The victory tally for January 1942 clearly illustrates the odds that Lloyd s pilots faced: For the loss of eight valuable Hurricanes, RAF fighter pilots had been credited with only one victory, five probables and twelve damaged. In February, nine enemy fighters were shot down for the loss of 11 Hurricanes in combat. Malta s anti-shipping and bomber 16

22 February-March 1942 OLD GIRL OF THE MEDITERRANEAN Commissioned in 1924, HMS Eagle spent much of her years in warm waters, including the Indian Ocean and the Mid-Atlantic. In this pre-war photograph, she is seen pulling into Valletta harbor. (IWM) forces had also taken a beating. Me110 heavy-fighters from North Africa and twinengined nightfighters from Germany scoured the waters off Malta, enjoying a veritable shooting gallery. More than twenty of the RAF s strike fighters were lost in the first two months of 1942, until by the end of March, the strike force had been virtually destroyed. The island s last remaining Wellingtons were also withdrawn to Egypt in February. Worse still, later that month, an important convoy from Alexandra was sunk, and Malta was suddenly left with only a few weeks of supplies. RAF reinforcement efforts continued. Between February and March, Beaufighters from No. 252 Squadron flew in again, followed by Wellingtons from No. 37 Squadron. Also making regular stops were Sunderland flying-boats ferrying in fresh pilots from England and North Africa. Regardless of these, the situation showed no signs of improving. More than 2,000 Axis bomber sorties had hit the island in the past thirty days. A thousand tons of bombs had been dropped in February alone, and day by day, the Hurricane force and its pilots were depleted in an unending battle of attrition with the Messerschmitts. The situation was so desperate that statistically, of a flight that took off to intercept the enemy, roughly half returned often to an airfield that was a smoking ruin littered with burnt-out wrecks. By the beginning of March there were only eight serviceable Hurricanes left. The Air Staff sent a desperate letter to Air Marshal Tedder in Cairo, stating that, Our view is that Malta is of such importance both as an air staging post and as an impediment to enemy reinforcement route that the most drastic steps are justifiable to sustain it it will continue to be of great importance to war as a whole by containing important enemy forces during critical months. Tedder immediately dispatched No. 229 Squadron equipped with twentyfour Hurricane Mk IIs, but it took two weeks for the squadron to get to Malta and barely a fortnight had passed when it was take off operations after sixteen of its Hurricanes had been destroyed or badly damaged in action. Four pilots had been killed and another five wounded. Then, as if to underline the superiority of the new Me109s, not a single enemy airplane had been shot down. 17

23 GORT: MALTA HERO Lord Gort (Bettemann/ CORBIS) Below: The VC (Private/ Modified by author) John Standish Prendergast Vereker ( ) was no ordinary soldier. A holder of the Victoria Cross (VC) for conspicuous gallantry in World War I, Vereker (or the 6th Viscount Gort as he was known), had once commanded a battalion of the Grenadier Guards which he had led with great skill and courage. Later, his fortunes turned as the head of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), during the disastrous French campaign of Unfairly criticized as a defeatist, Gort was handed a string of secondline duties, including Inspector of Training and the Home Guard, and Governor of Gibraltar ( ). A reprieve soon followed when he was appointed Governor of Malta at a critical moment during the siege. His cool leadership was rewarded with the adulation of his peers, and in June 1943, a promotion to Field Marshal. He ended the war as High Commissioner for Transjordan and Palestine. In November 1945, during a meeting with Field Marshals Brooke and Montgomery, Gort collapsed and was flown to London where he was diagnosed with having cancer. In February 1946, with the end in sight, he was created a Viscount in the Peerage of the United Kingdom under the same title as his existing Viscountcy in the Peerage of Ireland. When he died on March 31, without an heir, his Irish title passed to his brother and the British title became extinct. 18

24 March 1942 LOST CARGO A merchantman goes down with its payload. (National Archives of Malta) Woodhall knew that for the aerial situation to improve, the fighter squadrons would have to be led in the air by an experienced fighter leader. The job went to Squadron Leader Stanley Turner, who in February 1942, was appointed to command No. 249 Squadron. For Turner, long-used to the disciplined life of squadron service in England, there was rude awakening in store. His first impression of Malta was far from comforting. As he stepped off the launch from the Sunderland flying boat transport, he spotted five lumbering Hurricanes at 4,000 ft struggling to gain altitude in an obsolete Vic formation. Above them, at 10,000 ft, roved twelve Me109s in the more efficient finger-four formation. Having had his fair share of the disastrous Vic in the tumultuous days of 1940, Turner exploded. Jesus Christ! They are not going to fly that way with me! Within days of Turner s arrival, 249 Squadron was using the finger-four, with the rest of the squadrons following suit soon after. ENTER THE SPITFIRES AN INTACT LUQA The sprawling white hangars of the Luqa bomber airfield. Although this photograph shows a quiet airbase, Luqa was actually one of the most heavily bombed targets on Malta during the aerial siege. (National Archives of Malta) On March 7, the carrier HMS Eagle arrived at a point some 960 km (600 miles) west of Malta. Although she could not continue any further because of the risk of enemy warships and airplanes, she did, however, launch fifteen Spitfire Mk Vs towards Malta. The entire operation had been conducted in great secrecy starting in February. Initially, the Spitfires had been crated after manufacture and accompanied by sixteen pilots and a hundred mechanics, had been transported to Gibraltar aboard a merchant ship. At Gibraltar, British handlers had cautiously unloaded the crates at night (to avoid the prying eyes of a German observation station over the Spanish border) and working around the clock, the mechanics had assembled the fighters within a large warehouse. Then on the night of February 22, the aircraft had been loaded onboard Eagle. On the 27th, Eagle in the company of HMS Argus, battleships, cruisers and destroyers left Gibraltar. Six days later they would drop anchor 600 miles west of Malta. When the preparations for flight were made, the pilots were instructed on the heading and the approximate distance to the island. They were also told that they were taking off with 90-gallon (340 liters) external fuel tanks, overloading 19

25 BEURLING: LONE WOLF ACE OF ACES A boyish, cocky demeanor gave George Screwball Beurling the appearance of a harmless blowhard, but he was a extremely talented fighter pilot who fostered a genuine hatred of the enemy. His fervor towards the enemy likely originated during the Blitz when he spotted a small girl playing in the rubble of a street as German bombs crashed around her. When he went to help her, he discovered that one of her arms had been blown off. It is believed that only two enemy pilots (both Italian) survived a Beurling victory. His nickname Screwball stuck in Malta, when Beurling used it to describe everything and everyone, including the enemy. (Photo: Bettemann/CORBIS) George Beurling ( ), Canadian ace extraordinare was a remarkably gifted pilot. But his boastful and independent nature did little to win him friends. First posted to Malta on 8 June 1942 as a Sergeant, Beurling shot down nine enemy bombers in his first week of action. His impressed superiors offered him a commission, but Beurling refused because he abhorred responsibility. After Malta, Beurling returned to Canada as a national hero to endorsed war bonds. Quickly tiring of this, he returned to active service in September By now an officer, and holding the DSO, DFC, DFM and bar., he was invited to (and did) join his native Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) in England - ironic, considering his rejection by the RCAF at the outbreak of war. But this partnership was short-lived. Ten months and three aerial victories later, Beurling was discharged owing to his WWI-style lone wolf tactics. The Canadians had spent valuable time developing teamwork tactics and Beurling s lone attack habits ran contrary to their efforts. Beurling disappeared into obscurity; at one point resorting to begging on the streets of Montreal to survive. He offered his service to the RAF and the US Army Air Force, but was rejected by both. Then in 1947, he returned to the public limelight when he volunteered to fight for the newly formed Israeli Air Force. On 21 May 1948, while taking off from Rome to join his new command, Beurling s transport crashed and all aboard were killed. With confirmed victories to his credit, Beurling is buried at the Mount Carmel Cemetery in Israel. 20

