6 The Independent I Thursday 15 August 2019 The Malta Independent I Thursday 15 August 2019 7

~ - -- - I SANTA MARIJA , , I

• Albert Galea & Giulia Magri some time been in great danger. keep in mind that I am writing It is imperative that she should be this narrative of the war as seen The strategic importance of Malta kept supplied. These are her crit­ through the eyes of a boy; we is an intrinsic part of the coun­ ical months, and we cannot fail could with relative ease evade the try's history. Napoleon Bona­ her. She has stood up to the most bombing by going into the shel­ parte, while on his travels in the violent attack from the air that ters but there was no way of run- Mediterranean, had one said that has ever been made and now she . ning away from hunger," he he would prefer to see the British needs our help in continuing the writes in his book Wartime Diary in one of the suburbs of Paris battle. Her courage is worthy of of a Maltese Boy. than in Malta. Given the context yours," Alexander told the ship Mizzi goes on to recall that food in the Mediterranean during captains. shortages were at their worst in World War Two - Malta was The message coincided with the August 1942: "You could see seen as being just as significant to time that German reconnaissance emaciated people wherever you the British as it was to Napoleon. aircraft detected the convoy. In­ looked, with bones showing British Prime Minister Winston deed the Axis side also knew full through their skins; men tighten­ Churchill summed this up per­ well of the importance of the con­ ing belts and women did the fectly, saying that the loss of voy, and were bent on having it same to dresses. I recollect hear­ Malta would be "a disaster of stopped as Malta had been a ing people say that goats weJe [the] first magnitude to the thorn in their supply lines be­ being slaughtered for consump­ British Empire, and probably tween mainland Europe and tion and there were even ru­ [would be] fatal in the long run to North Africa. mours going about that cats and the defence of the Nile Valley". To this end, hundreds of aircraft dogs were likewise being killed Operation Pedestal was un­ were siphoned off to and for the same purpose." precedented in its size: four air­ - all with the sole aim of In his memoir he recalls the craft carriers, two , destroying the convoy. A mes­ feast day of the Assumption of . seven light and 32 de­ sage from Reichsmarschall Her­ the Blessed Virgin Mary, when stroyers - along with a cohort of mann Goering - the commander the Ohio sailed into the Grand and fuelling ships - in chief of the - was in Harbour and how it "saved the water arms, which seemed to were tasked with making sure fact intercepted by code breakers population". welcome and embrace it. The that 14 merchant ships filled to at Bletchley Park, wherein Goer­ "I do not remember the wel­ tanker was still being supported the brim with a variety of sup­ ing ordered that the Luftwaffe <;:ome given to the relief forces by the two , one on plies made it into Grand Har­ "will operate with no other ( ...) but I certainly remember that each side, and nursed into har­ bour. thought in mind than the de­ wil:hiri days of its arrival white bour by tugboats," he wrote. Its size was borne out of cir­ struction of the British convoy", The merchant ships Rochester rival. which may be the "decisive The significance of the convoy flour made its appearance in the "The crowds on the bastions at cumstance: Malta was starving before also noting that "the de­ Castle, Brisbane Star, Melbourne In any other situation, the ph~se ,~f the struggle for North was however not just strategic. form of the white loaf which soon first were silent. Then they ex­ and two previous convoys - Op­ struction of this convoy is of de­ Star, and Port Chalmers all sus­ amount of losses that the convoy Africa . Tens of thousands of Maltese· replaced the dark brown ration ploded into an orgy of cheering, eration Harpoon and Operation cisive importance". tained varying degrees of dam­ sustained would have been The reached the have suffered through months of loaf. On first seeing a white loaf I clapping, shouting and waving of Vigorous - had seen just two ! he Axis in fact inflicted great age as well. The Brisbane Star in enough for it to be considered a same conclusion, while General hardship and near-starvation, as could scarcely believe my Maltese flags and Union Jacks, to merchant ships out of 17 arrive losses on the convoy: the aircraft fact had lost part of its bow after failure - but in the grand scheme Giuseppe Santoro, the deputy a result of the Axis resolution to eyes.. ., " Mizzi recalls. the accompaniment of the mili­ on the besieged island. carrier HMS Eagle was the first to b~ing hit by a torpedo, while the of things, it was considered to be chief of staff of the Regia Aero­ bomb the island into submission. Charles Grech meanwhile was tary band, playing from the The importance of the convoy be sunk, while the merchant Port Chalmers was lucky to catch anything but. nautica, wrote that the British The suffering of these war _hard­ orie of those who flocked to Val­ Lower Barrakka bastion. Their was indicated by the Admiralty. ships Deucalion, Empire Hope, an in its paravine, Churchill himself was in talks had achieved a strategic success ship.s brought about a number of letta's bastions to watch the Ohio hearts went out to the heroes of On 10 August 1942 at Bam, as the Clan Ferguson- a veteran of 11 The mainstay of the convoy was with USSR leader Josef Stalin, by bringing Malta back into ac­ personal memories and recollec­ enter the . He re­ the Ohio, who had been close to . convoy sailed past , First , Wairangi, Alme­ however the tanker Ohio. It had and had promised that the Red tion "in the final phase of the tions of those Maltese growing calls in his memoir - Raiders death a hundred times and had Lord of the Admiralty Albert Vic­ ria Lykes, Glenorchy and Santa' been subjected to an incredible Army would be relieved by an at­ struggle in ". up and living amongst the rubble Passed: Wartime Recollections of only been egged on by the tor Alexander sent a message to Elisa were all sunk. The mer­ amount of attacks, had been evac­ tack on the "soft underbelly" of Eberhard W eichold - the