The Battle for Malta Page #7

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and two tugs going very slowly.

All along the bastions,

crowds watched Ohio's

agonisingly slow progress.

But at 8am, she finally

passed through the breakwater

and into Grand Harbour.

It was the 15th of August 1942,

the most important date

in Malta's calendar -

the feast day of Santa Maria.

I don't think I've ever

cried with so much emotion.

And the Army were throwing their hats

up in the air on the quay there.

And people were crying and

singing and clapping.

The convoy of Santa Maria was so welcome

because that really brought everything.

I think at the end, if it

wasn't for that convoy,

we would have been down then.

Even children took place to see

that they were all emptied,

to take them away and put them in

storage somewhere, the rations.

Because otherwise we would

have been really starved -

no ammunition, no medicines, no nothing.

That was the most momentous moment

because we realised that

was the saviour really.

I don't think there was

a dry eye, you know,

people all wept with joy.

The tanker Ohio managed to

come into Grand Harbour,

plus the four merchant men -

ammunition, fuel and foodstuffs.

And subsequently aeroplanes

could fly and people could eat.

Dress a bit and eventually hit

back hard at the Axis powers.

Just two weeks after the

Ohio reach the island,

four Axis tankers were

sent to Rommel's aid.

Malta's now stronger and better

organised forces sank them all.

The island had seen out its darkest day.

Malta's ordeal was far from over,

but she'd faced down her

stiffest challenge.

The siege had been lifted and the

convoys were getting through.

In a matter of months, the island's

fortunes had reversed completely.

The RAF had regained control of the skies,

her strike forces were sinking more

Axis shipping than ever before

and she had in place the leadership

upon which could depend.

But it was the change in Axis

strategy that spared Malta.

Kasselring's fears had been realised.

Fortress Malta proved

decisive in North Africa.

In the desert, Rommel's

supplies were drained

as Malta was crippling his supply lines.

40% of fuel was sunk in August.

Another 20% lost in September.

The Axis adventure in

North Africa was doomed.

The struggle of the Maltese

people to defend their islands

has become a famous one and the

debt the Allies owe them is huge.

But Malta's importance

lay in the wider battle.

Its offensive role was vital.

In July 1943, the Allies

turned north to Sicily.

Spearheading the invasion,

lying just 60 miles away,

and now swarming with aircraft, was Malta.

Churchill later identified the

defence of Malta as the keystone

to Britain's position in

Egypt and the Middle East.

It was more than a great

tale of hardship and valour.

Indeed, success in North

Africa started and hinged on

the battle for Malta.

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