26 March-April 1942 the fighters who had only 667 feet of runway on the Eagle to begin with. To give every pilot the fair chance of a successful takeoff, the overweight Spitfires waited with flaps down until the carrier rose on a wave before the deck officer signaled them off. Squadron Leader Stanley Grant (who would join 249 Squadron) was the first to take off, and was followed by the others at fourteen pre-arranged intervals. Slowly, the formation of Spitfires assembled and headed towards Malta. Their presence had been noted by the enemy, who tried to broadcast false headings in English, with little success. Eventually contacting a flight of Blenheims sent out to meet them, the Spitfires landed in Malta a few hours later. Their arrival (and being the first Spits to be based overseas) gave the defenders a long overdue boost in morale. But their numbers were not enough to lessen, much less halt the raids. Two similar ferry operations followed in the last two weeks of March, with Eagle launching a further sixteen Spitfires, but further transfers stopped when Eagle was withdrawn for repairs. The carrier was out of service for more than a month. A replacement had to be found but remaining British carriers were engaged elsewhere. Churchill turned to the Americans for aid. In a letter to US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Churchill pressed for the temporary lease of USS Wasp and won his case. British commanders were overjoyed. Not only was the Wasp a faster vessel, but it was capable of carrying more Spitfires. Meantime, back on Malta, the enemy attacks had risen to ferocious levels by mid March. Already, the last of the Blenheim squadrons had been disbanded and the recently-arrived Wellingtons of No. 37 Squadron destroyed. The RAF fighters could do little to stem the losses. The Spitfires, which were never allowed to operate at strengths of greater than six aircraft (usually due to serviceability), were incapable of turning the tide. Stiff fighting in March saw at least a dozen RAF fighters shot down in air combat, while a further 29 were destroyed on the ground. One consolation for the British was that 31 enemy planes had also been been shot down, with another 20 probably lost and 65 damaged. Yet, it hardly seemed enough. There seemed no end to the Axis tide. Kesselring appeared to have inexhaustible reserves and he had no lack of targets to use them on. By the last days of March and well into April, German attacks were especially concentrated. In all, between 24 March and 12 April, the enemy flew 2,100 bomber sorties against Malta s docks, radar stations and aerodromes, damaging the three airfields to such levels that RAF fighters taking off or landing faced a danger equal to that of dogfighting. USS Wasp, meantime, was in Glasgow, taking on her consignment of Spitfires. It was only on 13 April that she lifted anchor and set course for Gibraltar, passing into the Mediterranean on the night of the 18th. Within her innards were two whole Spitfire squadrons (Nos. 601 and 603 Squadrons) with 47 fighters between them the largest number to date. On April 20, preparations for flight were begun. Wasp was turned into the wind and its Wildcat fighters scrambled to prevent possible enemy air interference. Then the two RAF squadrons were flown off, but their arrival at Malta several hours later was untimely. They landed just as an air raid began. Low on fuel, the Spitfires had little choice but to land, and became sitting ducks while ground crews desperately tried to refuel them. The result was a disaster. Thirty of the new fighters were destroyed or too badly damaged to fly again. In just two days, the Spitfire force had been reduced to 11 fighters. 21

27 The lack of air cover prompted the Royal Navy to evacuate its submarines and ships. The Germans were thrilled, and Kesselring remarked to Hitler saying, The aerial attack has, I feel, eliminated Malta as a naval base. The same could have been said of the RAF. Its pitiful remnants of six fighter squadrons now patrolled the air with a fifth of their original strength. Sometimes, as little as ten fighters rose to challenge two hundred enemy raiders. It was Malta s darkest hour. On April 23, Lloyd sent a pressing message to Tedder in Egypt, outlining the situation: Both places (Takali 377 tons of bombs)...luqa (122 tons) a complete shambles in spite of soldiers working day and night Have made every effort to get Spitfires off the ground All Spits in pens widely dispersed, some with complete cover from blast... In spite of this, 9 destroyed on the ground direct hits, 29 damaged splintered rocks. Owing to heavy fighter escort, our battle casualties 8 Spitfires destroyed and 75 percent of remainder damaged in combat Army filling bomb holes day and night. Airmen work all day and, in shifts, throughout the night. Cannot do more to protect Wellingtons or Spitfires. Here everything liable to attack. German intention appears to be air blockade into submission...aim to destroy harbour [sic] facilities so that when convoy arrives it will be difficult to unload Also to destroy aerodromes and all equipment for handling aircraft. To hold must have an abundance of Spitfires and hope to get them into air before next raid which was 90 minutes on this occasion. Alarmed, Tedder visited the island himself in late April and found only six serviceable fighters. He immediately knew that if Malta was not reinforced soon, nothing could protect the Allied convoys, now forming the tentative line of communications holding England to the Middle East. Urgent plans were made to ferry more Spitfires. The defenders had to hold until they arrived. By now, Malta s cities, towns and villages were being reduced to rubble. The island s Governor and Commander-in-Chief, Lt. General William Dobbie, a deeply-religious man, who who had been with the Maltese since the beginning, was officially relieved because of mental exhaustion, but privately sacked for placing extraordinary faith in divine intervention instead of practical defense. His replacement, the aggressive General Lord John Standish Gort VC, had commanded the BEF (British Expeditionary Force) in France during , and until recently had held the post as the Governor of Gibraltar. He had the untimely honor of taking over from Dobbie at the height of the siege in April. That month, 7,000 tons of bombs fell on the island, making it the heaviest-bombed place of World War II. The spirit of the islanders plummeted. Gort desperately hunted for a morale saving grace. It came on April 15, when King George VI bestowed England s highest civilian honor, the George Cross, on Malta the only instance of it being awarded to a place. In his message to the Maltese, the King wrote: To honour [sic] her 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. A further reprieve transpired on May 9, when Gort received word that 64 Spitfires had flown in from Eagle and Wasp. This time, the British would leave 22

28 May - JUne 1942 THE GEORGE CROSS (IWM) nothing to chance and the ground crews had the aircraft on operational status within ten minutes of landing. The enemy attempted to intervene as before, but they had not reckoned with the intense ack-ack umbrella put up by the army s antiaircraft gunners. Under this barrage, the Spitfires managed to take off and destroyed 23 of the enemy. The next day when the Germans returned, they were again held at bay by the ackack gunners, allowing the Spitfire to take to the air. In all, the Germans launched a total of nine raids to destroy the Spitfires. They almost succeeded. The raids continued through May, but with the Spitfires scoring steadily, the enemy began to appear at reduced pace. Malta now had an adequate number of fighter pilots although the fighters were themselves in short supply. Surviving Spitfires were often shared by squadrons. At the same time, Hurricanes were becoming an object of distant memory. On 9 May, Pilot Officer Gordon R. Tweedale, the last Hurricane ace on the island (with seven victories) was shot down and killed. As if marking the transition between Hurricane and Spitfire, on 17 May, the first of the Spitfire aces, Flying Officer Peter Nash died in action. Spitfire losses were no mean matter by themselves with twenty-five machines lost that month. In return, the RAF was credited with the destruction of 111 aircraft twice the number claimed in April. The Eagle made three more Spitfire runs to Malta in May and June, delivering eighty fighters. Ten more Wellingtons were also flown in to keep the island s offensive capabilities alive, but the situation was grim. Many RAF pilots shared the sentiments of the ace, Flying Officer Denis Braham, who said: it makes the Battle of Britain seem like child s play. AGAINST ALL ODDS By Mid-1942, it was clear that military reinforcements alone could not save Malta. The island was suffering major fuel, food and ammunition shortages. The Axis siege was such that convoys found it almost impossible to reach the island without losing a third of their cargo. Indeed, the Maltese population which had suffered the most, finally snapped. An alarming development was the routine lynching of shot down enemy aircrews. An RAF pilot, witness to one such incident, was resting in between sorties at Takali airfield when the air-raid warning jolted him awake. Looking up, he spotted familiar white contrails high above in the deep 23

