Br'i1tish Forhfica'tiana!Nd De'fence of Lmo:I'ta 1800-1960
4 A. SAMUT-T,A;GLIAFERRO Br'i1tish ForHfica'tiana!nd De'fence of lMo:I'ta 1800-1960 I 1800 - 1815 Justifiably, when the British first came to MClIlta, they were overawed by the massiveness of our fortitfioa:tions. Un11rke ,the Knights, however, they did not aIllow themselves to be deluded [nto a state of fallse securdJty by rthe con spicuously deterrent though dnanJimate presence of those mighty c'Omplexes otf defence works which practically sur round the whole of the Ma1tese coast. WhaJt chiefliy over awed the B:rIi.ti:sh commanders and mi!lJJtaxy engineers were t!heenormous problems attending the structural rest'Oration and remode1ldiIlg 'Of those defence works and, above aJIl, their re-a:n:imation w1th operati'Onally trairned gunners and up~to-date armament. Thorough-going pr'Ofess~onalh:; as they were, they knew full weLl that the mere overinsurarnce with formidable stone fortificati'Ons, as an end m futseli, can never constitute a credible, Jet Mone impregnable, defence of an island-fortress! From the exceHenrt per,i'Odlic rep'Orts, staff papers and other seemJiIlgly ,inexhaustible corresP'Ondence relating t'O the garrison of Ma:lta from 1800 onwards, preserved at the PuMic Record 'Office tin Lond'On and to a much Jesser ex tent at Reg:iment:aJ. Museums such as th'Ose 'Of the RoyaJ Ar tiJIlery and R'Oyal Engineers, we can foHow the development oIf the vast and costly rearmament pr'Ogrammes, the pr'O gress1ve bud[d up of new f'Orb1fioati'Ons and the continuous fl'OW of essentilClil administrative backling and highly trajl11ed manpower, which, iIn c'Ombinati'On, transformed the ailIling ARCHIVUM, JOURNAL OF MALTESE HISTORICAL RESEARCH No.
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