In 1814, by the Treaty Of Paris Malta became a British protectorate.
It was not until 1835 that the first of Malta's many constitutions was
granted with the nomination of a Council of Government. Under British
rule Malta soon became a naval fortress, headquarters of the British
Mediterranean fleet, and gateway to Britain's far flung Empire. Malta
was too strategically important to be allowed much internal freedom,
so that representative constitutions were arbitrarily given and taken
away over the years, by colonial authorities. Nonetheless by 1929 a
body politic emerged, which was chiefly made up of the Constitutional,
Nationalist and Labor Parties, a pattern which remained virtually
unchanged until ten years later.
On September 1, 1939 WWII started and Malta found itself at war by
default, through its association with Britain. At that time the
political spectrum in Malta was sharply drawn between Nationalist party
members who identified closely with Italian values and culture, and
Constitutionalists voters who tolerated, or benefited from British
colonial rule. Viewed as an internal threat by the British,
prominent people with declared sympathy for the Italian cause were
placed in North African concentration camps for the duration of
hostilities. The possibility of widespread civilian strife or
uprising by Axis sympathizers at war's onset struck fear with local
authorities, but it never happened. Whatever kinship the Maltese
held for Italy came to an abrupt end in 1940 when incredibly the
Italian air force indiscriminately bombed civilian targets, causing
death, causalities and property destruction.
By an accident of nature Malta lay athwart the supply routes from
Italy to North Africa, which gave Britain air and sea control over
Italy's Mare Nostrum ( the Mediterranean). In October 1940 Grand
Admiral Erich Raeder, C-in-C of the German navy proposed the occupation
of Malta to the Fuhrer, which was declined. By 1941 Malta was under
severe air bombardment by the German X Air Corps under General Seisler
operating from Sicilian air bases, some 93 km away. Battered,
flattened and wrecked by the full onslaught of the Axis power, Malta
stood up and showed its tormentors a clenched fist of resistance. By
October of the same year Hitler issued the remarkable order to
paratroop General Kurt Student to prepare, in cooperation with the
Italians, for operation "Hercules", the conquest of Malta from the air
-- an airborne assault that never materialized.
By 1942, the bitter struggle for control of the central
Mediterranean reached its climax. To the German mind there was then no
alternative: either Malta, the thorn on their side must fall, or the
German Africa Corps under command of the legendary desert fox, General
Erwin Rommel would be lost. Field Marshall A. Kesserling, C-in-C
German Armed Forces in the area, decided Malta was too great a
nuisance to be allowed to live. It was to be smashed, made silent and
uninhabitable, then invaded. Accordingly he ordered a change in the
German attack tactics on Malta, from single sorties or small
formations, to carpet bombing by dense concentrations of bombers.
The entire "Fliegerkorps" in Sicily, consisting of three hundred
fifty aircraft, was thrown against Malta with a vengeance, pouncing
on any ship or plane which tried to succor the island. The Germans
systematically selected one point after the another, and pounded away
day and night, until each target was pulped out of existence. Bombs
were dropped by the ton: by the hundreds of tons: by the thousands of
tons. In April 1942 alone 6,730 tons of bombs were dropped, a dubious
record of airborne wholesale destruction which still holds true to this
very day. The German High Command thought the obliteration of Malta
and its people was complete. But they were wrong. Under the crescendo
of exploding bombs and mounting casualties, the hardened Maltese and
their British comrade-in arms stood firm and fought back as best they
could.
However passionately Benito Mussolini and the German Armed Forces
Operations Staff desired Malta's capture, the decisive factor again was
Hitler's determination that no full scale invasion be attempted.
Meanwhile in Malta, British Governor and C-in-C General Sir William
Dobbie, was replaced by Field Marshall Lord John Gort V.C, of Dunkirk
fame. This transfer of power signaled Britain's determination that
Malta should not be allowed to die, for if it fell the Mediterranean
sea would be lost and the North African campaign gravely imperiled.
There were several attempts by the British navy to reinforce Malta
with food, guns and ammunition. The larger and most significant of
these convoys was code named "Pedestal". Some sixty surface ships and
eight submarines set out of Gibraltar headed for the besieged island.
So fierce was the ensuing sea and air battle that every single one of
the ships was hit. One the "Ohio", a fourteen thousand ton American
tanker was marked for special treatment. Hit and damaged by more blows
any ship can endure, she made her agonizing way to Malta under
constant air attack strapped between two escort destroyers, with a
third vessel acting as her rudder.
By Autumn 1942 the German-Italian effort to subdue Malta came to a
final end. The island now rearmed, resumed its former function as a
deadly predator on the Axis supply routes to North Africa. The
pendulum had swung again. In recognition of the great discipline and
valor shown under siege by its people, King George VI awarded Malta
the George Cross that same year. In September 1943, Admiral of the
Fleet Sir Andrew Browne Cunningham, C-in-C Mediterranean, sent a radio
message to the Admiralty in London, England, which read in part,
"Please to inform your Lordships that the Italian battle fleet now lies
at anchor under the guns of the fortress of Malta". In May 1945 the
war in Europe came to an end, and with it Malta had earned a place of
honor in the annals of world history.
Special thanks to Mr. Paul Spiteri of Troy, Michigan, for his help
in making this article possible.
E-mail to Joseph Vella: joevella@prodigy.net
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