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The roots of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem go back before the First Crusade. In about 1070, a hospice for pilgrims was established near the Church of the Holy Sepulcher with funds from Italian merchants and staffed by Benedictine monks and nuns. Although the Benedictines were expelled from Jerusalem before the arrival of the first crusaders, they returned after Jerusalem was in Christian hands, and with help from the Christian secular authorities, re-established a hospital. Soon, further grants of money and land from the Christian lords enabled the monks to establish a chain of hospitals throughout the Holy Land and to set up hospices at the embarkation ports for pilgrims setting out from Europe or returning from Outremer. The monks and nuns running these hospitals and hospices soon became known as the “Hospitallers.”In 1113, the monks of the Hospital (also referred to as the Brothers of St. John and the Brothers of the Holy Sepulcher) requested and received from the Pope the right to become an order in their own right. This new order, as with the Templars a decade later, was made directly subordinate to the Pope, and in or about 1130 it adopted the Augustine Rule. Meanwhile this new order was rapidly acquiring significant donations in land and treasure in both the West and in the Holy Land, a reflection of the undiminished support for a Christian-controlled Holy Land.The "Hospital" in Acre is still massive and impressive; the Hospital in Jerusalem was much larger.Photo by H. SchraderNevertheless, the Hospital of St. John remained a traditional monastic order. Although it had been granted the explicit right to defend its properties and pilgrims, members of the Order were prohibited from bearing arms. As a result, throughout the 12th century the Hospital was dependent for its protection on knights who owed feudal duty to the Hospital via their landholdings, voluntarily offered their services, or were hired mercenaries. These defensive forces, whatever their source, must have been substantial, however, because the Hospital was given very powerful fortresses, notably the most impressive crusader castle of them all: Krak des Chevaliers.Krak de Chevaliers in Modern Day Syria. Photo by H SchraderIt would have been pointless to turn over such vitally important military resources to an order incapable of maintaining and defending them, but the exact status of the Hospital’s fighting men remains obscure until 1206, when the Hospitaller Rule was changed to allow for fighting monks. Thereafter, the Hospitallers began to recruit fighting men, probably starting with those who were already associated with it in some way, and like the Templars they had both knights (men of noble birth) and sergeants. Within a very short time, the knights dominated the Order. The Hospitallers, however, continued to have priests, monks, and nuns devoted solely to the care of the sick, and the network of hospitals was not abandoned. At about this time, the entire Order adopted black robes (reminiscent of their Benedictine origins) adorned with a white cross. One notable difference with the Templars, however, was that there was no distinction in dress between the knights and the sergeants of the Hospital.The Hospitallers, like the Templars, warned new recruits that “… when you desire to eat, it will be necessary for you to fast, and when you would wish to fast, you will have to eat. And when you would desire to sleep, it will be necessary for you to keep watch, and when you would like to stand on watch, you will have to sleep. And you will be sent this side of the sea and beyond, into places which will not please you, and you will have to go there. It will be necessary for you, therefore, to abandon all your desires to fulfill those of another and to endure other hardships in the Order, more than I can describe to you.” (Barber, Malcolm, The Knight and Chivalry, p. 275)Like the Templars, the Hospitallers vowed poverty and chastity as well as obedience.Austere Monastic Accommodation; in this case the Cistercian Monastery of FontfroideThe similarity between the two powerful militant orders led to open rivalry between them for recruits, resources, and power in the first half of the 13th century. This led on occasion to open fighting between members of the orders on the streets of Acre and Tripoli, but more often to subtle maneuvering behind the scenes. For decades, the Hospitallers and Templars consistently backed rival claimants to the throne of Jerusalem and rival Italian trading communities. As the end of Christian Palestine neared, however, the Hospitallers and Templars put aside their differences and jealousies to rally to the now lost cause. In the last decades of Christian Palestine, Hospitallers and Templars fought side by side, ferociously and futilely, at Antioch, Tripoli, and finally Acre.After the fall of Acre, the Hospital also relocated its headquarters to Cyprus, but conflict with the King of Cyprus convinced the leadership of the Hospital (evidently more flexible, imaginative, and analytical than the tragic Jacques de Molay) of the necessity for independence from secular authority. The Hospitallers undertook the capture of the island of Rhodes from Turkish forces in 1306, finally seizing the capital city in 1309. With this move the Hospitallers removed themselves, and the bulk of their movable treasure, from the grasp of Philip IV – or any king inclined to follow his example. Even more important, however, from this island base the Hospitallers built up a powerful fleet capable of challenging the naval power of the Turks and of launching hit-and-run raids into Saracen territory. The Hospitallers had “reinvented” themselves and had found a new justification for their existence.Hospitaller Castle at Kolossi, Cyprus. Photo by HSchraderThe Hospitaller fleet remained a significant force protecting Christian shipping and commerce throughout the next two and a half centuries, and the base of this fleet on Rhodes, so close to the Turkish coast, was a constant provocation to Saracen, particularly Turkish, rulers. Numerous attempts were made to capture Rhodes, notably in 1440, 1444, 1480, and 1522. During the first 3 sieges, the Hospitallers withstood vastly superior numbers, in one case (1444) driving off the enemy with a daring sortie from within the city, and twice rescued by the timely arrival of a relieving fleet from the West. In 1522, an army allegedly 100,000 strong attacked a force of just 600 knights and 4,500 local auxiliaries. After 2 months of bombardment a breach in the landward wall was made, yet 3 assaults through the breach, carried out with complete disregard for casualties, failed. Sultan Suleiman called off the costly assaults and settled down for a long siege, cutting Rhodes off from all relief. Recognizing the hopelessness of their situation, the surviving Hospitallers, now more commonly called Knights of St. John, surrendered on honorable terms.When the Hospitallers withdrew on their ships from Rhodes, they were effectively homeless, but Emperor Charles V offered them the island of Malta as their new headquarters. From here they continued to operate their fleet so effectively that Sultan Suleiman decided he had to dislodge them from their new home. In 1565 he again assembled a large siege force. The Knights of St. John had 500 knights of the Order and 10,000 other troops. The Turks launched their first attack in May and after a month of fighting captured an outlying fort, slaughtered the garrison, and floated their mutilated bodies across the harbor to the main fortress as a warning of what was to come. The Hospitallers replied by executing Turkish prisoners and catapulting their heads into the Turkish camp. A Turkish assault on the main fortifications was undertaken on July 15, and a breach in the walls effected by August 7. Yet two assaults through the breach, on August 19 and 23, both failed. On September 7 a Spanish fleet arrived from the West and scattered the demoralized Turkish forces. The defense of Malta had cost the Hospitallers half their knights and 6,000 of the other defenders.Melodramatic 19th Century Depiction of the Fight at MaltaThereafter, the Knights of St. John focused again on making the seaways of the Mediterranean safe for Christian shipping, a task that became increasingly easy as Turkish naval power declined. But this victory, like the defeat in Acre 300 years earlier, robbed them of their raison d’être. The Knights of St. John, now commonly known as the Knights of Malta, slid into a slow decline. They became more involved in commerce than warfare, and their fortresses turned into palaces. When Napoleon laid siege to Malta in 1798, the last frail remnants of the once mighty Hospitaller Order surrendered in just two days.Related article: Hospitals in the Holy Land

Another miss leading false question…..Malta was awarded a high level British military medal for its defence precisely against the German and Italian attempts to bomb it into submission and surrender.very well, for the ignorant and the uninitiated, and for the rest who want to really know, I will explain…..The Siege of Malta in the Second World War was a military campaign in the Mediterranean Theatre. From 1940–42, the fight for the control of the strategically important island of Malta, then a British colony, pitted the air forces and navies of Italy and Germany against the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Royal Navy.Above. faces bravely glimpsed and soon missed, Sergeant Archie was shot down and sadly killed during the battle for Malta.The opening of a new war front in the deserts of North Afrika in June 1940 increased Malta's already considerable value. British air and sea forces based on the island could attack enemy Axis ships transporting vital supplies and reinforcements from Europe; Churchill called the island an "unsinkable aircraft carrier".Field Marshall Erwin Rommel, in de facto field command of Axis forces in North Africa, recognized its importance quickly. In May 1941, he warned that "Without Malta, the Axis will end by losing control of North Africa".Above. The price for failure in the skies by the Axis Airforces over Malta grew ever more costly in terms of aircrew and machines shot down and killed.Pictured above is the burnt-out wreckage of Ju 88 1346/M7+AK, piloted by Oberleutnant Schnez of 2./Kampfgruppe 806Below left, taken at the siege of Leningrad on the Russian front, Von Schnez who was to be shot down on Malta when his German bomber aircraft crashed.The Axis resolved to bomb and torpedo 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 Luftwaffe (German Air Force) and the Regia Aeronautica (Italian Royal Air Force) flew a total of 3,000 bombing raids, dropping 6,700 tons of bombs on the Grand Harbour area alone, over a period of two years in an effort to destroy RAF defences and the ports.Below; While the siege and battle raged for Malta, Italian and German forces were trying to capture the Suez canal.Success would have made possible a combined German–Italian amphibious landing (Operation Herkules) supported by German airborne