Download or read book Siege of Malta 1940 42 written by Anthony Rogers and published by Greenhill Books. This book was released on 2020-03-20 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For nearly two and a half years, from June 1940 until late 1942, Malta was subjected to one Axis air raid after another. The Mediterranean island was effectively beleaguered, reliant for defence on anti-aircraft guns and often-outnumbered fighter aircraft and dependent for survival on naval supply convoys. The Axis attempted to bomb and starve Malta into submission, attacking ports, military and industrial areas, leading to Malta becoming one of the most intensively bombed areas of the Second World War, with well over 3000 alerts before the end of hostilities. But against the odds, and at heavy cost, Malta was held. Malta was vital to Allied success in North Africa, dominating Axis supply routes to the region. It was a remarkable, intense campaign, a crucial turning point in the Second World War, and one of the Allies’ greatest tactical and strategic victories. This is an account of that desperate time, as witnessed by those who were there and illustrated with their wartime photographs, together with colour images of Malta today.
Download or read book Siege Malta 1940 1943 written by Ernie Bradford and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2011-11-17 with total page 263 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Situated midway between Europe and Africa, Malta played a central role in the battles for the mastery of North Africa. 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 Rommels Afrika Korps. The three-year siege of Malta was one of the longest in history. In this thrilling account the author, who first came to know and love Malta whilst serving with the Royal Navy during the Second World War, paints a vivid picture of the suffering of the island and its population. He draws on personal accounts and reminiscences of the participants; he tells of the occasional despair that turned to joy when the convoys got through with much-needed supplies and of the bravery of both the civilians and the armed forces stationed there that uniquely won for Malta the George Cross. Ernle Bradford was born in Norfolk in 1922 and joined the Royal Navy at eighteen. He served with distinction throughout the Second World War. After the war he based himself in Malta, sailing the Mediterranean in a number of small boats and writing prolifically about its history. Among his other books are The Great Siege: Malta 1565, Ulysses Found, Mediterranean: Portrait of a Sea, Cleopatra, Hannibal, The Shield and the Sword and Christopher Columbus. He died in 1986.
Download or read book Fortress Malta written by James Holland and published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. This book was released on 2013-01-31 with total page 497 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The extraordinary drama of Malta's WWII victory against impossible odds told through the eyes of the people who were there. In March and April 1942, more explosives were dropped on the tiny Mediterranean island of Malta - smaller than the Isle of Wight - than on the whole of Britain during the first year of the Blitz. Malta had become one of the most strategically important places in the world. From there, the Allies could attack Axis supply lines to North Africa; without it, Rommel would be able to march unchecked into Egypt, Suez and the Middle East. For the Allies this would have been catastrophic. As Churchill said, Malta had to be held 'at all costs'. FORTRESS MALTA follows the story through the eyes of those who were there: young men such as twenty-year-old fighter pilot Raoul Daddo-Langlois, anti-aircraft gunner Ken Griffiths, American Art Roscoe and submariner Tubby Crawford - who served on the most successful Allied submarine of the Second World War; cabaret dancer-turned RAF plotter Christina Ratcliffe, and her lover, the brilliant and irrepressible reconnaissance pilot, Adrian Warburton. Their stories and others provide extraordinary first-hand accounts of heroism, resilience, love, and loss, highlighting one of the most remarkable stories of World War II.
Download or read book Malta Besieged 1940 1942 written by David G. Williamson and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2007-07-19 with total page 140 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This WWII military study sheds new light on the legendary Siege of Malta, combining a detailed narrative with provocative strategic analysis. The heroic defense of Malta against the Axis powers is one of the most famous episodes of the Second World War. For more than two years this tiny island was the critical to maintaining control of the Mediterranean and essential to the outcome of the North African campaign. David Williamson, in this thought-provoking reassessment, examines the strategy underpinning British determination to hold on to the island. Expertly researched and vividly detailed, Malta Besieged sheds new light on the motives for persisting with such a costly defense against huge odds. he also explores the question of the islanders’ loyalty to the British crown. His incisive analysis takes account of the tactics employed by both sides, the political thinking and decision-making at the highest levels and the grim reality of the destruction and suffering on the ground.