29 blue sky as a dogfight commenced. One of the enemy, an Italian Macchi MC.202 fighter, was hit by flak and began to trail downwards, streaming smoke from its engines. A parachute blossomed open beyond the stricken plane and the wind began to carry the Italian towards a small hillock outside the airfield. Gathering his pistol, the RAF pilot sprinted for the spot. As he mounted the hillock, he found several Maltese, both men and women, fervently hacking up the unfortunate Italian with a collection farming equipment. By when an army detachment and other Maltese arrived to disperse the mob it was all over. At higher headquarters, meantime, a committee comprising of the Deputy Governor, Sir Edward Jackson and service chiefs of the Army, the Navy and the Royal Air Force concluded that Malta was incapable of holding out if a major convoy did not succeed in replenishing their stocks. Since the beginning of the year, ten merchant ships had been sunk and eleven badly damaged out of a total of 31. Only ten had reached Malta, of which three had been sunk at port. Despite the consensus of opinion that Malta could not possibly hold out beyond August that year, Churchill, was adamant that the island hold no matter what. In June, he authorized a massive convoy operation to obviate the committee s predictions. On the 12th, two separate supply convoys left for Malta, one from Egypt, code-named Vigorous and the other from Gibraltar, code-named Harpoon. It was also hoped that the convoys would divide the enemy and draw the Italian fleet out into the open, where it could be mauled by the Royal Navy. The convoys, constituting 25 merchant ships, cruisers and destroyers, were to be initially protected by Gibraltar and North African based planes. Once they reached Malta s air cover, Lloyd s fighters were to take over. Just days before, Beaufighters from No. 235 Squadron had flown out to Malta from England and Eagle had flown off 63 Spitfires towards the island, of which 59 had landed safely. It was intended that these fighters protect the convoys as they neared Malta. As both convoys set sail, they were quickly identified by the enemy. The Vigorous convoy was attacked by aircraft based on Crete and Cyrenaica and was forced to return to port after two ships were sunk. But Harpoon fought its way through, and managed to lure out the Italian fleet. The British soon found themselves in action against two battleships and four cruisers, all under constant escort by submarines and torpedo-boats. Maltese-based Wellingtons and Beauforts were flown off to deal with this threat. From Egypt, Bristol Beauforts and American-supplied B-24 Liberator heavy-bombers were scrambled. A Beaufort managed to hit an Italian battleship with a torpedo, forcing it to return to port. An accompanying cruiser was also sunk and other vessels damaged by other aircraft. The Germans then dispatched aircraft based in Sardinia and Sicily against Harpoon. The aircraft battered the merchantmen until only four remained. Then, naval mines succeeded in finishing off two more and a cruiser. As the final blow, the Italians sent in a force of cruisers from Palermo. These plans were thwarted when the attackers were themselves attacked by Maltese-based Swordfishes and Beauforts. Troilus and Orari, the last two merchantmen fortuitously made it to within range of Malta s fighters before further attacks materialized. They were the last of a gallant band and brought with them a paltry 15,000 tons of supplies. Harpoon 24

30 June - July 1942 had been a costly victory, and Vigorous a complete defeat. The British had lost a cruiser, five destroyers, two minesweepers and ten merchantmen. Five other merchant vessels had been so badly hit that they had returned to port. In desperation, naval submarines were used to ferry supplies by night, and from July fast-flying transport planes began to make their appearance. In addition to the RAF s transports, British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) aircraft were used to maintain vital communications with the besieged island. Usually flying in by night, BOAC pilots had to contend with bad visibility and a hostile environment before receiving the all clear to land. Many a BOAC flight found itself circling Luqa airfield, already heavily damaged and littered with crashed aircraft, while being exposed to flak and enemy aircraft. The pilots desperately ticked off the minutes until the runway was cleared and clearance to land given. These BOAC flights played an important role in the seige by flying in hundreds of military personnel and vital civilians, while flying out the wounded and the sick, including women and children. RAF airlifts also proceeded on schedule. On June 8, Eagle delivered 32 new Spitfire Mark VCs to Malta. One of the pilots arriving on that trip was the future Canadian ace, Flight Sergeant George Beurling. Landing at Takali, Beurling had barely brought his taxiing fighter to a stop when he was ejected from his seat by the ground crews. As Beurling watched, the crews proceeded to refuel and arm the fighter for an immediate sortie. All around him, Beurling found swirling dust, ruins and craters. The disheveled appearance of the nearby ground crew and RAF personnel was far from comforting. Many appeared exhausted and demoralized. AN ACE S MACHINE With this No. 249 Squadron Spitfire Mark V, George Beurling shot down four German fighters and damaged another on two separate encounters. The first instance was on 25 September when Beurling blew two Me109s out of the sky 30 miles northeast of Zonker. The next set of kills (again Me109s) were achieved on 10 October. Like every type of aircraft on the island, the Spitfires were never numerous enough to satisfy demand and existing machines were often shared between pilots and even squadrons. This aircraft was shared by Beurling and fellow ace pilot, the British Squadron Leader Maurice M. Stephens (later a Wing Commander with 23 kills). The T stands for Takali airfield, where the squadron was based at the time. (Left) THE OFFICE The intricacies of a Spitfire cockpit (IWM). 25

31 Beurling s arrival was incongruous no more than to the man himself. He was a pilot NCO, a faceless number. Yet, within a few short months, the young Canadian would become a dazzling star, a fighter ace renowned in Canada (and not least of all in Malta). Claiming his first victim five days later, Beurling would become the top RAF ace over Malta with confirmed victories within five months. Although, widely respected in Canada for his aerial exploits, he was a loner and was not popular in his squadron because he flew and fought alone. Because he did not stay in formation during combat, he always left his flight open to attack. It is estimated that Beurling lost a wingman for almost every victory that he scored in the air. The navy, meantime, continued its work. In the second week of July, Eagle brought in 59 Spitfires on two trips, and HMS Welshman, a 2,600 ton minelayer and one of the fastest ships in the fleet, made nightly supply runs from Gibraltar. By the end of July, the British had amassed 80 serviceable fighters in Malta with an average of 17 a week shot down or too badly damaged to fly again. Aircraft maintenance was no doubt a nightmare on the island. Constant aerial action and harsh climate played havoc with aircraft serviceability, and the RAF Maintenance Wing at Kalafrana performed miracles to keep aircraft airborne. Engines, airframes, radios and armament were salvaged from crashed or wrecked aircraft, and nothing was left to waste. In addition, all Spitfire Mark VCs had two of their four 20 mm Hispano cannons removed as spares. As if this cutback in firepower was not enough, the pilots then discovered that their remaining guns were loaded with as little as fifteen rounds. To make matters worse, gun stoppages were alarmingly common as the Maltese dust and sand clogged the cannon breech. An ingenious solution, no doubt the brainchild of a rigger, was to tape a thin bit of paper, usually toilet paper on the barrel openings, reducing malfunctions considerably. By July, Malta was capable of putting up five squadrons of Hurricanes and Spitfires, not to mention one of Beauforts, three of Beaufighters, and one of Swordfishes. With improvisation and planning, these aircraft, crewed by experienced pilots soon fought back for control. On July 14, by when Air Vice-Marshal Lloyd relinquished command to Air Vice-Marshal Keith Park, the enemy PARK: SEASONED VETERAN A s with most men of his generation, Keith Park ( ) was a veteran of World War I. As an artillery men at Gallipoli and Somme, he witnessed the carnage of the trenches first-hand. Transferring to the fledgling Royal Flying Corps, he subsequently became an ace with some twenty-odd kills. The outbreak of WWII saw Park with RAF Fighter Command. During the Battle of Britain, he conducted a brilliant defense that earned him both friends and enemies. Political maneuvering soon forced him out of his appointment, but Park made a comeback after moving to Malta in July 42. Here, he was able to show his stellar grasp of air tactics. Following victory, Park was transferred to continue his success in the Far East. He died in his native New Zealand in (Photo: (National Archives of Malta) 26

