Figure 1.--Tiny Valletta on Malta was the most bombed place during World War II, in terms of area and populatiom. Malta was playing a crucial role in the British operations to attack Italian convoys carrying vital supplies for th Afrika Korps. This photograph was taken at the height of the Axis air campaign agains Malta (May 1942). The press caption read, "Bombs, Debris, and Cpurage Can Be Seen in Pictures from Malta: These pictures from Malta, most bombed place in the world, show damage to streets and buildings. They also show the people of the islanddealing with the raids and carrying on their everyday life with cheerfulness and courage. Maltese children are still smiling."

Malta had a civilian population of some 175,000 people, both Maltese and British. As a result of the boming and seige, housing and food shortages developed. Malta was dependent on the British convoys delivering supplies. With the substantial British garrison, there was no way that the island could feed itself. Food rations were cut for the garison. The civilians fared even worse. Civilians built whatever shelters they could piece together. Natural shelters were heavily used such as caves. People dug into the sandstone cliffs. Many lived in underground 'cubicles'. Schools along with other buildings were destroyed. Classes continued in the open air, but at carefully selected sites. The girls wore protective sun hats. News reel footage show well-drilled school children with their teachers acustomed to Axis bombing raids moving smartly in good order to nearby bomb shelters when the air-raid sireens went. It is difficult to imagine school children, especially the younger children, taking Axis air raids in their stride as part of the daily routine, but this is exactly what they did. Food shortages were much more difficult to address. One survivir recalls, " I remember my father telling me that there were only 10 days’ supplies left. As our ration at the time was very limited — only one slice of bread each per day — leaving the table hungry wasn’t unusual. My poor mother struggled to feed us — I remember she became painfully thin, and began to look old. My father recorded he lost 8” off his waist and felt quite fit except when walking quickly his heart beat sounded like a going in his ears. How our poor dog Handak survived I don’t know as he was ordered out of the dining room when my mother realized we were slipping titbits under the table. The poor dog was hungry too. First our canaries died and then the chickens (no doubt a meal was made of each hen). They stopped laying for lack of food although the gate to the chicken run was left open so they could find what they could in the garden. I used to queue at the Victory kitchen in Floriana for our one meal a day. Divided between seven of us, it was pathetic; maybe enough for one and a half people — but I must say, it was always very tasty. My mother learnt to serve it on small plates. One day my father acquired a sack of oatmeal riddled with weevils. My mother asked me to try and clean it — an impossible task — so it was cooked with the weevils! My sisters and I played 'loves me, loves me not' with weevils rather than fruit stones." [Hutchinson] The food shortages got so severe that they led to sic kness and disease among both the British military garison and civilians. The Axis planes dropped more than 14,000 bombs and destroyed some 30,000 buildings. That number may not sound large in World War II terms, but the point is it was concentrated on a very small pinpoint in the Mediterranean. Malta itself is a small island and most of the bombs were dropped on Valletta, a small port. There were many civilan injuries as a result of the bombings. There were, however, relatively few fatalities. Medical supplies ran low. Until Pedestal and the arrival of the tanker SS Ohio and a few supply ships, it looke liked statvation would force Malta to surrender to the Axis forces. Incredibly given the intensity of the bombing, only 1,500 civilians were killed. People in Valletta and 'the three cities' were evacuated.

Sources

Hutchinson, Margaret (nee Staples). "My memories of Malta during the Second World War," WW2 People's War website. (2005) Article ID: A7075578.

Created: 1:22 AM 7/16/2017
Last updated: 1:23 AM 7/16/2017