forces(Fallschirmjäger), but this did not happen. In the event, Allied convoys were able to supply and reinforce Malta, while the RAF defended its airspace, though at great cost in material and lives.A Royal Irish Fusilier is pictured proudly posing with a Swastika-clad trophy from the downed Luftwaffe Ju 87 5724/J9+BL of 9./Sturzkampfgeschwader 1, which the battalion claimed to have shot down on 11 April 1941A Bristol Beaufort bomber based inside a “blast pen” on a malta airfield sometime in 1942. Blast “pens” or shields were built from walls or sandbags to try to protect the surface parked aircraft against fire and damage from attacking German and Italian aircraft. If aircraft were parked to close together or too many in one spot, the enemy could inflict severe losses. They were dispersed and spread out wherever terrain allowed.Much of the prolonged blood bath on Malta was caused by the British withdrawing their naval task forces in order to try to defend the Suze Canal from Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps. English Military authorities blatantly told lies to the Maltese, which caused the local islanders to seriously “doubt” British intentions to defend their island at all. And of course, the Italian Airforce, navy and German forces in the region launched attacks, seeing this weakness.Flight Lieutenant Denis Barnham of 601 Squadron is pictured with his comrades in the Spitfire which he flew on 14 May 1942, when he intercepted a Ju 88 of 1./Kampfgruppe 806.There were hardly any defences on Malta because of a pre-war conclusion that the island was indefensible. The Italian and British surface fleets were evenly matched in the region but the Italians had far more submarines and aircraft. The Admiralty had to protect the Suez Canal with the Mediterranean Fleet (Admiral Andrew Cunningham) and Gibraltar with Force H (Vice-Admiral James Somerville).Personnel of the three services stand at the crash site of a Junkers Ju 87, possibly a 2./Sturzkampfgeschwader machine, which was shot down at Hal Far in Malta on 18 January 1941. Defence of the island was dependant upon the Navy, (ships, submarines, Torpedoes) the Airforce (Spitfires and Hurricanes and Gladiators) and the Army (Defence gun positions anti-aircraft etc).In October 1939, the Mediterranean Fleet was transferred eastwards to Egypt, stripping the island of its naval protection. Only the monitor HMS Terror and a few British submarines were still based at the island. When the Maltese government questioned British reasoning, they were told that the island could be defended just as adequately from Alexandria as from Grand Harbour, which was untrue. This led the Maltese to doubt the British commitment to defend the island.Below; Naval resupply of essential spare components, aviation fuel and ammunition as well as food and medical supplies. A supply ship entering the grand harbour in Malta.Another problem was English militarist Hugh Loyd Pew who commandeered certain aerial defence resources for his own other Military purposes. Arriving on the island to replace the previous commander, he resorted to the cynical measure of placing a sign over his new headquarters which read “Less does not depend upon the size of the dog in the fight, but in the size of the fight in the dog” Hmmm yeah right…He was not always popular amongst his command but got the job done. His use and control of some Wellington Pathfinder type bombers on the island, and certain orders he issued overuse of “Air resources” caused some friction.Above; Esprit De Corps. Rhodesian Pilot Officer Douglas Leggo was shot down on 20 March 1942 and died when he baled out at low altitude. He is seen here before his commission with a message for Hitler written in ShonaSome Aviation colours and markings for the battle for Malta.During the Second World War, the fate of the Mediterranean depended on the beleaguered island of Malta – the most bombed place on earth at the time. To defend the islands and keep things running, an army of people was needed, many of whom went unnoticed. Here are five unsung World War II heroes that Malta is definitely grateful for.1. Peter RothwellPeter volunteered to join the Special Duties Flights of Wellington aircraft in Malta, reaching the island in early 1942. He flew Wellington bombers in Malta and took part in 38 sorties, all hazardous and nerve-wracking. One of his units was responsible for attacking an Italian merchant vessel, bombing and sinking it.2. Irene CondachiOne of the best kept secrets of World War II is that the island was being run on the work done by women; women just like Dr Irene Condachi. Irene was one of the few WWII female doctors on the island at the time. This incredible woman single-handedly inoculated and examined at least 20,000 schoolchildren under war conditions and without any means of transportation. She walked long distances from one government school to another to examine between 10,000 and 15,000 children a year, as well as prescribing an ointment for children with scabies. In later years, she was credited with eradicating this condition from government schools.3. George Frederick “Buzz” BeurlingGeorge Frederick "Buzz" Beurling was the most successful Canadian fighter pilot of the Second World War and served Malta greatly. Buzz was recognised as "Canada's most famous hero of Second World War", as "The Falcon of Malta" and the "Knight of Malta", having been credited with shooting down 27 axis aircraft in just 14 days over the besieged Mediterranean island.4. Paul MeilakIn an interview with the U.S. Embassy, war veteran Paul Meilak describes what life was like during the war. He says that the worst three years for our islands were between 1940 and 1942. Around 35 ships were setting sail to Malta from Gibraltar, but only four of them entered Malta, including the Ohio – the ship that essentially saved our islands. Paul was stationed in Valletta at Fort St Elmo when he got the chance to board the ship, describing it as having its upper deck completely blown off. Paul’s house was demolished at 4am during an air raid and his family were left with nothing. Fortunately, a priest had an empty house and offered it to them.5. Mary EllulAt least 10,000 women came forward and lent a helping hand as first aiders, air attack and anti-gas instructors, aid-detachment nurses and secretaries, among others. Mary Ellul was one of these women and was popularly known as ‘Mary the Man’, from Sliema – a true boss lady in the community. She was a woman with phenomenal strength, rescued people from under the rubble and was reputed for dealing with rowdy sailors by chucking them into the Sliema sea when she worked as a bouncer after the war. See? Boss. Lady. You wouldn’t want to get on her bad side!Below. faith Hope and Charity, the famous three Gloster Gladiators aircraft that fought from the besieged island of Malta.There were a great many real-life heroes who took part during the siege of Malta, and it is shameful to say many have been seemingly overlooked and even almost forgotten. NEVER may such a thing happen. I found this touching true story during my research for this article, and have decided to reproduce it here for posterity. it hails from the Malta Times newspaper.The recent death of one of the few surviving heroes of the defence of Malta in World War II passed virtually unnoticed in the island. Peter Rothwell deserved better.Those were dire days: Malta, a last strategic hub in the Mediterranean, just could not afford to fail. Its survival was vital for the success of the Allies, its fall equally vital for the victory of the Nazi-Fascists in North Africa.The fate of the Mediterranean depended on the beleaguered island, “the most bombed place on earth”. The Royal Air Force played a determining role in ensuring that the tyranny of deluded, psychotic dictators did not overcome Malta and prevail in Europe.Rothwell had volunteered to join the Special Duties Flights of Wellington aircraft in Malta, reaching the island early in 1942, when the Axis forces were putting on all they had to vanquish the battered rock by air and by sea.He had previously served in Iceland and believed the Mediterranean would be a delightful paradise next to the numbing temperatures he had suffered in that sub-Arctic land.That proved to be his first disillusion. Malta was going through one of its starkest winters ever.The pilots thought the only way to fight the cold was to down gin with boiling water and to eat tiny pickled onions to simulate somehow the effects of warmth. Belying Tourist Board promotion, Rothwell voted Malta the coldest place on earth.The pilots could well think that, as “within a fortnight their billets had been bombed out and they moved to the seaplane base in Kalafrana, four miles from Luqa.Initially they had a small car to take them there and back but, by March 1942, with fuel so short, they had to abandon it and walk there and back instead, often in the dark after night-time operations”.Worse was still to come. On April 7 bombing wrecked the Kalafrana seaplane base, though the pilots still made use of the mess, disregarding the insignificant detail that one wall had gone missing altogether and their common room henceforth greeted every whim of the elements.“Their billets were now caves, where they were safe from bombs, but easy prey for sand bugs”. In fact, when Rothwell left Malta on June 22, 1942, his body sported numerous malicious boils, aided and abetted by heavy bouts of sandfly fever.In Malta, Rothwell flew Wellington bombers which came in various marks and specifications, with maximum speeds varying from 235 to 299 mph. These Vickers aircraft, the staple warhorses of the RAF between 1939 and 1943, had versatile uses, from reconnaissance to long-range bombing, and sometimes also doubled as torpedo planes.As the siege tightened, these stubborn planes “were increasingly battered, the airfield was a wreck, the pilots were expected to repair their aircraft by hand. Even air tests were dangerous exercises because of the large numbers of marauding enemy fighters”.Rothwell’s last scheduled flight from Malta turned out to be an epic, suspenseful ordeal.His Wellington needed a thorough overhaul, something quite fanciful in the besieged island – no spare parts or facilities for the RAF ground crews to undertake the extensive repairs themselves.Air Force Command decided Rothwell would fly his plane to Cairo, taking with him a number of fighter pilots whose tour in Malta had expired, and some other passengers too. Rothwell, his body decorated with boils and his spirit undermined by malnutrition and sandfly temperature, took off, heading southeast to Egypt.Ninety minutes after leaving, his starboard engine burst into flames. Rothwell immediately activated the fire extinguishers, but, following an initial success, the flames took over again – 200 miles out at sea. He ordered everyone to jettison their luggage, and turned back to Malta.Piloting with one engine out of action and on fire would have been exhausting for a man in fine health, let alone for someone weak, feverish and malnourished.The torque from the working engine pulled the plane violently to one side and only by applying