liaison of the island during what was ef­ a Maltese Youngster - that the courage and determination the captains of the ships in the chant ship Dorset also had to be uated twice, sported a gaping 35 Europe -Italy. For that attack to officer of the at the fectively the Second Siege of gardens were already crowded shown by the skipper Captain convoy, emphasising the need for abandoned, while the merchant square metre hole in it, had a be possible though, Churchill in Rome - pro­ Malta. These Maltese, young and with people, waiting anxiously to Mason." Malta to remain supplied. ship Waimarama -which was crashed German aircraft on deck, saw that Malta had to be retained vided an apt surnmary of how old, faced threats of bombard­ see whether the tanker would Grech goes on to say that after President ntarks "Before you start on this opera­ carrying aviation fuel on deck - had a destroyed rudder, and was as a base. the Axis viewed the outcome of ment, starvation and disease, liv­ safely enter between the break­ the arrival of the convoy things tion, the First Sea Lord and I are also sustained a direct hit, result­ only still afloat with the help of He was kept up to date by the the convoy. ing a life of constant prayer waters and how some actually changed drastically in Malta, anxious that you should know ing in an explosion that was so four other ships; HMS Rye tow­ Admiralty on the fate of the con­ ~' To the continental observer, clinging on to hope. doubted that the tanker would highlighting that the population 77th anniversary of how grateful the Board of Admi­ fierce that,it sank the ship and ing it, HMS Ledbury securing its voy - possibly with the abject the British losses seemed to rep­ In May 1942 - before the arrival make it. now could look towards their fu­ ralty are to you for undertaking took a German out of the aft and coaxing it in the right di­ maritime failures that convoys resent a big victory for the Axis, of two merchant ships as part of "Just after 9:00am, Ohio was lit­ ture with hope and almost know­ this difficult task. Malta has for air with it. rection, and HMS Penn and HMS such as or but in reality the facts were quite - the bread erally carried between the break- ing that the worst was over. Operation Pedestal Brarnham practically lashed to ei­ PQ17 in the Arctic. had been still different, since it had not been ration was reduced to three­ ther side of the tanker, acting like fresh in mind. possible to prevent a British force, eighths of a ratal (1 ratal being President George Vella and Mrs George Vella said how Opera­ two absurdly large surgic!!l As the updates filtered in, and among which were five merchant equivalent to 28 grams). By Au­ Vella yesterday attended a com­ tion Pedestal, or il-Konvoj' ta' splints. even while the Ohio's fate re­ · vessels, from reaching Valetta," gust, when Pedestal set off, rice, memorative service marking Santa Marija, is probably one of These five remaining merchant mained in the balance, Churchill he wrote. sugar and cooking oil were no the 77th anniversary of Opera­ the most decisive episodes in ships made it into Grand Har­ sent Stalin a note admitting that "Thanks to these new supplies longer available, whilst butter tion Pedestal. Malta's recent past. bour, with the Port Chalmers ar­ while the losses of the convoy Malta was now capable of fight­ and lard rations were reduced to Representatives from the On this special day, the Presi­ riving first on August 13, soon were substantial, sufficient ship­ ing for several weeks, or, at a a fourth of a ratal for one person, Association (Malta dent continued, we remember followed by the Rochester Castle ping had arrived to justify the pinch, for several months. The and half ratal of cheese rations for Branch), Armed Forces of Malta and salute the victims of Opera­ and the Melbourne Star. The Bris­ cost. main issue, the danger of air at­ five to six persons. (Maritime Section), and rela­ tion Pedestal and others who bane Star arrived the day after, Referring to the proposed inva­ tack on the supply route to North Laurence Mizzi, who was eight tives of the sailors who had bravely gave their lives to pro-­ while the Ohio - by that time not sion of Italy, Churchill con­ Africa, remained. To achieve this years old at the time, recalls that been on du ty for Operation tect peace and stability in Eu­ much more than a sagging wreck cluded: "The enemy will no objective no price was too high, the hunger was in actual fact Pedestal were present, as well rope and the Mediterranean. - arrived in pprt on August 15, doubt proclaim this a great vic­ and from this point of view the worse than the incessant bomb­ as dignitaries from the British This Service, the President the day of the feast of the Annun­ tory at sea, and so it would be but British operation, in spite of all ing. High Commission and US Em­ concluded, is also a celebration ciation of the Virgin Mary, still for the strategic significance of the losses, was not a defeat, but a "In my opinion hunger was bassy. Malta Emigrants' Com­ of the bravery and determina­ carrying over 9,000 tonnes of oil Malta in view of future plans." strategic failure of the first order worse than the bombing. I can be­ mission Monsignor Alfred tion of the Maltese population and petroleum. The sentiments on the Axis side by the Axis, the repercussions of lieve that those who lost relatives Vella and Chancellor of St of the post-war period who, The tanker's arrival was re­ were similar; the arrival of the which will one day be felt.. ." during the war through bombing Paul's Pro-Cathedral Reverend through renewed sacrifices, re­ garded as a miracle, and the con­ four merchant ships and the Those repercussions were in­ will take a different view of the Simon Godfrey presided over built the country into a modern . voy soon came to be known as tanker was deemed "unsatisfac­ deed felt; the invasion of Italy - situation and I myself would the commemorative service. and peaceful nation, the State the Santa Marija convoy, re­ tory" and a Kriegsmarine report Operation Husky - began less share that view in those circum­ In his address, President we all can enjoy today. flected the day of the tanker's ar- saw the convoy as something than a year later. stances. But the reader has to