The First World War, whose end a century ago is being marked today, had a profound impact on Malta even though the island was not a direct participant.
The best-known consequence of the First World War was that Malta was dubbed ‘The Nurse of the Mediterranean’ after some 136,000 troops injured in Gallipoli and other campaigns were brought to 27 military hospitals that dotted the island. Hundreds are still buried here.
But the most important consequence of the first great war on Malta was actually the birth of parliamentary democracy, however limited.
The dire economic consequences immediately following the end of the war sparked the bread riots of June 7,1919, which in turn led to the presentation of the 1921 constitution by the British colonial authorities and the setting up of Malta’s first parliament – then called the Legislative Assembly.
Other consequences of the war are less known.
For example, banknotes for general use were printed for the first time in Malta amid fears that stocks of British coins could not be replenished.
The First World War saw the birth of trade union militancy in Malta, with a strike being held at the dockyard as the workforce demanded better pay.
And as the economy nosedived in the wake of the conflict and there were mass dismissals from the dockyard and the Navy, Malta saw the first organised mass emigration to far-off countries.
The First World War also saw the first aircraft flight over Malta. The Malta dockyard even started building flying boats.
A Maltese became a pilot with the then Royal Flying Corps and shot down a German aircraft over the Western front before being himself shot down and injured.
Malta also almost suffered its first air raid. A German Zeppelin airship LZ104 (L59) took off on April 7,1918 from Yamboli carrying 50 tons of bombs to attack the dockyard in Malta and the naval fuel storage tanks on Corradino Hill. The airship crossed the Balkans to the Strait of Otranto in the south of Italy, where it mysteriously blew up. The explosion was witnessed by a German u-boat. There were no survivors.
The First World War saw Maltese men drafted to war abroad in significant numbers for the first time in over a century – ever since young people were forcibly recruited by Napoleon’s forces for the ill-fated Egyptian campaign. 5,600 men volunteered for service abroad with the Maltese Labour Corps, serving as labourers rather than soldiers. 120 of them men died on active service, very often from disease. ( https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/46603839.pdf )
Others served in the Royal Navy or as soldiers in various campaigns.
Biggest tragedies
The biggest single tragedy to hit the Maltese came on January 20, 1918 when 73 Maltese sailors perished as the British-requisitioned passenger ship HMS Louvain was torpedoed and sunk in the Keros Strait in the Aegean Sea. The ship had left Malta two days previously on its way to Mudros.
In yet another tragedy, 14 Maltese died in a massive explosion in Hamrun while filling hand grenades for use by the British forces.
592 Maltese dead
The War Memorial in Floriana, erected 20 years after the end of the First World War and shortly before the start of the second, recorded the named of 592 Maltese who died in the Great War. Alas, their names were removed when the memorial was altered and re-dedicated to also include World War II.
Other than its hospitaller role, Malta’s main contribution to the war was as a naval base. As a result, the German navy sought to block the approaches to Malta, laying several minefields off Malta’s coast.
Several ships were sunk, and some are enjoyed as artificial reefs by diving enthusiasts to this day. Among them was the battleship HMS Russell.
The naval blockade also caused severe food shortages in Malta, to the extent that strict regulations were introduced on bread-making. Prices soared and the economy deteriorated, despite a spike in jobs at the dockyard.
It was with a view to protecting shipping in the central Mediterranean that Commodore Murray F. Sueter, one of the founders of the Royal Naval Air Service, was appoin¬ted in 1917 to organise the operation of British aircraft from Malta. With no aircraft having been actually provided, a Seaplane Construction Department was set up at the dockyard and some 20 aircraft were built in 1917. They were based at the Kalafrana seaplane base (now the site of the freeport) and used for anti-submarine and other maritime patrol roles.
Later, Sopwith Camel fighter aircraft were also based in Malta. Since no airfields had been built yet, they flew from the Marsa Sports Ground.
The first world war saw also pioneering heart surgery carried out here. A soldier, Robert Hugh Martin, who was shot in the heart at Salonika in 1917 was evacuated to Malta and underwent what was considerered as a pioneering procedure worldwide.
Apart from medical treatment, Malta was also one big base for recuperation and rest for soldiers.
Australia Hall, which survives in a ruinous state in Pembroke, was built by the Australian Red Cross as a recreation centre and theatre and provided entertainment for wounded soldiers of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.
Big prison camp
But it was not just wounded soldiers who were brought to Malta by troop ships and ambulance ships.
More than 1,600 prisoners of war also ended up here, many of them in the converted Verdala barracks and Fort Salvatore within the Cottonera bastions. They were guarded by soldiers from the King's Own Malta Regiment of Militia.
Among the most prominent prisoners was Captain von Muller, captain of the German cruiser Emdem and Lieutenant Franz Josef, (Prince) Von Hohenzollern of the German Royal Family (nephew of the then King of Romania). The cruiser had been sunk in the Indian Ocean.
Also locked up in Malta was submariner Karl Donitz, who in the second world war rose to Grand Admiral and head of Hitler’s navy. Donitz was the officer who eventually succeeded Hitler and signed Germany’s surrender in the second world war .
Further reading: Malta and the approach of World War I in 1914 - https://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20140629/life-features/Malta-and-the-approach-of-World-War-I-in-1914.525881