In the autumn of 1941 the aircraft, ships and submarines from Malta were causing havoc among the convoys transporting men and material between the Italian mainland and Libya.

At one stage the convoys were discontinued and Count Ciano, the Italian foreign minister and Mussolini's son-in-law, wrote in his diary: "...the Mediterranean situation is dark and will become even more so because of the continued loss of merchant ships. In responsible naval quarters they are seriously beginning to wonder whether we should give up Libya voluntarily rather than wait until we are forced to do so by the total lack of shipping." The tragic end of Ciano, shot by his father-in-law, is one of the saddest Italian episodes of World War II.

The second issue of volume four of Malta At War covers extensively the operations of September 1941, including the arrival of the Halberd convoy from the western Medi-terranean. The merchant ships were escorted by heavy units, including battleships, totalling a force of 27 warships. A series of photographs never before published record the drama of their arrival in the Grand Harbour.

Seventeen of the escorting warships were to be lost within a year, the carrier Ark Royal, the new battleship Prince of Wales and the destroyer Cossack within a few weeks.

The courage of the merchant seamen is narrated by Denis Foss, fourth mate of the Melbourne Star, as the ship sailed from Malta to Gibraltar unescorted along waters infested with Axis minefields, aircraft and warships. Foss had arrived with a previous convoy and had met his sister Jane in Malta where she was the principal of the Chiswick House School (this year celebrating its 100th anniversary).

The air operations from Malta over the Italian mainland, the Mediterranean and North Africa were reported in the Times of Malta but for security reasons were not sourced to the RAF and FAA based on the island. The low-level attacks by the Blenheims are recalled with a sense of loss due to the heavy toll in men and machines. Photographs of these operations show the courage of the young airmen.

The arrival of Wellington bombers fitted with secret air-to-surface-vessel radar is described by the airman who set up the Special Duties Flight at Luqa, Fl. Lt Tony Spooner. In an article specially written for Malta at War a few weeks before he died in 2001, he narrates how his aircraft led a naval squadron from Malta at night to sink entire Axis convoys.

All this activity was being carried out from airfields and creeks which were being bombed by the Italian bombers, who were in turn being shot down by the night-fighters and anti-aircraft guns.

All this time the infantry was on the alert against an invasion and a wartime visit to the King's Own Malta Regiment is recalled at a camp in Qrendi.

In all this Malta was also the centre of a spy network that extended to most of the enemy shores near and far. The drama of picking up agents from, and landing them on, enemy territory is described by a FAA pilot flying a Swordfish from Hal Far.

Forthcoming issues of Malta at War will also record with graphic illustrations the heavy losses inflicted on the Royal Navy by U-boats and Italian frogmen before the year was out, as well as the return of the Luftwaffe to Sicily with orders to eliminate the island.

Malta at War is produced by Wise Owl Publications and sells for Lm1.85 an issue. Two volumes have been published and the third volume will be available soon, when subscribers will be informed individually.