32 July - August 1942 SMILING ALBERT Nicknamed Smiling Albert by his men, Albert Kesselring ( ), was one of Nazi Germany s most successful and loyal generals. The son of a Bavarian schoolmaster, Kesselring joined the army in Like Keith Park, he was an artillery officer, but did not join the air force until Learning to fly at the age of 48, Kesselring firmly believed that one had to know how to fly to understand the conditions of the airmen under his charge. With the outbreak of WWII, Kesselring would experience warfare during the campaigns for Poland, Holland, the Battle of Britain and Russia. These lessons, however, did not prevented his failure over Malta and the Mediterranean. Tried for war crimes after the war, he was sentenced to death. This was later commuted and he was released in He died in West Germany in 1960, an unapologetic follower of Adolf Hitler. (Photo: Bundesarchiv) assault showed signs of being contained. Park (the famous Battle of Britain group commander) initially had a hectic time upon arriving in Malta. On July 5, the Malta blitz had resumed with the bombing of Takali, with a strike against Luqa on the following day. Fortunately for Park, there was a lull in the fighting from July 27 as the Germans regrouped. Taking this opportunity to change tactics, Park introduced a policy of aggressive defense. Standing orders now instructed his fighters to intercept the enemy bombers while still over the sea, reasoning that any bomber that penetrated the forward screen could be dispatched by a reserve force of fighters and anti-aircraft guns. These tactics proved an instant success. The tonnage of bombs hitting Malta decreased substantially and the island s moral began to soar. At the squadron level, the time from scramble to interception was also reduced considerably. A squadron on stand had a maximum of two minutes to get airborne, while a squadron at immediate readiness had to be away within three minutes. A squadron at readiness had just five minutes to scramble all of its fighters. Relying on the drills of Squadron Leader Turner, who had left Malta in April because of exhaustion, fighter squadrons usually took ten minutes to reach the attacking height of 18,000 ft. This was accomplished by splitting the squadron into three sections of four aircraft each. Each of these sections were widely spaced, and when the squadron took off, they did not climb in a straight line but instead employed a wide spiral, which ensured that the aircraft retained speed, while enabling the pilots to keep an all-round observation of the sky. As they approached interception height, the Spitfires then had orders to ignore the enemy fighters and target the bombers. These innovations did little affect the lives of everyday Maltese. Adding to the already stretched rationing system, the local spring potato crop had failed that year. The island s herds of goats had already been slaughtered and aside from powdered milk, there was virtually no fresh milk available. The Admiralty decided to mount a massive convoy to redress the situation. In what was to be the largest re-supply to date 52 merchantmen and warships, the stage was set for one of the most famous naval/aerial engagements of the war. Later known as the Battle of Mid-August to the Italians and Operation Pedestal to the British, the operation would decided Malta s fate. 27

33 PEDESTAL TO VICTORY On August 2, this convoy sailed from Scotland. It consisted of fourteen large and fast merchantmen carrying food, fuel and ammunition. They were escorted by the 16- inch gun battleships HMS Rodney and Nelson, the carriers Eagle, Indomitable and Victorious, three anti-aircraft cruisers and fourteen destroyers. Pedestal reached the straits of Gibraltar on Monday, August 10, where the carrier HMS Furious briefly joined it. The convoy s incredibly detailed plan of action had been well conceived. The carriers, which were part of Vice-Admiral Sir Neville Syfret s Force Z, carried 74 naval fighters, among them Fulmars, Sea Hurricane and Martlets (US-made Grumman F-4 Wildcats). Eighteen fighters were to be on patrol at all times, with another 18 on constant readiness and 12 on immediate reserve. Due to play an important part in the coming action was Victorious Type 79B radar, which was employed in tracking conventional enemy aircraft. The Type 281 radar, meantime, mounted on Indomitable and the cruiser Sirius was to be used to sweep the airspace to detect low-flying aircraft. Two dedicated fighter-direction ships, HMS Nigeria and Cairo, were also added to the fleet an extremely generous addition for a single convoy. The RAF also had plans to provide long-range escort planes from Gibraltar and Malta, flying at the limit of their range. RAF officers were also embarked in certain command cruisers to coordinate RAF-Royal Navy activities. Once the convoy reached within 200 kilometers (125 miles) of Malta, 180 serviceable airplanes from Maltese based squadrons would take over. The most vital ship in the convoy was the American oil tanker, Ohio. Every ship, including the Ohio had been heavily armed and had a Naval Liaison Officer embarked to assist in any complicated 28

34 August 1942 TWO JUGGERNAUTS PLOW THE WAVES Taken from the carrier Victorious, this photo shows HMS Indomitable chugging through the sea, with HMS Eagle behind her. The Hurricane in foreground belongs No. 885 Squadron, FAA. (IWM) ONE HEAVYWEIGHT GOES DOWN The veteran carrier HMS Eagle is seen sinking in this wartime photograph. (IWM) maneuvering that proved necessary. Their cargos, totaling some 85,000 tons were chiefly composed of flour, ammunition and shells, although many had dangerous stores of petrol onboard in addition to Ohio s 15,000 tons of kerosene and aviation fuel. Lying in wait for them were 19 Italian and two German submarines, 784 enemy aircraft, 23 torpedo boats and the entire Italian surface fleet. The Admiralty was under no illusions of what they were up against. The operations of the carriers had been meticulously detailed. Each of the three carriers was to operate independently within the destroyer screen and at the rear of the convoy. Each carrier had a personal escort of an anti-aircraft cruiser and the normal anti-submarine screen of destroyers. Each carrier also had to run its own defensive fighter screens and several squadrons were given deliberate instructions with a service height at which to operate. Five Hurricane squadrons were to protect the fleet from 20,000 ft, two Fulmar squadrons had orders to fly at 5,000 ft, and a single squadron of Martlets was to be used at medium altitude. On August 11, a clear blue Tuesday, the battle was joined. The Italian submarine Uarsciek lying on watch some 80 km (50 miles) south of the island of Ibiza began picking up strong propeller noises. Moving in to investigate, her crew spotted the convoy. At 4:42 am, Uarsciek launched three torpedoes against a carrier. These failed to explode, and in turn, incurred the attentions of the escorting British destroyers which depth-charged the area heavily. The submarine was forced to flee. At 11:28 am, Furious launched 38 Spitfires under the command of Group Captain Walter Churchill, ace pilot and kinsman of the British Prime Minister, off for Malta (one Spitfire was lost). Although a small objective of Pedestal had been accomplished, by now the enemy submarines had closed in. One of these, the German submarine, U-73, had been shadowing the group for several hours. Its commander, Kapitän-Lt. Helmut Rosenbaum had strict orders to restrict his targets to the carriers. At 1:15 pm, just as a German air-raid struck the convoy, U-73 slipped through the naval destroyer screen and closed in on its targets. Picking out a carrier closest, Rosenbaum unleashed a barrage of torpedoes against the hapless vessel HMS Eagle. Four torpedoes smashed into Eagle s port side, flooding water 29

