If you read about WW II in the European theater, you often read about the importance of the island of Malta in the fight for North Africa and the Mediterranean Sea. But most of the details are left out. This book covers those details very nicely, especially the costs to maintain the island. I've read there are better books on the subject, but this one is also good and probably shorter (224 pages). And it probably could have used a few more maps. The book has 30 chapters, so it's a good book to read when you have a few minutes before doing something else.
Still, while I was aware of the island's importance, I was not fully aware of the suffering incurred by the people of Malta and its British garrison. I lost count of the number of times I muttered "Holy s--t" while reading these accounts. Through the use of statistics and accounts, the author helps you understand that if the people of Malta had been in London at the height of the "Blitz," they would had regarded it as a "rest period."
Just some examples: All able bodied men on Malta, from 16 to 60, were called up for active service; kerosene, used for heat and cooking, was too precious to be used for heat, so in the colder months families slept together for warmth; for months at a time the bombing was continuous; and the number of ships sunk and lives lost just to get a few merchant ships through to resupply the island was heart-rendering.
It is fully understandable why the King of England awarded the George Cross, Britain's highest award for civilians, to the entire Island of Malta.
The only problem I had with the book was part of its DJ description, which states, "The island was the vital supply base for British and Imperial troops in the to-and-fro desert campaigns against first Italy and then Germany and Rommel's Afrika Korps."
This is incorrect. The problem was in getting supplies to the island, not the other way around, as the title leads you to believe. And the Axis saw it somewhat differently too. Malta and its garrison---planes, surface ships, submarines, etc.---was responsible for significantly destroying---often 40-60%---of the supplies being transported to Axis forces in North Africa, which greatly affected the course of the war there.
Still, while I was aware of the island's importance, I was not fully aware of the suffering incurred by the people of Malta and its British garrison. I lost count of the number of times I muttered "Holy s--t" while reading these accounts. Through the use of statistics and accounts, the author helps you understand that if the people of Malta had been in London at the height of the "Blitz," they would had regarded it as a "rest period."
Just some examples: All able bodied men on Malta, from 16 to 60, were called up for active service; kerosene, used for heat and cooking, was too precious to be used for heat, so in the colder months families slept together for warmth; for months at a time the bombing was continuous; and the number of ships sunk and lives lost just to get a few merchant ships through to resupply the island was heart-rendering.
It is fully understandable why the King of England awarded the George Cross, Britain's highest award for civilians, to the entire Island of Malta.
The only problem I had with the book was part of its DJ description, which states, "The island was the vital supply base for British and Imperial troops in the to-and-fro desert campaigns against first Italy and then Germany and Rommel's Afrika Korps."
This is incorrect. The problem was in getting supplies to the island, not the other way around, as the title leads you to believe. And the Axis saw it somewhat differently too. Malta and its garrison---planes, surface ships, submarines, etc.---was responsible for significantly destroying---often 40-60%---of the supplies being transported to Axis forces in North Africa, which greatly affected the course of the war there.
