Today, ironically on U.S. Memorial Day, we decided to go to the National War Museum. The War Museum is housed in Fort St. Elmo, the fortress at the tip of Valletta, guarding the entrance to the Grand Harbor.
We rode the #13 bus to Valletta and entered the city through its main gate. Nearly every time we’ve been to Valletta there has been a guy sitting in the shade of the gate playing accordion. We also saw this guy sitting on a bench playing one evening as we strolled around Balluta Bay. We sat on the next bench and enjoyed his playing that night, and we enjoy it every time we see/hear him. So here’s our favorite Maltese accordion player.
We strolled all the way down Republic Street, rather like a spine of the peninsula, and enjoyed the hustle and bustle of the tourists. We’re feeling like old hands getting around Valletta, or at least knowing where things are and recognizing places.
We arrived at Fort St. Elmo, and after wandering around a bit, we found the entrance to the War Museum. I was actually quite interested in seeing the inside of the fort. It has been such an integral part of Valletta’s history, and indeed Malta’s, too, that I thought it was important to take a look. There was a watch tower built on the site as early as 1488. Over time, the watch tower was enlarged. When the Ottoman Turks arrived unopposed in Grand Harbor in 1551, the Knights figure out they need to build a much more significant fortress at the entrance to the harbor, and they did just that. Fort St. Elmo became the scene of one of the most bloody battles in the Great Siege of 1565 when the Ottomans returned, hell bent on taking Malta. Fort St. Elmo was under siege for 28 days, being bombarded by the Turks’ canons. It eventually fell. But, the Knights endured in other battles of the siege and eventually the Turks departed Malta. There is still a little chapel in the fort, the Chapel of St. Anne, where the last stand occurred, with the chaplain and the few remaining Knights in the fort were killed. This little chapel was tucked away in the walls of the fort. The carvings in the stone around the altar were fantastic.
After the Great Siege of 1565, the Knights reconstructed and improved the fort and built the city of Valletta on the peninsula, further protecting the fort from a landward invasion. After the arrival of the British in the early 18oos, the fort was further reinforced to accommodate larger and larger canons and guns. And, during WWII, the fort was an important place as from the signal room deep in the bastions, the Brits figured out the trajectory of incoming enemy bombers and sent the gun battery the position coordinates for the guns. Fort St. Elmo was the first thing the Italians bombed in June 1940, which started the 2 years of relentless attacks endured by the people of Malta.
The museum was spread around various buildings throughout the fort so we covered a lot of territory. The fort is really huge and the views from the bastions are fantastic. But the fort is interesting in and of itself with all its various buildings and tunnels through the cavaliers, the places below ground where the troops lived.
I thought the displays in the museum were really well done. As I mentioned, each time period was housed in a separate building and you followed a numeric order around the fort. Each display provided information about subsequent periods of time from pre-Great Siege through Malta’s entry into the European Union. There was one poster that said the following, which really impressed me:
This tiny little island, 17 miles long and 9 miles wide, has endured so much over the centuries, and yet it still thrives. As the locals will tell you, that is the Maltese spirit, that of survival. It’s very impressive.
As we walked through history, we eventually came to the displays dealing with WWII. I don’t think most people know what happened here in Malta during the war. I only know a little, but it is so difficult to understand how the Maltese survived those years. While we’ve been here, Christine and I both read the novel by Nicholas Monsarrat, The Kappillan of Malta. Although it is a novel, it provides some of the best storytelling about the history of Malta, especially its descriptions of life in Malta during WWII. Some of it was so difficult to read, heart-wrenching, that I had to stop and rest because I couldn’t emotional take any more. But for anyone interested in reading a historical novel about Malta, this is the book to read.
The Siege of Malta began in June, 1940 and it pitted the armies and navies of Italy and Germany against the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy. As soon as Mussolini declared war, the bombing started in Malta. The Axis resolved to bomb or starve Malta into submission, by attacking its ports, towns, cities, and Allied shipping supplying the island. Malta was one of the most intensively bombed areas during the war. The most significant bombing was in and around the Grand Harbor, especially the Three Cities where all the dockyards were. In just 2 years, there were 3,343 air raids from primarily Italy, but then aided by Germany, with 15,000 tons of bombs dropped on the Maltese Islands.
There was so much danger and destruction that multitudes of people sought shelter in catacombs, in fortress bastions, in caves, and in underground air raid shelters. Thousands of people living in squalid conditions for over 2 years, in near starvation. Food was scarce because of the success the Axis had in bombing and torpedoing supply ships. To make food last as long as possible, Victory Kitchens were set up so the all available food could be prepared communally in order to limit waste. Christine’s mother worked in a Victory Kitchen.
At the start of the bombing, there apparently were only 3 WWI era Gladiator biplanes on Malta. These became known as Faith, Hope and Charity. They were no match for the Italian planes, but these 3 planes did enough to deter lower incoming planes. We saw some film footage of how a long bomb was tied underneath the fuselage of the biplane and once in the air the bomb was set loose. Hard to believe these rickety old biplane could take off with a heavy bomb strapped on. Also, the biplanes were equipped with only rifles and shotguns, as the Royal Air Force wasn’t interested in equipping them early in the war. Only one of the biplanes survived the war, and Faith was on display at the museum.
There was a display on the story of the HMS Illustrious, a Royal Navy aircraft carrier that was bombed in 1941 and was just able to limp into the Grand Harbor. While in port, she was bombed again. This story was prominent in The Kappillan of Malta book and so I was moved to see photos and see remnants from the ship.
There was also a video telling the story of Operation Pedestal, a large convoy of supply ships and an oil tanker sent from Gibraltar to supply the starving Malta. Over the course of 6 days, the convoy of 14 ships was relentlessly bombed and torpedoed. Ultimately, only 5 of the merchant ships made it to Grand Harbor, including the all import oil tanker, SS Ohio. It was hit directly several times, was on fire for much of the time, and was near sunk when two of the merchant ships, one on each side, helped the Ohio into the Grand Harbor. Malta was within a couple of weeks of surrendering to the Axis powers and, without the success of these ships getting to Malta, the outcome of the war might have been quite different. Badly needed fuel for continued air force and navy operations was the vital commodity in the convoy, and its arrival was a turning point in the war.
For all it endured during WWII, Malta was awarded the George Cross by King George. We saw the reenactment of this ceremony last month in Valletta. After seeing the WWII displays in the museum, this reenactment ceremony is now even more meaningful to me. The George Cross is part of Malta’s flag and it is a tremendous symbol to the Maltese.
This was a really good museum and being within Fort St. Elmo made it all the more interesting.
After that, we walked up Merchant Street to a café at Upper Barrakka Gardens and sat under a big shade tree enjoying the view of the harbor while eating lunch. We had originally planned to also visit the Lascaris War Rooms, where the British strategized their naval operations during the war, but we had had enough war-related stuff, so we took the bus back home and kind of crashed. We then met Carol for a drink at Peppi’s, just down the street. Carol is always fun to be with and one never lacks for conversation with Carol.
It was a meaningful day and rather poignant. Thinking of Christine’s mother Rose having lived through all the air raids and bombings during the war is unsettling. I don’t know how anyone did it. But, I say, thank God for the Maltese and their resilience. They have had quite a history.