35 into her lower floors. Her port wing engine room was badly damaged and with several boiler rooms inundated, the veteran carrier finally settled bodily at 30 degrees and sank with 131 of her crew. A mere six minutes had passed since the torpedo strike. Only four of Eagle s fighters had escaped the debacle. In just a few minutes, the convoy had lost 20 percent of its fighter strength. For his part, Rosenbaum was awarded the Knight s Cross. Ten minutes after Eagle had sunk beneath the waves, another submarine launched a fan of torpedoes against HMS Victorious, and although one of these was seen to pass under her bows, none found the carrier. Fairy Albacores took to the air to hunt down the U-boats as the destroyer screen sped across the waters, depthcharging the water frantically. The carriers soon began a defensive zig-zag pattern that was meant to throw away the aim of their attackers. Then at 3:12 pm, with all her Spitfires away, Furious and her escorts broke away to return to Gibraltar, sinking the Italian submarine Dagabur on their way out. The ships of Pedestal then spent the rest of day warding off further bomber raids and the submarines, who hung about at the edge of the carrier fighter screen, radioing the progress of the British back to Sicily. By the end of the day, Admiral Syfret discovered that his fighter force had dropped from the original 74 fighters to less than 50 serviceable Hurricanes, Martlets and Fulmars in confrontations against the unescorted bombers. If his fighters suffered further losses in the next few hours, nothing would save the transports or the carriers themselves. By the following day, the British were 80 kms (50 miles) north of Africa and a little further from Sicily and Sardinia. They could now expect enemy fighters escorting the bombers. In anticipation of this threat, at dawn on August 12, British naval fighters were scrambled before sunrise. At 9:15 am, the first patrol, No. 880 Squadron, reported a force of incoming Luftwaffe Junker Ju88s. The remaining British fighters were vectored to the menace and destroyed two Ju88 s within ten minutes. The remaining ten fled after prematurely jettisoning their bombs. Unfortunately, their escape was cut-off by fighters from Victorious, and two more Ju88s fell into the sea. In all, twelve enemy aircraft were claimed as destroyed or damaged in that HIT-AND-RUN Aircraft such as this Me109F, operating in small numbers made fast daylight attacks on sporadic targets. There was usually little the RAF could do to stop them, barring constant fighter patrols or retaining aircraft at readiness on runways - clogging precious few resources that Air Vice-Marshal Park possessed. 30

36 August 1942 morning s engagement. It did not stop there. At 12:15 pm, a seventy-strong raiding force of Ju87 and Ju88 dive bombers, He111 torpedo-bombers, SM.79s and SM.84 s carrying Motobomba FFs ( circling mines ) arrived. Accompanying them were the long expected fighter escorts. Despite a determined defense by the naval aviators and the convoy ackack, it took almost an hour and a half for the British to beat off this attack. In the course of the battle, one of the merchantmen, SS Deucalion was disabled and forced out of the convoy. It was later sunk by the enemy. As the enemy retired at 1:45 pm, the British carriers cleared their decks to retrieve their fighters. Unknown to them, two daring Italian Reggiane Re.2001 fighter-bombers had stayed behind to join the landing circuit for Victorious. As their turn came up, the two Italians pulled up their undercarriage, throttled up, and roared down the carrier, each dropping a bomb. Amazingly, they did little damage but badly jarred British pride. Sporadic brushes with the enemy submarines kept the convoy on full alert throughout the remainder of the day. One submarine, the Italian Cobalto was depthcharged and forced to surface, only to be rammed by the destroyer HMS Ithuriel. Then at 5 p.m., the carriers began picking up blips on their radar screens. Syfert scrambled all his fighters, including his reserves and at 5:45 pm the largest enemy raid yet came into view. Over a hundred aircraft strong and composed of German and Italian bombers, torpedo bombers and dive-bombers, the raiders were under the protective umbrella of a heavy fighter escort. No. 880 Squadron was first into the fray. They had barely shot down a Savoia- Marchetti SM.79 torpedo-bomber when they were jumped by Me109s and Reggiane Re.2002s. The squadron was soon fighting for its life. With the British fighters occupied, groups of enemy bombers punched through the weakened fighter screen and set their sights on the carriers. HMS Indomitable became the object of four Ju87s and eight Ju88s. Peeling off from 12,000 ft, the Germans dived through the barrage put by the carrier s gunners. Three fell, but the remaining carried on, hitting Indomitable in the forward, aft and beam sections. One bomb penetrated her deck armor behind the singular deck lift, twisting it out of shape. This made it impossible to transfer the aircraft from the hanger onto the flight deck. A second bomb exploded FIGHTING THROUGH Indomitable and her escorts continue forward under constant air and naval attack. (IWM) 31

37 in the hanger mouth killing and wounding many of the maintenance crews working there. The explosion also rammed the already buckled 7-ton lift, which was at full elevation, up on its chains and jammed it two feet above the deck, preventing aircraft from landing. To make matters worse, fires raged throughout the ship as she began to flood. Only the sheer determination of damage control parties prevented Indomitable from sinking, and by 7:30 pm she was racing to rejoin the convoy. Still, the Germans had accomplished their mission. The damage to Indomitable s flight had been enough to prevent her from launching or receiving aircraft. This left her airborne fighters in the lurch. Nearly half of its fighter force was airborne when the carrier was hit. The pilots were diverted to Victorious, but that carrier was already overstocked. The arrival of twelve of Indomitable s fighters on Victorious between 6:30 and 7:30 pm caused pandemonium as deck crews desperately bundled the new arrivals under fire to the already jam-packed hangers. Overhead, new waves of enemy aircraft continued to appear as the previous wave circled overhead before turning for home. It was almost 7:30 pm before the last of the attackers disengaged a full thirty-five minutes after Syfert was to have pulled Force Z back towards Gibraltar. By now, Victorious was overflowing with aircraft. The Fulmars and Martlets were sent down to the hangers, but the Hurricanes were unable to fold their wings and the carrier lifts were unable to accommodate them. The order was swift: any aircraft incapable of being stowed was to be pushed overboard. Many a Hurricane suffered this fate. By midnight, the convoy was still 200 km (130 miles) from Malta. Its heavy escorts, including the carriers, had already turned back for Gibraltar. The departure of the carriers and the battleships left the merchantmen to contemplate their fate when morning came. The presence of the carriers had not mitigated the ordeals of the transports. Now in their absence, there was hardly a man who doubted that the worst was still to come. As if presaging this fear, three cargo ships and a destroyer were sunk on the 12th itself, including the hithertomentioned Deucalion, Empire Hope, Clan Ferguson and the destroyer HMS Foresight. No. 880 Squadron Emblem OLD WARRIOR This Sea Hurricane Mk IB from No. 880 Squadron, Royal Navy, was deployed aboard HMS Indomitable. The squadron had twelve Hurricanes during Operation Pedestal and was tasked with high-altitude patrols. 32

