Siege: Malta 1940-1943 PDF Book

SIEGE: MALTA 1940-1943 PDF, EPUB, EBOOK

Want to Read saving…. A club run, Operation Picket was to use Argus and Eagle , with Force H as a decoy, but the Spitfire ferry tanks were found to be defective and the operation was called off. The cruiser Gloucester , which had a long range, joining the force. It provided an increasingly potent offensive arm. The Allied defeat in France gave the Italians an opportunity to seize Malta but Italian intelligence overestimated the Maltese defences and Mussolini thought that an invasion would be unnecessary once Britain made peace. Malta had always been under threat and invasion had been considered by the Germans, but in the end Crete was favoured. In looking at the beginnings of the siege, the author makes it clear that, in spite of its strategic importance, the island was totally unprepared for war. It was one of the few German tankers exporting oil from Romania. Their declared intention was to flatten the land and starve the people into submission and they very nearly succeeded. II repr. The book deserves 4 stars, but the kindle edition was so full of typos that it became difficult to read! The three-year siege of Malta was one of the longest sieges in history. The subsequent campaign and the heavy German losses in the Battle of Crete convinced Hitler that air drops behind enemy lines, using paratroopers, were no longer feasible unless surprise was achieved. Convoy MW 19 left Alexandria on 7 January with five freighters and a tanker with nine destroyers and survived an attack by torpedo bombers at dusk on 8 January. The book contains the experiences of the pilots, sailors, soldiers and civilians though not too many of the latter inhabiting "the most bombed place on earth" during those few years, and is a remarkable snapshot of what a midth century seige was like from the sharp end. Nov 04, Antoine Vanner rated it it was amazing. Namespaces Article Talk. The War at Sea — The Defensive. Librarian note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name James Holland was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire, and studied history at Durham University. Thank you James Holland for writing this book. Download as PDF Printable version. On 1 March, the Luftwaffe attacks on airfields destroyed all of the Wellingtons brought in in October. Siege: Malta 1940-1943 Writer

It's hard to single out any one episode for special praise, because the book is full of courage above and beyond all expectat This book details not only one of the great epics of the 20th Century but also the heights to which the Human Spirit can rise. Retrieved 9 October The narrative is well paced and told in an exciting, entertaining manner. During and , more than 3, raids occurred. Hitler's Heavy Panzers Military operations from Malta and using the island as a staging post, led to Axis air campaigns against the island in and Ten Gladiators in crates for transit were assembled and as no more than three aircraft flew at once, were called 'Faith', 'Hope' and 'Charity'. This was relaxed when Hitler turned his attention to war with Russia. An excellent read into wartime Malta and how the island battled and won against all odds as it has done many times in its history. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Also, James Holland's outstanding 'Fortress Malta' is well worth reading. The book well encapsulates the tragic WW2 story of the small island of Malta through the lens of the surviving and not-surviving person life stories. Africa Asia Europe. During a night attack, a merchantman and a destroyer were near-missed and a destroyer evaded a torpedo and on 9 January a storm slowed the tanker and the convoy missed the meeting with Force K and later made rendezvous with three Malta destroyers. Bristol Blenheim bombers also joined the defenders and began offensive operations. However, ships were constantly sunk or damaged. The Axis powers were equally determined to annihilate Malta. Talliana regarded her with a pitying sort of expression. Bibliography Category Index Portal. They also could take a lot of damage and had a tighter turning circle making them perfectly adequate for dogfighting. The book deserves 4 stars, but the kindle edition was so full of typos that it became difficult to read! This led to a notable increase in the bombing of Malta. The book follows dozens of individuals throughout the war, and only a very few of them are native Maltese. Force K of two cruisers and two destroyers sailed from Malta on 8 November and sank the merchant ships of an Axis convoy off Cape Spartivento. More filters. The towns surrounding the industrial areas around the harbours took a fearful pounding, and much of the population was evacuated to the centre of the island. But he waited 40 years to publish this account, believing that time would give a better perspective. Malta regained its strength when the Axis looked to other troubled areas. He was able to gain the ascendancy in North Africa once again. It is not the fault of the book, but I was trying to read it when I had the flu and just couldn't concentrate. A great read that told me a lot about a part of the war that I knew had happened, but knew few details about. When, in June, Hitler attacked the Soviet Union under Operation Barbarossa , Fliegerkorps X departed for the Eastern Front, and the Regia Aeronautica was left to continue its highly effective air campaign against Malta in the coming months. Welshman made an independent run close to the Algerian coast but was shadowed by Axis aircraft and attacked by fighter-bombers, bombers, and torpedo bombers until dusk. German intervention over Malta was more a result of the Italian defeats in North Africa than Italian failures to deal with the island. The second was Hitler himself. Siege: Malta 1940-1943 Reviews

Related Searches. Apr 09, Jordan Powell rated it really liked it. Fascinating, I never realised how tough Malta had it during the war, makes the Battle of Britain seem not so bad. He was able to gain the ascendancy in North Africa once again. Interchangeably he writes about the ferociousness of the war on Malta and the lives of the people down on the ground experiencing the battle first hand. Open Preview See a Problem? Must read more. Auschwitz: The Nazi Solution. I am putting this book aside to read later. As the author tells the story of the air war, he looks at many of British deficiencies. The privations suffered by the ordinary people are evoked as well as the initially deplorable conditions facing pilots who were trying to defend the island, and the crews of ships and submarines also involved in the operations around the island. Airfields and Airmen of the Channel Coast. Main articles: Operation Harpoon and Operation Vigorous. Butler, Sir James ed. She reached Malta on 16 July and departed again on 18 July. The reluctance of the Italians to act directly against Malta throughout was strengthened by the Battle of Taranto , in which much of the Italian surface fleet was put out of action by Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm torpedo bombers. The island also played a large