constant hard rudder on the other could Rothwell keep flying. “It was an extraordinary demonstration of skill and resilience”.Rothwell and his passengers, quite understandably, doubted they would reach Malta, with the aircraft implacably losing height and the engine on fire. Those probably remained the longest two-and-a-half hours in their lives, but they made it, the pilot’s last feat being his slalom between the bomb craters and the unexploded ordnance littering the Luqa runway.This was not Rothwell’s only flying drama with a happy ending.Before his Malta posting, in May 1941, taking off from Northern Ireland, he found himself navigating in impenetrable fog and running short on fuel, somewhere on the north coast of Scotland.He searched anxiously for somewhere to land and decided to risk an emergency landfall on the grounds of a grand castle. Predictably his undercarriage gave way and his plane skidded to a halt just short of the castle walls – a shocked pilot, but with crew safe and sound.Great was his surprise, if not his relief, to learn that he had chosen to land on the grounds of the home of Sir Archibald Sinclair, the Secretary of State for the Air. A knock, and then an uninvited visit for tea with his topmost superior.Rothwell was 21 when he volunteered for his Malta stint of duties. Despite his young age, he assumed the full responsibilities that “one of the worst postings in the world” demanded of him.January 1942, when he arrived in Malta, coincided with the beginning of the heaviest aerial blitz by the German and Italian air forces that Malta was to suffer during the whole three-year siege. By that time Malta was “rained upon by bombs and short of just about everything”.His superiors assigned the young lieutenant to Special Duties Flight – about the only air unit then still more or less operational in Malta, and he acquitted himself excellently.On his second sortie, he helped lead the Fleet Air Arm squadrons to a convoy consisting of one merchant ship and one tanker heading for Rommel’s relief – both were sunk.“Peter later commanded the flight which continued to serve valiantly from the island, even when almost all offensive air operations had ceased”.Rothwell’s adversaries in the air were the German and Italian fighter pilots. What he thought of them is not recorded, but it would be fair to set straight a common misconception, born of ignorance and fostered by war propaganda – the cowardice and incompetence of Italian wartime pilots.The truth was exactly the opposite: that British airmen feared and respected Italian pilots far more than they did German ones.All serious military scholars who have tackled the issue dispassionately agree that Italian pilots generally showed astounding valour against all odds.George Beurling, the legendary Canadian ace based on Malta, who was to become one of the greatest flying myths of the Second World War, did not mince his words about the Eyeties (Italians) and the Jerries (Germans) whom the Allied pilots had to fight:“The Eyeties are comparatively easy to shoot down. Oh, they’re brave enough. In fact, I think the Eyeties have more courage than the Germans. They will stick it even if things are going against them, whereas the Jerries will run.”On another occasion, Beurling worded his thoughts differently: “The Jerries are probably better overall pilots than the Italians, but they certainly let the Eyeties do their fighting for them when the going got tough”.It was the Italians’ inferior equipment and weaponry that crippled their air force, not the valour of its pilots. “The Italians were let down badly in the matter of their equipment. Only about half of their bombs went off, and those that did went ‘pop’ instead of ‘bang’. Badly made, undersized bombs blunted their attacks and poor guns their defensive powers.“Their armament was very bad altogether. I’d blame the armaments, not the individuals,” Beurling commented.Wing Commander George Burges, resplendent in his Faith, Hope and Charity renown, expressed exactly the same judgment as Beurling:“The average Italian pilot had more courage in the face of opposition than many of his Luftwaffe counterparts. I found the Germans were far more willing to break formation and leg it back home.“Most German fighter pilots had far less stomach for individual combat, man to man, than the pilots of the Macchis and CR 42”.Burges boasted of “many exciting personal combats with Italian fighter pilots, as did most of the pilots of the Fighter Flight”.The Germans, Burges added, “preferred to stay in large packs at a great height, with occasional sorties to attack defenceless men, women and children on the inland roads of Malta, or to pick up a wounded straggler in a damaged Hurricane or Spitfire”.And another source confirms this in full: “The RAF pilots had a higher regard for the Italian pilots who would ‘stay and mix it’ even if the odds were against them, unlike the gallant Luftwaffe who had a tendency to turn tail and run if they did not have all the cards stacked in their favour”.In Malta, Rothwell took part in 38 sorties, all hazardous and nerve-wracking. On one occasion his command ordered his unit, the Special Duties Flight, to attack an Italian merchant vessel. “Flying through intense flak Peter and his crew bombed and sank the ship”.Immediately after he joined the forces that attacked the Italian fleet at Taranto, a strategic assault which inflicted crippling damage to Italy’s sea presence from which it never really recovered.“At the mercy of the firepower of the entire Italian battle fleet and harbour defences, this was another extremely hazardous task”.The young flight lieutenant also distinguished himself on March 27, 29 and 31 during a series of attacks on Axis airfields, including a successful raid on Catania.Some words about Peter Rothwell the man:Eldest son of an army clergyman who fathered seven children and at the end of the war became a missionary in Africa, the young Peter did well in his studies, especially French.In times of high fever and after a bad riding fall, his brain and his tongue switched to French, to the bewilderment of all those around him.He had to abandon his studies when his father passed away aged 50.“Peter was a humble man and never blew his own trumpet, but praised others and their part in the war”. He hardly ever obtained the recognition he deserved except, perhaps, in later life.And even about that he said half-bitterly and half-depreciatingly, “The only reason I am getting recognition now is because all my more deserving friends have died”.Perhaps his greatest exposure to public acclaim came when he was no longer in a position to relish it – a prominent obituary in the London Times.Rothwell struck others as a tall, slim man with handsome, if charmingly spivvy features. He grew his iconic moustache (his RAF ‘tash’) to handlebar proportions and cultivated it lovingly to the end of his days.In fact, the older he grew the wider his moustache stretched. It distinguished him among others in the yearly April pilgrimage to Malta.“He was the focal point for many celebrations of their (the Malta veterans’) heroism”. Much to his pride, he was treated with respect and gratitude by the people and government of Malta.Rothwell’s adjustment to civilian life when the war ended does not seem to have been as traumatic as it turned out to be for many other demobbed servicemen. He had the support of his “beautiful and loving wife” Eileen and the less obvious comforts of their six children.He suffered the loss of his third-born Anthony when only four years old, and then of his wife, from pleurisy, when she was pregnant with their seventh son. This left him with five children, aged from two to 13, to bring up on his own.A year later he married his second wife Margaret who already had three children from a previous marriage.After the war, Rothwell kept himself busy in various commercial enterprises.At first he renovated and resold properties in the southwest counties, then moved on to a successful boat-building business in Poole – a calling much after his heart as he loved the sea with a passion and always dreamt of wrapping up his occupations and sailing around the world.He often opted to deliver the boats personally when commissioned from abroad. The world-renowned Earls Court show accepted his boats for exhibition.He later turned his large house in Canford Cliffs into a residential home. His last major business revolved around flowers – a teleflorist agency in Plymouth and a plant nursery to go with it.He eventually retired in Bournemouth where he dedicated much of his time to the George Cross Island Association, which kept 2,000 veterans of the siege of Malta in touch and actively promoted their yearly pilgrimage to Malta every April.In part, this made up for the soft bitterness for the half-hearted recognition of the dedication and bravery he had always shown throughout 158 operational missions.Rothwell passed peacefully away, aged 90, at the Cranley Paddock care home in Lyndhurst, on December 20, 2010, survived by his five children.Malta, and the world, would have been a more dismal place were it not for the heroism of the likes of Peter Rothwell. May we never forget that.Acknowledgements from the original article.My thanks to James Holland, Julia Gaw, Tim Lewin and Charles Debono of the National War Museum.Above; One of the “special” Vickers Wellington RAF bombers on Malta during the siege. it was specially equipped for electronic “pathfinder” work. Hugh Loyd Pugh created friction when he tried to send them on daylight bombing (!!) for which they were no longer equipped.Another group of unsung heroes on Malta, the RAF Wellington crew of Vince Camilleri on malta.Below. Malta Spitfire squadron ground support crew.Within a few hours, Lloyd had made an inspection tour of the airfields and the main workshops at Kalafrana. The state of the island was worse than he expected. The slackening of German air activity had allowed the number of aircraft to increase, but the RAF still had fewer than 60 machines of all types. Maintenance was difficult. Hardly any spare or replacement parts were available. Spares had to be obtained by sifting through the debris of wrecks or by cannibalizing undamaged aircraft. Furthermore, the airfields were too small; there was no heavy equipment to work with; and even the commonest sorts of tools, such as hammers and wrenches, were all but impossible to find. All refuelling had to be done by hand from individual drums. The shelter was also inadequate, so there was little protection for what equipment they did have. Most aircraft were clustered together on open runways, presenting tempting targets.Below. A crashed Vickers Armstrong Wellington RAF bomber on Malta.Below. Maltese airfields were defended against German and Italian Air attacks.Pictured is one of four 3.7-inch AA guns at XHB 8, near Benghisa, Malta, which was credited with the destruction of two of the three Ju 88s brought down during the night of 20-21 July 1942At Kalafrana, all the buildings were close together and above ground. The single engine-repair facility on Malta was located right next to the only test benches. Lloyd himself said, "a