Being there . . . . during the Siege of Malta and its amazingly heroic defense of the British
Mediterranean island colony from June 1940 to 11 September 1943 when the German air
attacks were completely lifted due to the Italian fleet surrendering at Valletta, the beleaguered
capital of the island. Between and during those terrible months, the 270,000 Maltese civilian
inhabitants, refusing to capitulate to Hitler’s order of further intensifying the bombing, were on
the brink of starvation. Little Malta, so close to German-Italian occupied Sicily only 60 miles
away was critical to both the Axis and Allied sides – – the Allied side because it possessed several
airfields and the only British harbor, Valletta, between Gibraltar and Alexandria; the Hitler-
dominated Axis because Churchill’s air and sea strengths were stifling German conveys
supplying Axis forces fighting struggling to get to Cairo and the vast oil fields beyond. Though
plans were naturally formulated by the German High Command to invade the medium-sized
island fortress, Hitler stepped in and said bombing would reduce the defenses to rubble, saving
the Germans thinned-out manpower, munitions, and machines. That this was never
permanently achieved was one of the reasons the Nazis, by the summer of 1943, the Allied
commands across Europe knew, would eventually lose World War II for Herr Hitler. But that
was still two years away. Three important issues were at hand for the British: get more Spitfire
fighters onto the Malta airfields, increase the shore and coastal defenses for the ever-possibility
of Axis invasion, and, most critical of all, keep the population, our good friends, from starving to
death.
McFARLAND PUBLISHERS, WHO ELSE?, HAS JUST PUBLISHED THE MOST RIVETING, BEST–EVER
PORTRAYAL OF “OPERATION PEDESTAL”, AUGUST 1942, TO SAVE 270,000 MALTESE CIVILIANS,
AND SEVERAL THOUSAND ROYAL AIR FORCE PERSONNEL, FIGHTER PILOTS, 61 SPITFIRE ENGINE
MECHANIC TEAMS AND MAINTENANCE CREWS, AND HUNDRED OF TOP BRITISH MEDICAL
STAFFS. CHURCHILL ADAMENTEDLY APPROVED WHAT WAS THEN THE LARGEST ROYAL NAVY
FORCE YET ASSEMBLED IN WORLD HISTORY: TWO BATTLESHIPS, THREE AIRCRAFT CARRIERS,
SEVEN LIGHT CRUISERS, 32 DESTROYERS AND A FLEET OF TRANSPORTS MUSTERED FROM
OUTPOSTS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD TO SAIL WITH URGENTLY NEEDED SUPPLIES FOR THE
GRAND HARBOR OF MALTA’S PORT CITY OF VALETTA. AFTER READING THIS ENTHRALLING
BOOK, YOU’LL CRY OUT TO WATCH THE 1953 BRITISH FEATURE FILM, “MALTA STORY’,
STARRING ALEC GUINESS.
Reviewed and highly, highly recommended by Don DeNevi
“MALTA’S SAVIOR – – Operation Pedestal, August 1942” by John Henshaw. McFARLAND &
COMPANY, Inc., Publishers, Jefferson, North Carolina: 2024, 319 pages, 7” x 10”, softcover;
Bibliography complete; Chapter Notes good; Military Glossary exceptional; Appendices
incomparable; Aftermath and Conclusion, brilliantly combined; overall grade A+; all for $55.
Visit, www.mcfarlandpub.com.
In a response to a telegram from General Auchinleck, Commander-in-Chief Middle East, Prime
Minster Winston Churchill stated on 8 May 1942, “The loss of Malta would be a disaster of first
magnitude to the British Empire, and probably fatal in the long run to the defense of the Nile
Valley.” In short, there was no question the Italians and Germans did their best to blast Malta
off the map of the Mediterranean, or simply starve it too death since the Royal Navy was
wreaking havoc among Axis ships and planes trying to get to North Africa and Rommel and his
elite Afrika Korps. But they couldn’t because “the courageous island refused to die”.