38 August 1942 (Left) THE VALIANT The tanker Ohio struggles to make it to Malta with the help of the destroyers HMS Penn and Ledbury. (National Archives of Malta) (Below) THREE CHEERS! The ships of Pedestal reach their destination under joyous gaze of the Maltese population. (National Archives of Malta) They weren t the only ones. At 7:55 that evening, under a darkening Mediterranean sky, the Italian submarine Axum under the command of Lt. di Vascello Renato Ferrini, unleashed a fan of torpedoes against the cruisers Nigeria and Cairo, and the American tanker Ohio, scoring hits on all. Nigeria was forced to return to Gibraltar and Cairo was so badly damaged that she was later scuttled. Ohio carried on precariously, without air cover. The crews remained hopeful, certain that they would reach the range of Malta s fighters by morning. By morning, on August 13, the Pedestal convoy had indeed approached the range of Malta s fighters, and although Park quickly scrambled his squadrons, when the fighters arrived over the convoy, their effectiveness was curtailed by the absence of the fighter-direction ships, Nigeria and Cairo. Nevertheless, the RAF flew 407 sorties in direct support of Pedestal, with the Spitfires mounting intercept missions as the Beaufighters held off the Italian fleet and low-flying bombers. Despite their efforts, the cruiser HMS Manchester was crippled by torpedo-boats (and later scuttled) and four other merchant ships sunk. Ohio was heavily damaged and set afire by two German bombers crashing onto her deck, but her brave crew managed to put out the fire. Dangerously close to sinking, Ohio was kept afloat by lashing her between the destroyers HMS Penn and Ledbury and by being towed by the minesweeper Rye. Ohio s progress and its dogged refusal to sink would become the symbol of the convoy s determination to beat the enemy, and they had all but showed it to the world. In the past two days, even though the convoy had succeeded in shooting down large numbers of enemy airplanes and had sunk two U-boats, they knew that they had to reach Malta soon. But Pedestal was almost at an end. In the late hours of the 13th, three merchantmen (Port Chalmers, Rochester Castle and Melbourne Star) reached Valletta and a fourth, Brisbane Star, arrived the next morning. Meanwhile, 33

39 Ohio, which had been inching along, was attacked again by enemy aircraft. Despite the effort of her companion destroyers, the tanker was damaged by a near miss and began to take on more water. Then on the morning of August 14, at 8 am, Ohio passed the ancient forts guarding Valletta harbor and approached the capital in triumph. Even at this late hour, it was feared that she would sink and block the harbor entrance. She did not, and by the afternoon, the gallant vessel limped into Valletta to a hero s welcome, greeted by lines of cheering locals as an assembled band played Rule Britannia. At last, Ohio had arrived, bringing with her cargo of badly need fuel. Docksmen and port workers immediately set about pumping away Ohio s valuable cargo and an hour later, just as the last gallons of precious fuel had been unloaded, the tired tanker finally gave way and settled in the shallows of Valletta harbor. Her captain, Dudley William Mason, was later awarded the George Cross. Operation Pedestal was the turning point for the Battle of Malta; the arrival of the five merchant ships permitted the British to re-establish their base against the enemy s supply routes. But both sides had suffered, especially the Italians, who had lost two cruisers, Bolzano and the Muzio Attendolo, both damaged by the British submarine HMS Unbroken on the morning of August 13, north-west of the Straits of Messina. Two submarines had also been lost as were 24 aircraft (eleven on 12th August, seven on the 13th and six on the 14th). The Germans meantime, had suffered the loss of fourteen bombers and an almost equal number of fighters. The British had lost almost 45 carrier-based aircraft, including 13 lost in air combat, those that went down with Eagle, and those pushed overboard after Indomitable was disabled. They had also lost nine merchant ships and three cruisers. But Operation Pedestal had been a major success. Malta now had enough supplies to keep on fighting. PARK CARRIES THROUGH Malta was restocked and there was now enough provisions and ammunition to hold out for a few more months. The fighter strength on the island was built up again, ironic considering that at the same time Field Marshal Kesselring was losing some of his best units to other fronts. On August 17, Furious returned to fly off 32 Spitfires for Malta (29 made it to the island). But aircraft were not the only ones making the run to Malta. The RAF also transferred experienced pilots and commanders to build up the fighting prowess of Park s squadrons. One of the arrivals was Wing Commander Arthur Donaldson, who was initially put in charge of ground training. In August, he was designated, Wing Commander Flying of the Takali Wing (Nos. 185, 229, 249 Squadrons). Another senior officer, Group Captain Walter Churchill, who had flown off Furious during Pedestal, was given charge of conducting fighter operations. On these two men rested the future of Park s offensive plans. Donaldson s first task as fighter leader was to test enemy reaction. From August 20 to 24th, he and his three squadrons flew over Sicily, making the circuit around the island s principle airfields at Comiso, Biscari and Gela. To their surprise, this triggered no enemy response, not even flak. It was an invitation to attack. Park, already weary of tentative probes, had decided to hit the Germans with his full force. 34

40 August - October 1942 Constant reconnaissance by No. 69 Squadron had revealed the Germans rebuilding their bomber fleet on Sicily. Park ordered Churchill to demolish the airfields. On August 27, Nos. 185, 229 and 249 Squadrons took off to attack the three airfields, one for each squadron. Donaldson with Churchill as his wingman, led the force. A strict radio-silence was maintained as the attack force streaked over the Mediterranean at low level. Approaching the Sicilian coast, the squadrons divided and launched simultaneous attacks on Comiso, Biscari and Gela. The attack took the enemy completely by surprise. Enemy fighters attempting to scramble were caught by the Spitfires and three were shot down. Donaldson and Churchill meantime, led No. 229 Squadron to Biscari airfield, situated a few miles west of Comiso. As the Spitfires came in low, guns blazing, the airfield s ack-ack gunners put up a fierce hail of fire. Churchill s Spitfire was hit and burst into flames. The veteran pilot was killed. As the flak intensified, a Dornier bomber lifted off, but Donaldson spotted it. He gave chase but ran out of ammunition. Gathering his squadrons, Donaldson led the way home. The raid had been a spectacular success. The RAF had destroyed ten aircraft in the air, with another twenty-nine on the ground. All this had been accomplished for the loss of two pilots, one of them Churchill. The raid had the intended enemy reaction that Park had hoped for. Two days later, a large force of enemy fighters swept over Malta in a retaliatory act. They succeeded in causing some damage, including the destruction of two Spitfires. Unexpectedly, the RAF itself failed to score. This disappointment was soon offset by Park s insistence that his squadrons continue the offensive. Before long, the Spitfires began flying daily sweeps and Rhubarbs over Sicily, making a considerable nuisance of themselves. Much effort was also made in the form of squadronstrength sweeps over Sicily, at dawn and dusk, with flights of four aircraft mounting hit-and-run attacks on Sicilian airfields such as the seaplane base at Syracuse and the reserve airfields at Pachino and Cape Scaramia. When night arrived, Malta s Beaufighter squadrons took over, flying Intruder sorties over the airfields, catching enemy aircraft WITH FISTS AND HEELS as they took off and landed. The Germans could do little to stop these No. 249 Squadron Badge raids for attempts at interception invariably resulted in adding to their own attrition. In September, Park changed tactics and ordered Ramrods. The Ramrods comprised of a small force of Hurricane fighter-bombers escorted by large numbers of fighters. These were meant to draw the Luftwaffe into the skies while involving the destruction of a ground target. On September 11, the first of these Ramrods went into action. Three Hurribombers, escorted by twelve Spitfires from the Takali wing set out to destroy Gela airfield. Included in the fighter section were two veteran pilots, Donaldson and George Beurling. The Spitfires flew up at 18,000 ft while the Hurricanes, tucked into a neat line-astern formation flew at a low altitude. As the formation crossed the Sicilian coast, Donaldson was aware that they must have been picked up by enemy radar. As the Hurricanes began their attack run, Donaldson and his Spitfires hid in the clouds, awaiting the Luftwaffe. Then just as the Hurricanes dived, two Me109s appeared above the Spitfires. As Donaldson s Spitfires rose up to engage, the Hurricanes dive-bombed Gela. Although one of the Hurricanes missed its target, the other two 35