few bombs on Kalafrana in the summer of 1941 would have ruined any hope of Malta ever operating an air force".Avro York pressurized transport planes parked on a Maltese airfield shortly after the Allied Victory.Three out of date old Gladiator biplane aircraft were at one point during the “fight of the dog”, the only things still flying. they were given the nicknames “faith” “Hope” and of course “Charity”. One of these was still around in a Museum some years back on the island.Between March and April, 1942 Axis planes flew over 11,000 raids against the island. Germany lost at that time 173 aircraft. German seaplanes and Italian float planes also heavily mined the sea waters of the shipping lanes, and navigation routes, leading to the loss of 19 British submarines.For both the defenders of the Island as well as the attacking enemies, use of air power was the principal response. Italian navy strength was seriously reduced after the battle of Taranto, and Italy instead threw large numbers of tri-motor bombers into the fray against Malta.Below. Italian bomber and Torpedo aircraft, like also happened in Germany, were also sometimes used in other civil roles, such as the two airliners shown below.Below Often maligned by rather foolish English pub comediennes, in fact, it was Fascist Italy's Regia Aeronautica which inflicted per capita the worst damage to Malta, and not the german Aifroce. Italian use of Torpedo bombers and functioning Torpedos (Germany actually had to buy its torpedos from Italy or Japan because German ones did not work properly(!!) was a significant factor in the aerial war over Malta and the navy resupply vessels.Technical. Cutaway diagram showing Italian Torpedo bomber Savoia Marchetti or Sm 79 Sparvero. As used to attack Malta.Below. Bombing up an Italian Sm 79 with an Italian Aerial dropped Torpedo.Italian trimotor bombers were in fact dangerously effective weapons when used against Allied surface shipping.Below. A crash-landed SM 79 Sparviero tri Motor Italian bomber.The SM-79 Sparviero ('Sparrow Hawk') was both a conventional and torpedo bomber, introduced into military service in 1934. The SM-79 was instantly recognizable by the unusual cockpit window.HMS Wasp and Eagle managed despite air attacks, to successfully deliver another extra 64 more Spitfires to operate from the island.The Italian Regia Aeronautica were seriously pressing home their aerial raids and one eye witness said “nothing is left to bomb” or still standing on the island. Then on 9th May, Italy lost 37 aircraft over Malta due to the Spitfires, and the next day on the 10th of May, the Axis lost another 67. The tide had been turned against the Axis invasion plan for Malta.Below. The Spitfire from Malta circles overhead as they go down burning in battle…..The pilot is dead and the terribly burning aircraft is stricken hopelessly out of control, during an aerial attack against a British navy supply convoy to Malta. The sudden appearance overnight of 65 Spitfires ruined Axis plans to starve and bomb the island into submission.Had ever the Axis captured Malta, it would have meant the entire loss to the Allies of the entire upper North Afrikan peninsula and also of the Suez canal because Erwin Rommel would invade empowered from all of the fresh resupply coming from an Axis-controlled Malta.Below. During the struggle for the island of Malta, another serious and very important battle was raging in the North Afrikan Deserts against Field Marshall Erwin Rommel (the Desert Fox) and British Field marshal bernard law Montgomery. (The Desert Rat).Above. German Nazi Afrika Korps soldiers tried to capture the Suez canal and to link up via the lower Russian continent with the German Sixth Army of Field Marshall Von Paulus (defeated and destroyed in Stalingrad).Malta was the North Afrikan Mediterranean “Stalingrad”. it HAD TO HOLD or all was truly lost to the Axis of evil. If Malta fell to German forces, the Afrika Korps would also link up with the German Sixth Army of general Von Paulus coming down via Mount Erebus into lower Persia, capturing Russias only resupply railroad head along the trans-Siberian railway.German Afrika Korps forces would occupy the territories, and Annexe also the Suez Canal. The Fascist jaws would close forever around the entire Meditteranean sea, and bring a new thousand years Reich dark age to the world.The race was on to turn the tables or lose the war….Every kind of equipment imaginable was what the Soviet Union desperately needed. By early 1943 the Americans had fully taken over Lend-Lease activity in Iran. The mission had four elements: Transport the goods. Offload the transports. Assemble the gear. Get the gear to the U.S.S.R. To reach the Persian Gulf, Liberty ships, each carrying 10 to 15 trainloads of material, sailed from America’s east and west coasts. The 14,000-mile eastern passage rounded the Cape of Good Hope and steamed along East Africa; ships departing western ports sailed 18,000 miles past Australia and India. At peak, in the summer of 1944, stevedores at the three Iranian ports were discharging as much as 9,000 tons of cargo a day.For railroaders, the army skimped on military training, leaving recruits like Ragsdale not the snappiest of soldiers. One hot day in 1943—a 120°F afternoon was not unusual—Rags hacked his government-issue khakis into shorts, triggering a tirade from his sergeant, a veteran of the regular army. “I told him what I thought of him, and the rest of this Army,” the railroad man wrote in his diary.Below; One of the thousands of American railroad constructors sent to Iran to boost resupply to Soviet Russia by America. Thousands of Black American soldiers also were sent there, to do work unloading and transporting all the supplies.Above. US GI “Rags Ragsdale” who was just one of many American soldiers and railroad builders sent to Persia. Modern day (Iran).Map of Allied Road and rail resupply routes through the Persian (Iranian)Corridor.The Persian Corridor was a supply route through Persia (Modern day Iran) into Communist Soviet Azerbaijan by which British aid and AmericanLend Lease supplies were transferred to the Soviet Union during second world war.This supply route originated in the US and UK with ships sailing around the Cape of Good Hope to the Persian Gulf. From there, the material transited Iran to the USSR. Other supply routes included the Northern Route the Arctic, and the Pacific route which handled US cargo at Vladivostock and then used the Trans-Siberian railway across the USSR.Iranian women watch a United States Army land train resupply convoy moving up to aid Russia.Iraq had also been captured by British soldiers, who wished once again to “re-secure” their own British Empirical Ambitions within the Region, and toppled the ruler and replaced him with “their man”. The strategic importance of Iraqi oil for the British war effort, the state of British colonial rule in Iraq, and the April 1941 coup by Rashid Ali Al-Gaylani, led to a brief Anglo-Iraqi war. Aside from maintaining access to oil, Churchill also wanted to prevent German intervention on the Iraqi side. This conflict between the United Kingdom and the rebel government of Ali al-Gaylani in the Kingdom of Iraq lasted from 2 May to 31 May 1941. The campaign resulted in the re-occupation of Iraq by British forces and the return to power of the ousted pro-British Regent of Iraq, Prince Abdul Ilah. While British secured Iraq for the Allies, the campaign further fueled nationalist resentment in Iraq toward the British-supported Hashemite monarchy.Russia then immediately invaded Iran, to secure the “vital” back door resupply route to defeat the fascist juggernaut invader in Russia.Coming shortly after the British occupation of Iraq and the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, the Anglo-Soviet occupation of Iran secured a vital route for supplies to the Soviet Union and assured British control of the region’s oil fields. This Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran, codenamed Operation COUNTENANCE, began on 25 August 1941 and concluded on 17 September. Allied occupation of Iran secured supply lines for the Soviets now fighting against Axis forces on the Eastern Front. Although Iran was officially neutral, its monarch Rezâ Shâh Pahlavi, was friendly toward the Axis Powers. He was deposed during the subsequent occupation and replaced with his young son, Mohammad Rezâ Shâh Pahlavi.An interesting situation of actual unreadiness existed at the time for such a massive large occupation and resupply stage point, and actually, American headquarters had NO MAPS of Iran at all, and only a short number of staff who could speak the Iranian language at all.Although coveted by the Axis powers for its rich oil supplies, the Persian Gulf Theater was the scene of very little fighting in World War II. Nonetheless, the theatre remained important. The delivery of war materiel to the Soviet Union brought a substantial American military presence to the region for the first time. At its peak, the theatre had approximately 65,000 U.S. civilians and 30,000 uniformed service members. However, when the U.S. Army began deploying troops to Iran, American policymakers and the general public had very little knowledge of the region. The War Department did not have maps of Persia when the decision was made to move into the country, and the State Department’s Division of Near-Eastern Affairs had a small staff of thirteen, only three of whom spoke regional languages.This Persian Route became the only viable, all-weather route to be developed to supply Soviet need. It was perhaps, therefore, hardly “remarkable” at all, that Hitler had established through Admiral Donitz, a U boat base in the Antartic, to intercept the Arctic Northern route supply ships convoys. The Nazis also had a weather station there….Below; Showing here JUST ONE DAYS RE SUPPLY unloaded ready to go by rail from Persian Ports.The supply came via several different routes, but the Persian railroad was the ONLY weatherproof delay proof route, therefore it was to see the highest re supply traffic until finaly Axis forces were driven out of the Mediterranean area.There were even licenced factories in Iran, producing American Licenced designed fighter and bomber aircraft for the Soviet Union war effort. Khorramshahr was also producing aircraft. “Russian planes flying over all day,” Rags wrote. “Very low.” The planes came from a plant at Abadan that Douglas Aircraft helped build. Its inventory was not the hottest, but the stock was reliable and plentiful: Bell P-39 Airacobras and Curtiss P-40 Warhawk fighters and Douglas A-20 Havoc light bombers and B-25 Mitchell medium bombers.THE MAIN ENGINE of Persian Corridor aid was the Military Railway Service (MRS), which hauled four tons for every ton carried by truck. Dating to the Civil War, the service had worked in Europe in 1917-18, supplying American forces from dinky, narrow-gauge railways. Now the MRS had divisions on four continents. In Iran, tanks and other loads too heavy for trucks rode the rails. So did refined fuels and ordnance.IN AUTUMN 1944 the equation changed. The Allies took the Mediterranean, allowing aid for the