Download or read book The Siege of Malta 1940 1942 written by D. G. Williamson and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The defense of Malta against the Axis powers is one of the most famous episodes of World War II. A legend surrounds the story that has obscured the truth, and this analysis of events takes account of the tactics employed by both sides, the decision-making at the highest levels, and the grim reality of the destruction and suffering on the ground.
Download or read book Malta 1940 42 written by Ryan K. Noppen and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2018-02-22 with total page 92 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1940, the strategically vital island of Malta was Britain's last toehold in the central Mediterranean, wreaking havoc among Axis shipping. Launching an air campaign to knock Malta out of the war, first Italy and then Germany sought to force a surrender or reduce the defences enough to allow an invasion. Drawing on original documents, multilingual aviation analyst Ryan Noppen explains how technical and tactical problems caused the original Italian air campaign of 1940–41 to fail, and then how the German intervention came close to knocking Malta out of the war. Using stunning full colour artwork, this fascinating book explains why the attempt by the Axis powers to take the British colony of Malta ultimately failed.
Download or read book Besieged written by Charles Albert Jellison and published by University Press of New England. This book was released on 1984 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Very readable social history, describing an extraordinary period of intense bombing and how the people of the tiny British outpost coped.
Download or read book Air Battle of Malta written by Anthony Rogers and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2017-04-30 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the Second World War, Malta was besieged for nearly two and a half years, during which time a decisive air war was waged between Britain, Italy and Germany.This is part of that story, from the early days in June 1940, when only a few Gladiator biplanes were available to combat Italian bombers and fighters, to the intervention of the Luftwaffe and the tenuous defense by outclassed Hurricanes, culminating in the desperate months of fighting following the arrival on Malta of the Spitfire in March 1942.What became of the many aircraft destroyed over the Maltese Islands, and what was the fate of their pilots and crews?More than a thousand aircraft were lost. Many crashed into the Mediterranean; others came down on Malta and the neighboring island of Gozo. This book focuses on the latter some 200 British, Italian and German machines, and the fate of their pilots and crews. It reveals where those airplanes fell, thus providing a record that will continue to be valued by future generations.This comprehensive volume documents all known aircraft crash sites in and around the Maltese Islands and provides the circumstances of each loss are related in detail with accounts from both sides.In Germany especially there are many still unaware of the fate of family members who never returned after the Second World War. This book reveals what happened to some who even today are still officially listed as missing.
Download or read book Churchill and Malta written by Douglas Austin and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2014-05-05 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the compelling story of the special relationship between Winston Churchill and the people of Malta. During six visits over a period of forty years he came to understand and support the aspirations of the Maltese people and in the Second World War the bonds linking them were tempered in fire and destruction. In those dark days Churchill's determination to defend the island and his faith in the courage of the Maltese people never wavered.
Download or read book Malta Convoys 1940 1943 written by Richard Woodman and published by John Murray Pubs Limited. This book was released on 2003-02-01 with total page 560 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the day Mussolini's Italy declared war on Britain in June 1940, the island of Malta was under siege. Its strategic importance was obvious to both sides, blocking as it did the supply route across the Mediterranean from Italy to the Axis armies in North Africa. It had to be bombed out of existence by the Axis powers and preserved at all costs by the British. That Malta survived was due to the courage and fortitude of her people and to the dauntless determination of the Royal Navy and the Merchant Navy. Here Richard Woodman tells the full, terrifying story of how - at fearsome cost - the impossible was achieved.