41 were on mark, peppering the runway before turning for home at high speed and at lowaltitude. The Spitfires flew in-between the Hurricanes and the Me109s, forming a rearguard. No RAF aircraft were lost. Park was elated and pressed for more actions. But the next few weeks were uneventful. There were now days when the enemy made scant appearances. The reason for this soon became clear. British reconnaissance flights in early October revealed a German build-up. Kesselring had been ordered by Berlin to protect Axis shipping routes to North Africa, where Rommel s Afrika Korps was in desperate need of reinforcements and supplies before the second Battle of El Alamein. Within days of this revelation, Kesselring s counteroffensive had gone into action. In a series of brilliantly planned fighter sweeps aimed at neutralizing the Spitfires, Kesselring s pilots managed to bounce the RAF on several occasions as they climbed to intercept. Several seasoned pilots were lost. With this preliminary phase concluded, the Luftwaffe chief, Herman Göring now ordered the final destruction of Malta within a timeframe of eight days. Kesselring reluctantly obliged by resuming the Blitz on October 10. Since September, the Germans had built up their fighter and bomber forces, until there were now six groups of Ju88s on Sicily together with a small force of He111H night bombers from the elite Kampfgeschwader 100. The Italian Regia Aeronautica meantime, had deployed three groups of Cant Z.1007bis bombers, while the German Ju87Ds of II/Stukageschwader 3 had flown in from North Africa to reinforce the Ju87Bs of the Italian 101st Gruppo. To deal with Park s fighter, Kesselring had bolstered his existing Me109F fighter groups (I/JG77 and II/JG53) with the transfer of I/JG53 from Russia and the crack I/JG27 from North Africa. The Italians fielded three groups of Macchi MC.202s and one of Reggiane Re.2001 fighters. In response, Park had five Spitfire Mk V squadrons, Nos. 126, 185, 229, 249 and 1435, all at full strength and staffed by experienced pilots and commanders. In the following skirmishes, involving what were almost evenly-stacked forces, victory depended on resolve and skill. On October 11, the first of Kesselring s major raids hit Malta. Spitfires from No.229 Squadron were scrambled to intercept the force of three Ju88s escorted by almost thirty Me109s. Ignoring the escorts, the Spitfires attacked the Ju88s head-on and broke them up. Wing Commander Donaldson, flying with the squadron managed to down one of the Ju88s. The next day, October 12, Kesselring increased the number of escorts. As the raiders left their bases in Sicily, Park had already scrambled the Takali Wing, and the Spitfires caught the eight Ju88s and their seventy plus escorts over Sicily. The sky was instantly filled with twisting and flaming aircraft as the Spitfires tore into the enemy ranks. Within minutes, six Ju88s had fallen and perhaps five or six Me109s. But owing to their sheer numbers, the raiders managed to reach and bomb their targets. On the following day, October 13, No. 249 Squadron was scrambled at 4:30 am to intercept another enemy raid. Rushing from the readiness room, the pilots sprinted for their Spitfires in the chilly morning air and were airborne within two minutes. Fighter Controllers at Valletta radioed that the enemy forces numbered an estimated fifteen bombers with over eighty fighters, the biggest formation yet. The squadron had no time to climb above the attackers, and instead tore into them at level height, north of St. Paul s Bay. Some Spitfires broke through the fighter screen and engaged the bombers, while others were quickly enmeshed among the Me109s. Flying Officer George Screwball Beurling was one of those in the thick of combat. He quickly shot down a Ju88 and riddled another with bullets before being set 36

42 October 1942 THE END Now that the back of the enemy offensive has been broken, RAF pilots can afford to take a breather. Here, a group of pilots relax inbetween sorties. The aircraft in the background are a Spitfire Mk Vc (serial No. BR498) flown by Wing Commander Peter Hanks of the Luqa Fighter Wing and a Bristol Beaufighter. (National Archives of Malta) upon by the Me109s. Turning to ward off his attackers, he shot down two Messerschmitts before landing at Takali. By the end of the dogfight, No. 249 Squadron had destroyed eight enemy bombers and fifteen fighters. The Germans returned in the afternoon to try again, but as before, were intercepted before they reached Malta. All three raiding Ju88s were forced to jettison their bombs. On October 14, Park s radar controllers began picking up blips again, and two Spitfire squadrons were scrambled to investigate. They ran into an enemy force, eight bombers strong with an escort of fifty fighters. Beurling was again in the skies and managed to down a Ju88 and two Me109s in the skirmish. But he forgot about his tail while going to the aid of fellow compatriot, Flying Officer John Billy the Kid Williams (who was later tragically killed on the 30th). A Me109 was soon peppering Beurling s Spitfire with cannon rounds. Hit in the elbows, ribs, leg and heel, Beurling attempted to stabilize the crippled fighter. The controls had been shot away. With the throttle jammed wide open, the Spitfire went into a full-power dive. When Beurling flung back the canopy to bail out, the spin forced him back into his seat. The thought, so, this is what it s like when you re going to die, went through his mind,. Then he began to fight. The Rolls-Royce engine was streaming flames. Fighting the heavy physical forces, Beurling somehow managed to wriggle his way out onto the port wing, from where he could bail out into the inside of the spin. The stricken fighter was less than a thousand feet from the sea when he pulled his ripcord. The parachute burst open with a cannon-like crack, and seconds later the injured pilot splashed into the clear sea. Beurling spent the next two weeks in the hospital and was given the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) for his efforts. Many believe that he should have been given the Victoria Cross instead. His three kills on October 14 brought his total score to confirmed victories. But there would be no more dogfights over Malta. Told to pack up, Beurling returned to Canada for a bonds drive. Superiors feared that his death would transpire as too much of a loss for the RAF. On October 15, the Germans launched another ferocious attack. The Luqa Wing was scrambled but failed to meet the raiders. The Fighter Controllers alerted their forces at Takali, and scrambled a force under Wing Commander Donaldson at 6:30 am with a section of just four Spitfires all that were available. Climbing hard to intercept, the Allied pilots spotted eight Ju88s with perhaps seventy Me109s higher-up. Going for the bombers, Donaldson soon lost his novice wingman in the confusion, leaving his tail open for attack. 37