U.S.S.R. to pass through the Black Sea. The Allied presence in Iran began to shrink. Truck convoys stopped rolling that November. In December the Abadan aircraft and Andimeshk truck plants closed, the latter shipped—in crates—to the U.S.S.R. The Iranians got their railroad back the next spring. On May 21, 1945, Ragsdale made his final wartime entry: “The first flight flew out tonight. Won’t be long now.”Only once al Axis troops were cleared from the Mediterranean was Victory assured. had malta been remaining, (if it had fallen) in Nazi hands, it would have been a rather different story and the war would have easily gone on for another two years, perhaps four more years….And then very likely, TURKEY would have entered the war on the German side, spelling disaster for the Allies.In its 34 months, the Persian Gulf Command had assembled and delivered 184,000 vehicles and nearly 5,000 planes and hauled more than 3.4 million tons of supplies. That effort shortened the war on the Eastern Front 12 to 18 months, according to historian David Glantz. Iran’s part strongly affected that nation’s interactions with the United States. Until the war, the Middle East largely had been an Old World sphere of influence. Afterward, however, a growing appetite for oil increased American involvement in the region. In the Cold War, the proximity to the U.S.S.R. that had made Iran crucial during World War II led the United States into a fraught relationship that continues today.It has almost been entirely forgotten today, that American and British soldiers built new railroads up into Russia, that convoys of American lend-lease ships filled with Army supplies, Tools, railway wagons Steam train locomotives and all the parts to build the new railways to “speed up” the urgent resupply of the Russian war efforts against the German Sixth Army in Russia. If Germany captured Malta, it would be used as a staging post for invasions up into Persia and lower Russia, cutting off forever resupply, and defeating the Russian Red Army war machine.If Malta fell and came under Axis control, it would be used at once to resupply Rommel, and to use as a springboard to embark forces up into the Lower Caucasus and through the lower reaches of Russia and the railway that ran through Siberia, cutting off all American lend-lease to Russia, and joining up with the German Sixth Army below the oil fields of Asia. Stalingrad also made sure that this NEVER happened.So, think of Stalingrad, the City on the Volga River, and of Malta, the faraway Island, as two “keys” that were the Golden keys to open the door to Nazi world conquest. In fact, Hitlers plans depended upon it, if he knew this or not. Denying both to him, guaranteed the date in the future for his complete downfall.below Photo. British Eight Army soldiers digging in to make their battle positions. sometime early 1942.Frankly, given the utmost dire world gravity of consequence, if Malta fell, the British initial splitting of their Naval forces just to defend the Suez canal must still be put to serious debate and question.(interestingly in the early 1950’s Egypt's colonel Abdul Nasser also annexed and captured the Suez Canal and tried to threaten the Petroleum and oil supply to the Western countries.)Below Australian and British soldiers fighting from positions in the North Afrikan deserts.One-third of all raids were directed against airfields. At Ta' Qali, 841 tons of bombs were dropped, because the Germans believed the British were operating an underground hangar and the Germans used rocket-assisted PC 18000RS Panther bombs. The usual tactic would involve a sweep ahead of the bombers by German fighters to clear the skies. This worked, and air superiority was maintained. Only slight losses were suffered by the bombers. One notable loss was the Geschwaderkommodore of KG 77, Arved Crüger. Around 94% of the strikes were made in daylight and the Italians supported the Luftwaffe by flying 2,455 sorties in February and March.Wounded in his arm during the Malta air battle, this brave pilot survived the Malta battle, but sadly later died fighting on another part of the Theatre of war a year or so later. James MacLachlan lost his left arm after being wounded and baling out of his Hurricane on 16 February 1941. He is pictured here as a squadron leader during a visit to the US. MacLachlan was critically injured during a sortie over France in July 1943 and died in German captivity.Extreme heat, dry dusty terrain and thirst were always present during the battles, and supplies were in short supply on Malta.This picture below, shows the “carry on regardless” esprit de corps from the times. This soldier is proudly sporting a captured German MP 40 machine Pistol, taken from a fallen German Afrika Korps enemy.Dobbie and the British naval and air commanders argued for modern aircraft, particularly Spitfires, to be sent to Malta. The AOC Middle East, Arthur Tedder, sent Group captain Basil Embry to Malta to assess the situation. The pilots told Embry that the Hurricanes were useless and that the Spitfire was their only hope. They claimed that the Germans purposely flew in front of the Hurricanes in their Bf 109Fs to show off the performance superiority of their fighters. The squadron leaders argued the inferiority of their aircraft was affecting morale. Embry agreed and recommended the Spitfires be sent and the type began arriving in March 1942British soldiers defended North Afrika against the German Afrika Korps, and their Victory eased the pressure on Malta from the defeated Axis.After his decisive Victory for the allies in North Afrika, Field Marshall Bernard Law Montgomery was declared a hereditary peer of the Realm, and given the title of “Viscount Montgomery of Alamein” in recognition of his service.A Red Flag would be hoisted in Malta, to warn of an imminent Air raid.An interesting bit of HistoryThe viscountcy was created in 1946 for the military commander Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery, commemorating his crucial victory in the second battle of El Alamein (23 October–3 November 1942) in the Egyptian town of that name, which sealed the fate of Erwin Rommel's famed Afrika KorpsAs of 2011, the title is held by his son, David Montgomery, the second Viscount who succeeded in 1976. He lost his seat in the House of Lords after the passing of the ahem rather “unpopular” House of Lords Act 1999. However, Lord Montgomery returned to the House of Lords in 2005 in an election of cross-bench hereditary peers, replacing the deceasedBaroness Strange. He retired his seat on 23 July 2015, triggering a by-electionBelow. The Grant of Arms for of Viscount Montgomery of El Alamein.Montgomery in action in the Western Afrikan Deserts.Maltese children are playing amongst the wreckage of a shot down German Stuka dive bomber on Malta.Hitler sent nearly every available nazi U boat submarine into the Malta conflict, to sink allied attempts to reinforce and resupply the island. British submarines and surface ships fought back, and in one month 33 percent of 96,000 tons of Axis supplies, ships or troops were sunk. this helped turn the Axis heat down on the island a bit, and later, after bitter criticism from fed up and demoralised allied pilots whose Hurricane fighter aircraft were now outdated and useless against the newly appearing more faster german fighter designs, received instead at last, the much more effective (certainly for Moral) Spitfires.Above, a rare picture showing Maltese and British island residents celebrating the destruction of yet another Axis aircraft on the island. Every single Axis aeroplane raider that got shot down and destroyed was a major boost to badly needed Morale on the beleaguered island during the height of the siege by Axis forces.Italian soldiers fighting in the Deserts;British naval commanders then tried another foolish and dangerous strategy, they sent two convoys (operation Harpoon and operation Vigorous) to split the attention of the Axis forces. it was an unmitigated disaster.Axis target convoysOperation Pedestal, 11 August: A general view of the convoy under air attack showing the intense anti-aircraft barrage put up by the escorts. The battleship HMS Rodney is on the left and HMS Manchester is on the rightAfter the battles of May and June, the air attacks were much reduced in August and September.While air superiority had been won back by the RAF, German pressure had allowed Axis convoys to re-supply the Panzer Army of Afrika. The island appeared to the Axis forces to be neutralized as a threat to their convoys. Rommel could now look forward to offensive operations with the support of the Luftwaffe in North Africa. At the battle of Gazala, he would win a major victory while the Battle of Bir Hakim was less successful. Even so, he would soon be back in Egypt fighting at El Alamein Despite the reduction in direct air pressure over Malta itself, the situation on the island was serious. It was running out of all essential commodities, particularly food and water, as the bombing had crippled pumps and distribution pipes. Clothing was also hard to come by. All livestock had been slaughtered, and the lack of leather meant people were forced to use curtains and used tyres to replace clothing and shoe soles. Although the civilian population was enduring, the threat of starvation was very real.Poor nutrition and sanitation led to the spread of disease. Soldiers’ rations were also reduced, from four to two thousand calories a day and the British prepared to supply the island with two convoy operations.In June, the Royal Navy undertook Operation Harpoon and Operation Vigorous The two convoys departed for Malta, the former from Gibraltar, the latter from Haifa and Port Said. The move was designed to split Axis naval forces attempting to intervene.Lloyd the AOC, wanted to give No. 601 Squadron over to convoy escort duty. Although he could afford this diversion, he could maintain a standing patrol of only four Spitfires over the convoy. If Axis aircraft attacked as they were withdrawing, they had to stay and fight. Bailing out if the pilots ran low on fuel was the only alternative to landing on Malta. The pilots had to hope that they would be picked up by the ships.The eastern convoy was forced to turn back after a series of naval and air engagements, despite the British ships still having 20% of their ammunition left. It was considered insufficient to see them into Malta. The losses of the convoy were heavy. Among the British losses was the cruiser HMS Hermione. Three destroyers and 11 merchant vessels were also sunk. Malta did send Bristol Beaufort aircraft to engage the Italian fleet and German U-boats attacking the convoy. They torpedoed and sank the heavy cruiser Trento and damaged the battleship Littorio. Two freighters of the western convoy reached Malta and delivered supplies, making them the only ships out of a total of 17 to deliver their loads, 25,000 tons of supplies. A further 16 Malta-based pilots were lost in the operations.In August, Operation pedestal brought vital relief to the besieged island, but at a heavy cost. It was attacked from the sea, but also by air. Some 146 Ju 88s, 72 Bf 109s, 16 Ju 87s, 232 