Download or read book Besieged written by Charles A. Jellison and published by . This book was released on with total page 302 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Malta the Last Great Siege written by David W. Wragg and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2003-01-01 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The strategic importance of Malta sitting astride both the Axis and Allied supply routes in the Mediterranean was obvious to both sides during WW2. As a result the Island became the focal point in a prolonged and dreadful struggle that cost the lives of thousands of servicemen and civilians. After setting the scene for the action, this book tells the story of the Island's stand against the might of the Axis powers that led to the unprecedented award of the George Cross to the whole island by King George VI. It not only covers the struggle by the British and Maltese forces on the ground but the vicious fighting in the skies above. This was indeed a siege involving every man and woman on the Island. David Wragg tells the story using many first -hand accounts and yet skillfully explains the strategic situation. The result is an inspiring book worthy of the courage shown by the Islanders and their defenders.
Download or read book The Path to Victory written by Douglas Porch and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2004 with total page 840 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Mediterranean theater in World War II has long been overlooked by historians who believe it was little more than a string of small-scale battles--sideshows that were of minor importance in a war whose outcome was decided in the clashes of mammoth tank armies in northern Europe. But in this ground-breaking new book, one of our finest military historians argues that the Mediterranean was World War II's pivotal theater. Douglas Porch examines the Mediterranean as an integrated arena, one in which events in Syria and Suez influenced the survival of Gibraltar. Without a Mediterranean alternative, the Western Allies would probably have committed to a premature cross-Channel invasion in 1943 that might well have cost them the war. Brilliantly argued, with vivid portraits of Churchill, Montgomery, FDR, Rommel, and Mussolini, this original, accessible, and compelling account of a little-known theater emphasizes the importance of the Mediterranean in the ultimate Allied victory in Europe in World War II.
Download or read book Air War Malta written by Diane Canwell and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2009-04-01 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Beretter om luftkampeme om Malta under 2. verdenskrig.
Download or read book Jukebox Queen Of Malta written by Nicholas Rinaldi and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2013-10-08 with total page 458 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Jukebox Queen of Malta is an exquisite and enchanting novel of love and war set on an island perilously balanced between what is real and what is not. It's 1942 and Rocco Raven, an intrepid auto mechanic turned corporal from Brooklyn, has arrived in Malta, a Mediterranean island of Neolithic caves, Copper Age temples, and fortresses. The island is under siege, full of smoke and rubble, caught in the magnesium glare of German and Italian bombs. But nothing is as it seems on Malta. Rocco's living quarters are a brothel; his commanding officer has a genius for turning the war's misfortunes into personal profit; and the Maltese people, astonishingly, testify to the resiliency of the human spirit. When Rocco meets the beautiful and ethereal Melita, who delivers the jukeboxes her cousin builds out of shattered debris, they are drawn to each other by an immediate passion. And, it is their full-blown affair that at once liberates and imprisons Rocco on the island. In this mesmerizing novel, music and bombs, war and romance, the jukebox and the gun exist in arresting counterpoint in a story that is a profound and deeply moving exploration of the redemptive powers of love.
Download or read book Battle of Malta written by Anthony Rogers and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2022-08-18 with total page 97 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A detailed, illustrated exploration of the land, sea and air units that defended Malta, and the repeated Axis attempts to bring the crucial Allied island fortress to its knees. On 11 June 1940, the British crown colony of Malta – which dominated the central Mediterranean and all-important sea routes to and from North Africa – was bombed for the first time by aircraft of the Italian Regia Aeronautica. The Italians were joined in their efforts by the German Luftwaffe in January 1941. Malta was effectively beleaguered for nearly two and a half years, dependent for survival on naval supply convoys and reliant for defence on often-outnumbered fighter aircraft and anti-aircraft guns. Anthony Rogers provides a retelling of these events, drawing on accounts from both sides. This work features carefully selected photographic images, some previously unpublished. Seven specially commissioned colour maps explore the stategic situation in the Mediterranean in this period, the military sectors into which Malta's defence was divided, and German minelaying operations around the island. The three stunning battlescene artworks and 3D bird's-eye views show key events from the battle, including the 26 July 1941 German attack on the Grand Harbour, and the major Luftwaffe raid 21 March 1942.
Download or read book Fortress Malta written by James Holland and published by Miramax. This book was released on 2003-09-24 with total page 552 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A riveting account of one of the great, little-known stories of World War II--the siege of Malta. 16-page photo insert.