Convoy of carnage: A heroic British flotilla planned to save Malta from starvation in 1942... but U-boats were ready to pick off our ships like sitting ducks, writes MAX HASTINGS in one of the most dramatic forgotten chapters of the war

UK Daily Mail ^ | April 30, 2021 | Max Hastings

[C19fan]

Since 1815, the island of Malta had been viewed as one of the jewels in Britain’s crown of empire — a vital way-station to the East and a sun-baked fortress that showcased the Royal Navy’s dominance of the Mediterranean.

But in the summer of 1942 it was the only surviving British bastion in the central Mediterranean, beleaguered, tottering and close to capitulation.

Constant attack from as many as 300 aircraft in 24 hours — the Italians by day, the Germans by night — had left more than a thousand people dead, 4,500 injured and 15,500 homes destroyed. Its Grand Harbour was a lagoon of stagnant oil from sunken ships, amid which bobbed debris and decomposing corpses.

[jerod]

Sadly... All the chapters of World War 2 have are being forgotten. I talked with a young woman in her 30s the other day... She didn’t know who Winston Churchill was. It’s depressing to discover that todays youth are not being educated about history.

[KC_Lion]

Thank You for posting.

Good Documentary here as well: Surviving The Siege Of Malta | Battlefield Mysteries | Timeline

[mware]

My parish priest is from Malta and speaks of this often. St. George Cross was awarded to the people of Malta for their courageous stand against Nazi Germany.

[Southside_Chicago_Republican]

Bookmark

[Bigg Red]

Oh, that is very sad.

God blessed the Allies with so many, many brave men.
RIP, heroes.

[kearnyirish2]

That is how you make a culture disappear...

[tje]

Thanks for posting - lost an uncle there.

[DuncanWaring]

Another account of Operation Pedestal:

http://www.usmm.org/malta.html

[Midwesterner53]

God bless these heroes.

[LS]

There was already a very good book on this celebrating the two Americans who basically brought in the last ship more or less by themselves.

[Sequoyah101]

And this is the reason the Republic is lost. New generations that have no idea what it is all about and what happens if it is lost.

[jmacusa]

Go to You Tube every Saturday night and watch Indy Neidell’s “WW2 Week By Week’’ series.

He does an excellent job presenting WW2 literally week by week.

He previously did a week by week series on WW1.

[Paul R.]

The Allied (mostly British) forces sent a lot of Axis ships and men to their ends, too.

In a way, this part of the war was ultimately all about the Axis (mostly the Germans) need for oil.

[jerod]

Thanks for the suggestion.