Italian fighters, and 139 Italian bombers (a large number being the highly effective torpedo bomber the Savoia Marchetti SM 79) took part in the action against the convoy.Out of the 14 merchant ships sent, nine were sunk. Moreover, the aircraft carrier HMS Eagle, one cruiser and three destroyers were sunk by a combined effort from the Italian Navy, Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe. Nevertheless, the operation though costly in lives and ships was vital in bringing in much-needed war materials and supplies.British destroyers saved the lives of of950 sailors from HMS Eagle's crew.The Regia Aeronautica had played the central role against the convoy. Indeed, according to Sadkovich and others, to pretend that the air offensive against Malta had been a purely German affair is misleading.Due to British attitudes toward Italy in the War and since, there has been an annoyingly large amount of diss information and fake reporting surrounding the true cause of British Military casualties, sunk ships and wrecked aircraft; I will speak PLAINLY.Italian Airforce fighters and trimotor bombers had, in fact, fought better over the Maltese skies than their Axis German counterparts. England has NEVER ever faced the uncomfortable Military reality, and fact, that it was the Italians and not “just” the Germans who gave their malta forces a “bloody nose”. I am NO “lover” of fascists, but neither do I love liars and revisionist “Historians who tell some whopping fat lies.from 1940 to 1943 the Italians flew 35,724 sorties against the island and the Germans 37,432 – but 31,391 of the Luftwaffe's missions were completed in 1942. The Italians must thus get some share of the credit for the destruction of 575 British fighters on Malta, and the sinking of 23 of 82 merchantmen dispatched to the island. But the RAF preferred to credit its losses to the Germans, even though the Italians flew more fighter missions over the island, had almost as many fighters on Sicily (184) as the Germans in the whole Mediterranean (252) in November 1942, and seem to have been better pilots, losing one aircraft per 63 sorties, compared to a German loss rate of one per 42 sorties.—(From Sadkovitch).The fight now turned in fact to the efforts again of more British submarines, and to a successfull resupply of a large number of torpedoes from HMS Talbot, a base.The submarine proved to be one of the most potent weapons in the British armoury when combating Axis convoys. Simpson, and George Phillips, who replaced him on 23 January 1943, had much success. The estimated tonnage sunk by British U-class submarines alone was 650,000 tons, with another 400,000 tons damaged. The island base, HMS Talbot, supplied 1,790 torpedoes at that time. The number fired by the 10th Flotilla was 1,289, with a hit rate of 30%.The Chief of Staff of the DAK, Fritz Bayerlein once claimed: "We should have taken Alexandria and reached the Suez Canal had it not been for the work of your submarines".The DAK Afrika Korps was surrounded and cut off and defeated by field marshall bernard law Montgomery on the desert battlefields. unable to escape from Cap Bon in North Afrika, and Hitler gave Erwin Rommel an aeroplane out of the country back to Germany, leaving his men to be captured a few days later on.This was, in fact, on the little island of >Malta, the “Axis High water mark”. After this date, Germany MUST now lose the war in the end. Those in the “know” knew after this date, Germany could, and most likely would, now be finaly defeated due to the loss of its chance to link up with Von Paulus (who was destroyed in the Stalingrad encirclement). The vital resupply up into Russia of the Persian railroad and trans-Siberian railway was open, supplies reached the red army, the Nazi German Sixth Army was annihilated, and Hitler suffered his first major absolute defeat of the German war.Sensing that the war was now slipping away from them, the Nazi commanders ordered the final extinction of the Malta defenders and the German invasion of the key island.Valetta street after a German air raid in MaltaStarvation was very very near before finaly any consequential supplies reached the civilian population on Malta.One soldier remembers that he was only given two dry crumby old biscuits for one ration to eat. people began to weaken and fall sick and very ill due to lack of proper food and drink or medicine. Nazi Air raids broke water and sewage pipes and drains, causing a serious shortage of clean drinking water, and risk from dangerous even fatal diseases. Resupply literally had now become a matter of life or death to everybody trapped on the island.As the sole British harbour between Gibraltar at the west end of the Mediterranean and Alexandria in the east, the island’s geographical position was of crucial strategic significance to both Allied and Axis forces. British and Commonwealth aircraft based in Malta could reach Italy and also North Africa in their attempts to stymie the supply lines for Rommel’s campaign. As a consequence, the island became the focus of attention for German and Italian air attacks in their attempts to neutralize the military bases and to bomb the islanders into submission. Malta’s quarter of a million-people suffered long periods of continuous bombing. They also underwent tremendous hardships as little in the way of food or medicines managed to penetrate the blockade preventing merchant ships from entering the port.Despite the success of Allied convoys in getting through, the month was as bad as any other, combining bombing with food shortages. In response to the threat Malta was now posing to Axis supply lines, the Luftwaffe renewed its attacks on Malta in October 1942. Recognizing the critical battle was approaching in North Africa (Second Battle of El Alamein), Kesselring organized Fliegerkorps II in Sicily to neutralize the threat once and for all.On 11 October, the defenders were mass equipped with Spitfire Mk VB/Cs. Over 17 days, the Luftwaffe suffered 34 Ju 88s and 12 Bf 109s destroyed and 18 damaged. RAF losses amounted to 23 Spitfires shot down and 20 crash-landed. The British lost 12 pilots killed.On 16 October, it was clear to Kesselring that the defenders were too strong. He called off the offensive. The situation in North Africa required German air support, so the October offensive marked the last major effort by the Luftwaffe against Malta.Role of Glory On Malta.Victorious Spitfire aircraft line the road from Valletta. But do not forget please, that many aircraft types took part in this famous battle, and especially their crews, who often flew several hundred combat missions, risking death by fire and bullet to help break the Axis siege of the island. Bristol Blenheim, Beaufort, Wellingtons, Harvard, (Adrian Warburton and the Photo recon of the Italian fleet in the Taranto harbour), Hurricanes, and “faith hope and charity, the famous three outdated but heroic Gloster Gladiator aircraft that defended the island also.Some Gloster Gladiator Bi-Plane aircraft colour schemes, including one of the famous malta aircraft.(Please if I have accidentally missed someone, send me a comment about them, and I will add their mention into this article gladly.)It was OVER, and the Axis of evil had lost……The tide of war and fortune was now against the Nazi juggernaut, and soon, defeat would follow defeat…..Below. The moment for Glory.Men of the Royal Malta Artillery marching up Kingsway, Valetta after the presentation of the George Cross to the people of the island.Malta and the real Stalingrad shortly afterwards, meant that the Axis of evil could NOT WIN and that the Western Allied powers could NOT now lose the war. Only eventually win it.Malta Island was awarded the George Cross medal (the Civilian equivalent to the Victoria Cross <Decoration medal) for its bravery and courage during the bitter long siege.The Island held until relieved….and well deserved the Military Decoration for bravery and courage it received.

I have substantially updated my original response to cover cover questions raised by others.Most discussions on which country developed the best WW Two carriers ends up solely an ill tempered debate about whether to adopt armored flight decks or not as if that were the only criteria that matters. The comments usually quickly degenerate into jingoistic chest thumping of little value. These debates most often ignore a number of other critical facts concerning carriers design & use such as: speed, range, displacement, number and type of aircraft typically carried; amount of aviation fuel storage, time required to launch and recover aircraft, time to service & rearm returning aircraft, amount of belt armor, height of hanger space, amount of secure storage space for the safe control of aircraft armaments, numbers of aircraft stored on the flight deck and below, catapults, and quality & quantity of carrier aircraft versus likely opponents. From the start of WW2 to the war’s conclusion the take off weight of aircraft increased dramatically.In answering this question I believe it would be worthwhile to first discuss carrier design, strategy and development in the interwar period between the First & Second World Wars. One reason for doing this is that carriers were a completely new class of naval ship and secondly, the Washington Naval Treaty, which came into effect in early 1922 (ceased at the end of 1936 when Japan & Italy both withdrew) had a significant impact on naval surface fleet development during the period between the two wars. A major aim of the Washington and subsequent London treaties was to reduce the threat of a new naval arms race by limiting the size and armaments of new construction. A primary target was to constrain the development of capital ships (battleships & battlecruisers) and secondarily also aircraft carriers. It was not easy to gain acceptance but in the end the 5 signatories, British Empire (UK), US, Japan, France & Italy (all allies in WW1), agreed to limit the construction of capital ships (battleships and battlecruisers) to 35,000 tons, and aircraft carriers to 27,000 tons and all other ships to a maximum of 10,000 tons. In addition the 5 countries (as listed above) had limits on the total tonnage in each specified category on a ratio of 5:5:3:1.75:1.75. Total tonnage for carriers was 135,000 for the UK & US, 81,000 for Japan, and 60,000 for the other two. As one might expect there were some exceptions allowed, however I will only cite those for aircraft carriers as that is the focus for this discussion. One exception was the 5 carriers launched prior to the treaty signing were not to be counted in the total allowed tonnage. Another exception for all 5 signatories was that they were all allowed to convert two capital ship hulls to carriers with a displacement limit of 33,000 tons per ship. Lastly, any carriers under 10,000 tons were not to be counted. (There is ample information on the web for those who wish to know more about the Washington Naval Treaty and subsequent modifications. For example to only cite three: Washington Naval Treaty; Wikipedia; Washington Conference|Treaties & Facts|Britannica; London Naval Treaty - Wikipedia).The Washington treaty