We often think of World War II solely in terms of battles on the high seas and infantry assaults. While this is certainly true, it was also supported by industries and functioning economies, far away from the battlefields. This fact of war has, unfortunately, become poignantly relevant again. In September last year, Admiral Rob Bauer, chairperson of the NATO Military Committee, said that “while it may be the military who wins battles, it’s the economies that win wars”.

During World War II, the Maltese islands could not support themselves on local produce alone and local commerce was reliant on imports. Thus, importation was a significant element in Malta commercial survival. However, apart from the calibre of guns and types of aircraft used to escort ships to Malta, how was resupply actually organised? How did local, private importers, retailers and wholesalers survive in a war economy? Where did Malta store its supplies safely?

D.I. Scanlan, accountant and later officer for COSUP. He was a critical figure in COSUP history, described as a “tower of strength in the planning of the import programme and of the loading of convoys”.

In 1940, when Italy declared war, the COSUP organisation, quite literally meaning ‘coordination of supplies’, was set up. In practice, COSUP imported stocks of commodities from whatever was available abroad and sent it to Malta when possible, according to the most pressing needs. It was an office responsible for ensuring that adequate supplies abroad were allocated for Malta, for overseeing the logistics of their importation and storage. Thus, supplies and commodities continued to reach Malta and its civilian population in their normal, local shops.

Flour, coal, oils, timber, cement and steel were some of the first imports to fall under COSUP’s remit. Wheat, being essential in the production of bread, also became the sole responsibility of COSUP. The price of such a staple food item dictated public morale and quality of life. No profits were allowed to any distributor to keep costs as low as possible. An unmanageable increase in people’s cost of living would have only led to riot and rebellion in an already war-torn island. In fact, the final price of goods was below the original purchase and import cost.

Pools were organisations composed of private firms managing the importation of a particular commodity

The Illustrious blitz in January of 1941 inaugurated the entry of the Luftwaffe over Malta, increasing the island’s sufferance considerably. This is the point where supplying Malta became problematic. Rationing, as well as communal kitchens, were subsequently introduced.

As war raged on, supplying Malta became one of the vital efforts for the island’s survival. That same year, it was decided that the government had to coordinate all supplies: ‘pools’ had to be formed.

Put simply, pools were organisations composed of private firms managing the importation of a particular commodity such as wines and spirits, chocolate and confectionery. The government could have easily created its own distribution network, but instead opted to convert importers and retailers into distributors with an allocated profit commission. Doing so, it froze Malta’s commercial structure but preserved it intact until the war’s end. It also allowed individuals to keep their livelihoods and carry on with their life.

Unloading goods from the damaged Orari in Malta, June 1942. Photo: Imperial War Museum

A loaded lighter next to a ship in Malta during the war. Photo: National Archives of Malta

The majority of pools were formed very quickly with the assistance of the Chamber of Commerce from October 1941 onwards. Chamber president Antonio Cassar-Torregiani instructed the setting up of a specific board within the chamber to assist in the rapid creation of pools administered by individuals without conflicting commercial or personal interests. The termination of a free market coupled with the nationwide cooperation of local agents and firms was no easy task.

The government advised the chamber that their failure to form pools under COSUP would result in a complete nationalisation of imports distribution, opting to deal directly with shopkeepers. Existing stocks of goods immediately became property of respective protected pools so that prices could be controlled without delay and prevent hoarding.

The first meeting was organised between importers who were in their respective business for over five years before September 1939. These were importers of ‘textiles in the piece’, ‘wearing apparel’, socks and many other commodities grouped in their respective categories. The creation of more pools followed suit.

Once in Malta, the stocks would be sold directly to the respective pool. Each pool would have its own administrative body responsible for distributing the stocks among its members (acting as agents) and oversee the adequate commission: a profit percentage stipulated and paid to the members of the pool by the government of Malta. Therefore, COSUP controlled both the import fees and the local distributors’ commissions, taking hold of the price of essential commodities, together with organisations such as the Price Control Board.

In practice, it was not a seamless affair to form and manage these pools. Some local importers protested that they could not choose the brand of products being imported.

Reports also suggested that pools illegally sold directly to third parties rather than to distributors within the pool itself, not to mention the overarching problem of a lucrative black market.

Apart from the distribution of goods in Malta and their prices, attention was also given as to how convoys were loaded in order to facilitate their efficient unloading in Malta.

A convoy headed to Malta. Photo: Official Admiralty Photograph

Another pressing task was to increase their survivability through distribution of flammable or explosive material across ships in a convoy, leaving vital supplies separate from such cargo. The utmost organisation required for such a monumental endeavour also necessitated the Malta Shipping Committee in Alexandria.

In Malta, COSUP itself had several sub-divisions to manage its finance, auditing, stores, surveys, and even an engineering branch for the repair and maintenance of its stores, and employed 750 staff at one point.

Imported commodities were then unloaded and stored by stevedores and lightermen in the warehouses of each pool. Working parties from local infantry regiments also assisted to rapidly unload the more important convoys. Given the dangerous conditions in which discharging cargo often took place, some goods were gravely damaged during handling, causing small but unacceptable losses of essential commodities. Worrying reports concerning logistical issues also influenced the government to take decisive action.

Bomb damage at Pinto Wharf. Photo: Stanley Fraser Collection, National Archives of Malta

During the worst of 1942, the pools system was suspended, as well as commercial shipping agents; COSUP cited the critical need to maximise efficiency in the organisation of convoys and their allocated space. The unloading and stowage of goods also became the responsibility of UNSTO, as subcontractors of COSUP. This was a centralised organisation of labourers that replaced the pools’ and the shipping agents’ role in unloading ships and transporting the supplies to government stores, despite the pools’ protestations. Formed in 1942, its name directly translates to ‘unloading’ and ‘storage’.

The creation of UNSTO was part of the larger reorganisation in the unloading of convoys following the devastating loss of supplies from the merchantmen Talabot and Pampas in the Grand Harbour in March 1942. Efforts also increased to store stocks in safe underground storage when possible, as well as dispersed storage facilities (referred to as ‘dumps’) away from the harbour to keep vital supplies away from bomb-targeted areas.

SS Talabot partially submerged in Grand Harbour. Photo: Stanley Fraser Collection, National Archives of Malta

UNSTO was also a direct reaction to issues with the pools’ logistics, concerning reports of theft, damage and loss of stock due to mishandling, and other contraventions of regulations. However, issues persisted with UNSTO, such as uncleanliness, improper stacking and unsanitary storage. It is worth mentioning that a salvage store was established to save as much as possible from flawed stocks, including the much larger quantity of goods damaged enroute to Malta when ships were hit and/or flooded.

After 1943, the pools were gradually given back the responsibility for unloading and storing their goods. By 1945, 366 stores previously requisitioned were released, “at the rate of one a day”. COSUP was also involved in the re-establishment of Maltese commercial ties to Italy and the Middle East.

According to Carmel Vassallo, the major success of the pools was the survival of the pre-war commercial structure. It was, perhaps, to the credit of the Maltese government’s foresight to retain importers and retailers as distributors within pools as opposed to nationalising importation and retail entirely. To do so, they had to rely on exceptional individuals, both in government and private firms, possessing unparalleled energy. They created nothing short of a logistical marvel, a sophisticated system whose legacy lay in mountains of paperwork concerning orders for milk, kerosene, flour and other things from the endless list of goods Malta needed to survive.

Nikolai Debono is a member of Battlefront Malta.