43 Lining up with a Ju88, Donaldson saw his cannons pound the Ju88, which began flaming, but at the same time, a Me109 had fixed itself on his tail. The British pilot was still firing when the cannon shells came ripping through his cockpit. The clean cockpit was suddenly filled with blood. Donaldson had no idea where he had been hit. Then he saw two fingers lying on his lap. A cannon round had entered through the side of the cockpit, blowing off the lower two fingers of his left hand as they grasped the control stick. Then Donaldson felt the blinding pain. He turned the Spitfire on his back and dived away from the fight. Approaching Takali, which had just been bombed, he discovered that the Spitfire s undercarriage had been shot away. A wheels-up landing on an pockmarked, bomb-strewn airstrip was far from appealing, but fearful of losing consciousness, Donaldson attempted a bellylanding. He landed the Spitfire smoothly enough, but passed out sortly afterwards. Fortunately, alerted ground crews managed to pull the unconscious pilot to safety before the aircraft went up in flames. Rushed to the Mtarfa hospital where doctors managed to save the remains of his left hand, Donaldson would later tell the visiting Keith Park that he was fit for duty and that the two fingers lost are not important ones. But Donaldson was through. Like Beurling, he was awarded the DSO, and like Beurling, he was going home. By October 16, Field Marshal Kesselring s aerial onslaught had eased. The Luftwaffe s tactic of sending over massed aircraft was not having the desired effect, and on October 18, Kesselring halted the raids. In seven days of fighting, the Germans had lost large numbers of aircraft. The Ju88s in particular, had suffered a crippling price. Thirty had been lost and 13 others had been seriously damaged, some of them subsequently written off. Fighter losses had also been heavy with at least a dozen Me109s and MC.202s shot down with more than ten others damaged. The RAF in turn had lost 27 Spitfires shot down (against German claims of 100) and more than 20 others had crash-landed or suffered heavy damage. It was apparent that the Luftwaffe s medium bombers were unable to break through Park s defenses, and even on the rare occasion that they did, their numbers were never sufficient to cause more than minimal damage. As a consequence, the Germans resorted to using fast, single-seat fighter-bombers. The veteran First Gruppe, of Schlachtgeschwader 2 (Ground Attack Wing 2), equipped with Me109E-4/B fighter-bombers was pulled out of North Africa, where it was needed and pitted into action against Malta. On October 19, the Messerschmitts swung into action. In what was a well-planned (but ultimately doomed) attack, fast-flying Italian Re.2001s and German Me109Es struck at Malta s airfields. As if on cue, three formations of heavily-escorted bombers made their appearance, one from the north, one from the east and one from the west; the intention being to split the defenders. With typical tenacity, Park sent up one Spitfire squadron which split up the western attack before flying east to fend off the eastern formation. THE DSO The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) was awarded for gallantry in the face of fire. Before 1943, the award could only be gained if the person was actually mentioned in dispatches. Therefore both Beurling and Donaldson had to have been mentioned in such official messages to the government and the King. Secondly, the Order was generally reserved for officers above the rank of Lt. Colonel or equivalent, but if it was given to someone of lesser rank such as Beurling (and others), it was usually for the highest degree of valor, just short of deserving the Britain s top military honor, the Victoria Cross. (Photo: Private/Author modified) 38

44 October - November 1942 With light fading, Park sent up night-fighting Beaufighters to destroy the northern formation. Kesselring s attack had been thwarted. On October 20, Me109 fighter-bombers made a re-appearance, but as like the previous day, they were unable to cause more than trivial damage. Kesselring finally had enough and pulled out his day-fighting units. In just two days of savage fighting, he had lost nine German and three Italian aircraft to minor RAF losses. The attrition rate was unacceptable, and from October 21, Kesserling resorted to sporadic night raids by German bombers and Italian Cant Z.1007s. It now became the turn of night-fighting Beaufighters to take a killing toll, and in time, these attacks too, faded away. By mid-november, Malta was again in the throes of a supply and ammunition shortage, with only about two weeks of food left on the island. Another convoy was planned, and four merchantmen escorted by cruisers and destroyers set sail from Egypt on November 17. Three days later, the convoy entered Valletta s Grand Harbor proud and intact. None of the freighters had been lost. The lack of enemy intervention suggested that Malta s ordeal was at last over and indeed it was. In the eighteen month siege, the island fortress had suffered terribly. Almost 1540 civilians had died and another 1846 severely wounded. The RAF in Malta had lost 547 planes in the air and another 160 on the ground. But the biggest losers were the Axis, with the Germans losing 574 planes in addition to Italian losses of 286 aircraft. These, along with their pilots and crews would prove irreplaceable losses for an enemy fighting on three fronts. THE PEACE VICTORY celebrations at Kingsway in Malta on VE-Day, May (National Archives of Malta) After the battle, peace did not immediately come to Malta. Enemy forces still occupied vast tracts of the Mediterranean. The North African campaign still had to be won, later to be followed by the successful invasions of Sicily and Italy. Malta thus became a staging area for RAF and Allied forces heading for other parts. Eventually, the action moved from the Mediterranean to the Tyrrhenian Sea as the Allies worked their way to Rome. But Malta was still a base for squadrons of Beaufighters and other strike aircraft, employed in their relentless hunt for maritime targets. Hundreds of tons of shipping destined for Libya, Tunisia or Algeria from Axis ports in Italy or France were sunk by these marauding British aircraft. The Maltese endured the hardships of war until 1944 when the war eventually passed them by. The island s last air raid alert broke out in the darkened early hours of 28 August 1944, with the all clear not sounding until 9:30 am. It was a welcome finale, considering that there had been 3,340 other instances that had come since 1940, announcing imminent danger. Only in 1945 were the sirens rung again, not to sound danger, but to announce triumph instead. Victory in Europe was heartily celebrated by Maltese, who remembered that some of the first steps towards victory were forged in the skies and waters around their small islands. 39

45 Bibliography Books Burns, Michael, G., Bader: The Man and His Men, London: Marks & Spencer, Cull, Brian & Frederick Galea, Hurricanes over Malta: June 1940 to April 1942, London: Grub Street, Dunning, Chris, Courage Alone, Aldershot: Hikoki Publications, Mason, Francis K., The Gloster Gladiator, London: Macdonald, Nichols, Steve, Malta Spitfire Aces, London: Osprey Publishing, Price, Alfred, Spitfire at War, London: Ian Allan, , Spitfire Mk V Aces , London: Osprey Publishing, Roba, Jean-Loius & Martin Pegg, Jagdwaffe: The Mediterranean , London: Ian Allan, Rogers, Anthony, Battle over Malta, Gloucestershire: Sutton Publishing Limited, Shores, Christopher & Clive Williams, Aces High Vol. 1, London: Grub Street, Shores, Christopher, Aces High Vol. 2, London: Grub Street, , Duel for the skies, London: Grub Street, Shores, Christopher & Brian Cull with Nivola Maliza, Malta: The Spitfire Year 1942, London: Grub Street, Spick, Mike, Luftwaffe Fighter Tactics, London: Greenhill Books, Thomas, Andrew, Gloster Gladiator Aces, London: Osprey Publishing, , Hurricane Aces , London: Osprey Publishing, Wheeler, Barry C., Military Aircraft Markings, London: Osprey Publishing, Other Sources The Air Battle of Malta, June 1940 to November 1942, London: HMSO, Gladiators at Malta, Malta Flypast, Issue 2, Alfred Coldman, Luftwaffe Claims Lists, Tony Wood, (Accessed 2005) The Commonwealth War Graves Commission, (Accessed 2009) 40

46 CREDITS All text and artwork created specifically for this document by the author. The photographs found within this document are from public sources. ABBREVIATIONS DFC Distinguished Flying Cross DFM Distinguished Flying Medal DSO Distinguished Service Order FAA Fleet Air Arm HMS His/Her Majesty s Ship IWM Imperial War Museum RAF Royal Air Force RN Royal Navy VC Victoria Cross CONTACT Send me an