resulted in a whole new appraisal of naval construction and of existing fleets among the five nations. As a result the RN had to scrap or cancel 23 capital ships, the USN 30 and the IJN 17. Almost all of the early development of carriers in the interwar years was by the RN, USN and IJN, initially by utilizing hulls of ships under construction as capital ships. These carriers were all compromises but served a purpose to help better define what, at that time, constitutes a proper aircraft carrier to meet the needs of the 3 leading naval air services. First of all the bulk of the RN, USN, & IJN carriers were designed and constructed in the 1920’s & 30’s (prior to WW2) by naval planners who were directed to construct ships to meet what the then current naval leaders saw as their probable projected missions. This included looking at potential theaters of operations, potential adversaries naval and air strengths, how the carriers would operate in their respective fleets, and the numbers, types and quality of aircraft to be employed. So for the RN the primary focus was on the North Atlantic, the Med and helping to eliminate or at least neutralise the German & Italian naval and land based air threats. For the USN it’s focus was on protecting the North Atlantic shipping lanes, and to confront and defeat the IJN in the Pacific. The IJN aims were to secure their sea lanes from South East Asia from any threats and to defeat the USN’s Pacific fleet and to eliminate any threats from the RN. Also all three naval service leadership in the early 30’s were still dominated by battleship admirals who saw carriers as a key support element to their capital ships. It was the IJN however, based on their war time experience in China (1937 and thereafter), that now recognized carriers as their primary naval offensive threat and began to remodel their various fleets with carriers as their core offensive threat.As noted above the IJN began the war with China on the premise that carriers were there to protect the battleships and battlecruisers. The IJN naval leadership did not yet fully appreciate the potential capabilities of carriers. As a result of their operations in China and elsewhere pre WW2 the IJN dramatically changed how their carriers and air fleets should operate within their naval fleets. A number of lessons were learned by the IJN, but two of the most important were employing large numbers of attacking carrier aircraft to totally overwhelm the potential defenders, and secondly developing naval aircraft that were superior in quality to those they were expected to meet. This led the IJN prior to WW2 modify to their existing carriers to carry greater numbers of planes and to develop superior long range naval aircraft that were more capable than possible land or sea based opponents, and to group a number of carriers (Kaga, Akagi, Hiryu, Soryu, Shokaku and Zuikaku) together within the First Air Fleet (Kido Butai) to overwhelm any opposition. This latter doctrine of massed carrier strike groups was unique to the IJN at the time (late 1930’s) and had significant consequences for both the RN and the USN early in the war. The IJN entered the war as a well drilled navy, with a clear carrier operating doctrine, very experienced and highly capable air crews, superior aircraft and the best aircraft torpedo. Their intent was to run wild throughout 1942 with the intent of forcing the US to the bargaining table.The following is a direct quote from a web source: (Naval Encyclopedia Japan, 1919-45 34 Aircraft Carriers). “In December 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) possessed the second largest carrier fleet worldwide, with 9 in service: Hosho, Kaga, Akagi, Hiryu, Soryu, Ryujo, Shokaku, Zuikaku, and Zuiho. This represented 212,330 tonnes. At that same point the Royal Navy had 12 carriers in service: Argus, Eagle, Hermes, Furious, Glorious, Courageous, Ark Royal, Illustrious, Victorious, Formidable, Indomitable, and Audacity representing all together 239,450 tonnes. The US Navy had eight carriers: Langley, Lexington, Saratoga, Ranger, Yorktown, Hornet, Enterprise, & Wasp totaling only 177,100 tonnes. So not only was the IJN carrier force larger than the USN’s but Japanese pilots were among the best experienced and trained of all the belligerents with an ongoing campaign in China since 1937, and had another ace up their sleeves, the best naval fighter of its time, the Mitsubishi A6M Zero. It’s then not a surprise the IJN did so well in early 1942, and also how much the USN effort to resist the onslaught until that point was meritorious.” Not stated above, it needs to be also recognized the USN had only 3 carriers (Enterprise, Saratoga &. Lexington) in the Pacific at the end of December 1941.Despite their observations and briefings regarding IJN capabilities both the USN and RN suffered substantial losses in their initial engagements against the IJN. The Japanese war plans beyond the attack on Pearl Harbor included capturing the Philippines, Wake Island, Hong Kong, Malaya, Burma, Indonesia, Guam, and Singapore which were completed successfully. The Japanese already had effective control In French Indochina since mid 1941 following the fall of France to the Germans. Their plans also prioritized quickly capturing Ceylon, Port Moresby, further islands in the Pacific (Guadalcanal and Midway for example), one or more of the Aleutian Islands and to attack and hopefully neutralize Darwin. Early on the IJN managed to sink the HMS Prince of Wales and the HMS Repulse with land based naval aircraft in the South China Sea, and later following an air attack on Ceylon in early April 1942, they also sank the HMS Hermes (a small RN carrier) with aircraft from multiple carriers. Their attack on Ceylon, most importantly the naval base at Trincomalee, caused the RN to transfer its Eastern Fleet to Kilindini, Kenya, in East Africa, temporarily ceding the eastern Indian Ocean to the Japanese. However, unexpectedly, the Japanese never followed up from this victory.The main reason for this was the IJN was determined to concentrate its resources on hopefully defeating the USN in the Pacific. This was to prove to be more difficult than the IJN leadership envisioned. Later in 1942 the Japanese may have had a tactical victory at the Coral Sea, but this engagement certainly played a major factor in their disastrous defeat to the USN at the Battle of Midway. The IJN’s plan for the Midway air attack included all 6 fleet carriers (Kido Butai), but two had to withdraw because of the considerable damage to one (Shokaku) and the severe loss of experienced air crews and aircraft to the second (Zuikaku) during the Coral Sea engagements. At the time the IJN were attempting to invade Port Moresby and add reinforcements to their land forces at Guadalcanal. The USN lost the carrier Lexington (CV-2) and the Yorktown (CV-5) was badly damaged at the Coral Sea and the IJN lost the light carrier Shoho. The IJN initially believed they sank both USN carriers. Early in WW2 one critical factor was air reconnaissance and the ability to be the first to identify the location and type of an enemies ships. If one combatant could attack the other first it would usually prove decisive in the ultimate outcome. This seems simple but in reality the type of ships were often misidentified. The following quote: http://Britannica.com: “effective air scouting was the dominant tactical problem of carrier warfare and had the utmost influence on the outcomes of the crucial carrier battles of the Pacific Theatre in 1942: the Coral Sea (May 4–8), Midway (June 3–6), the Eastern Solomons (August 23–25), and the Santa Cruz Islands (October 26).”As we know the IJN lost all four carriers at Midway and the USN one (the Yorktown which was quickly repaired following extensive damage at Coral Sea), which resulted in a subsequent dramatic change to IJN strategy from offensive to more containment and defensive. Another result was the IJN never again made a significant naval attack on Port Moresby with the intent to support troop landings. The battle of the Coral Sea was the first engagement between USN & IJN carrier aircraft that did not involve naval gun fire between major ships of the opposing forces. For reference you can also see: (Wikipedia Battle of the Coral Sea order of battle), or (http://history.naval.org Battle of the Coral Sea).In answer to the original question “which carrier(s) proved itself to be the best in World War Two” I would cite the Essex class because of the significant numbers operational and their substantial contribution to the defeat of the IJN. I considered both the Illustrious class (including the Formidable, Indomitable and Victorious) and the Implacable class (Indefatigable) of RN aircraft carriers. These were good ships and served the RN well in the Atlantic and the Med and post war, but I eliminated them because of their inability to carry and quickly launch sufficient aircraft of the quality required, the lower numbers of aircraft carried, height of the hanger decks, the very limited ship range and average speed compared to the Essex class 12k nmi at 10 kn versus 20k nmi at 15 kn, and even more critically the low level of aviation fuel carried. Because of where the RN carriers were in most of the early years of WW2 (North Atlantic & Med) they were operating singularly or in pairs, and near friendly land bases where they could return for repairs, replenishment, and acquiring new armaments, aircraft and flight crews. When the British Pacific Fleet was formed “it was found that its tankers were too few, too slow and in some cases unsuitable for the task of replenishment at sea. Its oiling gear, hoses and fittings were too often poorly designed. British ships refuelled at sea mostly by the over-the-stern method, a safer but less efficient technique compared with the USN method of refuelling in parallel. As the Royal Australian Navy had discovered, British-built ships had only about a third of the refrigeration space of a comparable American ship. They also suffered from limited fuel tankage and less efficient machinery, particularly the capital ships (A comparison of HMS King George V and USS Washington conducted in 1942 found the British ship burned 39 per cent more fuel at cruising speed and 20 per cent more at high speed, giving her half the action radius.) British ships therefore required replenishment more frequently than American ships. In some cases even American-built equipment was not interchangeable, as FAA aircraft had been "Anglicized" by the installation of British radios and oxygen masks, while Vought Corsairs had their wing-folding arrangements modified to fit into the more cramped hangars of British carriers. Replacement aircraft therefore largely had to be brought from the UK.” (see; British Pacific Fleet - Wikipedia)The following is a quote (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illustrious-class_aircraft_carrier) “the differences in aircraft capacity between these RN carriers and their United States Navy (USN) counterparts is largely due to the some 100-foot-longer overall length of the US designs, and the USN's operational doctrine, which allowed for a permanent deck park of aircraft to augment their hangar capacity. Illustrious's hangar was 82% as large as USN’s Enterprise , but Enterprise typically carried 30% of her aircraft capacity in her deck park. Illustrious's two hangars were actually larger than Enterprise's (please note the Enterprise was slightly smaller (12%) than the Essex class but typically carried between 90-96 aircraft during WW2), but she carried fewer aircraft because she did not have a large permanent deck park. In 1944/45 RN carriers began to carry a permanent deck park similar to their USN counterparts, and this increased their aircraft complement from 36 to an eventual 57 aircraft in the single-hangar Illustrious carriers, and from 48 up to 81 in the double-hangar, 23,400-ton Implacable design, compared to 90–110+ for the 27,500-ton US Essex class.” The armored flight deck carriers performed well and survived several kamikaze attacks, unlike a few of the USN carriers.The Essex class were approved by the US Congress in 1938 and 24 ships were subsequently completed out of 32 planned. From 1943 onwards they were the backbone of US carrier fleet operations and none were lost during the war. Like the Illustrious and Implacable classes the Essex design preceded involvement in the war but following collapse of the Washington Naval treaty. So while the Essex class early ships lacked the influence of direct war time experience they were influenced by observations of the IJN in China. It should also be noted that “the preliminary design for the Essex class, particular attention was directed at the size of both the flight and hangar decks. Aircraft design had come a long way from the comparatively light planes used on carriers during the 1920s to mid 1930s. Flight decks now required more takeoff space for the heavier aircraft being developed and in planning. Moreover, US carrier doctrine was premised on the "deck-load strike", launching as rapidly as possible as many aircraft as could be spotted on the flight deck beforehand. With the advent of war, airplane weights began to go up dramatically as armor and armament got heavier; and aircrew complements increased following IJN practice. The hangar area design came in for many design conferences between USN naval bureaus. Not only were the supporting structures to the flight deck required to carry the increased weight of landing and parked aircraft, but they were to have sufficient strength to support the storing of spare fuselages and parts (50% of each operational plane type aboard, hence 33% of carried aircraft) under the flight deck and still provide adequate working space for the men using the area below.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essex-class_aircraft_carrier) While ships completed later in war had modifications the basic design remained essentially the same. The ships in the Essex class had a pre—war planned complement of aircraft of 36 fighters (F6F), 36 dive bombers (SB2C), and 18 (TBF) torpedo bombers. Later in the war some of the Essex class substituted F4U’s in fighter-attack squadrons. During the war ships in the class actually carried up to 100-110 aircraft. Interestingly post WW2 twenty two of the Essex class carriers were extensively modified with angled flight decks and other improvements and most continued to serve through the 1960’s and a few into the 70’s around the globe.The following is a quote from (Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Essex-Class Aircraft Carrier). “The tactical employment of U.S. carriers changed as the war progressed. In early operations, through 1942, the doctrine was to operate singly or in pairs, joining together for the offense and separating when on the defense—the theory being that a separation of carriers under attack not only provided a protective screen for each, but also dispersed the targets and divided the enemy's attack. Combat experience in those early operations did not bear out the theory, and new proposals for tactical deployment were the subject of much discussion. As the new Essex-class…became available, tactics changed. Experience taught the wisdom of combined strength. Under attack, the combined anti-aircraft fire of a task groups carriers and their screen of battleships, cruisers and destroyers provided a more effective umbrella of protection against enemy aircraft than was possible when the carriers separated.” This change closely resembled that employed by the IJN in employment of the Kido Butai prior to the start and during WW2.I am now changing direction and using future carrier planning by the RN and USN during WW2 to demonstrate how the two naval services came to very similar conclusions regarding future carrier development.HMS Malta Class & USS Midway ClassIt was only after mid 1942 that we really see in the planning for new carrier construction that both the RN & USN borrowed heavily on each other’s experiences and lessons learned from engagements against the IJN and elsewhere. This is especially evident in the planning, design process for the Malta class (RN) and Midway class (USN) which came to impressively very similar conclusions and would have resulted in carriers for both the RN and USN of roughly equal capabilities & size. Both the Malta and Midway classes were designed with similar aims; specifically with the large air group strike role in mind. British carriers in service at the time were unable to field the same quantity of aircraft, or launch and recover them at similar rates, to carriers of the USN or IJN. Initial planning for the Malta class began in the 1940, but it was only in late 42 or early 43 that it became a priority. The HMS Malta class envisioned 4 carriers (Malta, New Zealand, Africa & Gibraltar) that were authorized in July 43. However work seemingly never commenced on any of the four although steel and other construction material was ordered for at least 2 of the ships. The final Malta class design X1 was heavily influenced by the RN’s observations of the USN’s operations, especially in the Pacific, and led to an increase in the final approved displacement size of the Malta Class. The USN Midway Class planning also started in 1940 and was seen as a much improved Essex class. Initially planing called for 6 ships, but only 3 ships were finally authorized (Midway CV-41, F D Roosevelt CV-42 & Coral Sea CV-43) out of the planned 6 ship total. None of the Midway class ships served in WW2. The USS Midway was commissioned 8 days after the surrender of Japan. It is worth noting that all three Midway class carriers were utilized in a number of later conflicts (e.g., Vietnam and elsewhere) and the three proved themselves to be very capable ships. The three Midway class carriers were modernized in the 50’s with RN developed angled flight decks and other improvements including steam catapults. The Midway was further modernized in the late 60’s. As the last active ship in the Class, the USS Midway, was decommissioned in 11 April 1992. There is ample information for anyone interested for both the Malta and Midway classes on the web. However I should add that one of the best sources for information on RN and USN WW2 aircraft carriers and their development can be found in two books authored by the naval historian, Norman Friedman (see: Sources – at the very end of the text).The data below is based on final approved plans for both classes and you can easily appreciate how similar they were in size, weight and dimensions. Both were planned to have armored flight decks, hanger decks with USN styled higher hanger ceilings, and similar numbers of planned aircraft capacities. The designs for both classes anticipated that the size and weight of carrier aircraft would continue to grow as it had throughout the war. As you can see both naval services adopted from the experiences of the other. In the case of the Midway class the final decommissioning data for the three ships varied significantly as the later modifications to each ship was not identical.Malta Class X1; Midway ClassDisplacement 45,000 - 58,700; 45,000 – 60,000Length 274.4m; 295.0mBeam 35.2m; 34.0mDraught 10.7m; 10.0mArmour (belt) 150mm; 193mm(deck) 102mm; 89mmSpeed 32.5 knots; 33 knotsCrew 3500+; 4100Aircraft 80 – 108; 80 – 130Catapults 2; 2Depicted below is an artists impression of a completed Malta class carrier.HMS Malta X1For those of you who want to know more about the planning for the Malta class see the following: (Home - Navy General Board) “The Malta class: the carriers that never were”. It is an excellent presentation about the discussions and compromises that went into the adoption of the X1 as the final approved design. The selected X1 design was some 15.2m shorter than than the X. Also as I said in an earlier posting if the UK had built 1 or more ships of the Malta class and upgraded them in a manner similar to the Midway class post WW2 I doubt Argentina would have chosen to invade the Falkland’s. Facing an RN task force with a carrier able to carry 60 – 75 modern aircraft, including F-4 Phantom II’s, airborne early warning and other attack aircraft would have virtually eliminated any chance of success for Argentina. In the 1980’s the Midway class carried about 70-75 aircraft, including F-4, F-18, A-6, E2C, C-2 and other aircraft, including helicopters.Following is a depiction of the Midway class approved design in 1942, and the last shows how substantial modifications in the 50’s and late 60’s altered the original shape and size of the flight deck of the USS Midway during her 46 year service life span.At the time of Midway’s decommissioning she served +46 years. and her displacement had increased from 45,000 tons in 1945 to a reported 74,000 in 1991. “The ability to adapt to new technologies, systems, platforms, and operational needs is nowhere better exemplified than in the design and 50-year operational history of the USS Midway . Designed during World War II, in 1945 this "flattop" initially operated piston-driven propeller aircraft, yet returned from her last deployment in 1991 with the Navy's most modern, multipurpose strike-fighters. Her original axial-deck design was modified to an angled-deck layout, her original hydraulic catapults were replaced with more powerful steam catapults, and the most basic electronics replaced by advanced sensors and communications equipment.” (MidwaySailor.com)USS Midway 1945, 1957 & 1969Sources:Washington Naval TreatyWikipedia; Washington Conference|Treaties & Facts|Britannica).Kido Butai By Anthony TullyNaval Encyclopedia Japan, 1919-45 34 Aircraft Carriers- Wikipedia Battle of the Coral Sea order of battlehttp://history.naval.org Battle of the Coral SeaMalta Class Carrier – Wikipediahttp://Navygeneralboard.com/Maltaclasscarriershttp://board.com/The Malta class: the carriers that never werehttp://Military.wiki.org/malta class carriersUSS Midway (CV-41) – WikipediaMidway-class carrier – Wikipediahttp://Armouredcarriers.com/ussmidwayMidwaySailor.comThe Age of the Aircraft Carrier – http://Britannica.comBritish Pacific Fleet - WikipediaNorman Friedman – British Carrier Aviation: The Evolution of the Ships and their AircraftNorman Friedman – US Aircraft Carriers: An Illustrated Design History