“To honour her brave people, I award the George Cross to the Island Fortress of Malta to bear witness to a heroism and devotion that will long be famous in history.”

These are the words written by King George VI of Great Britain on April 15, 1942, 80 years ago this month, from Buckingham Palace, London, to Malta’s governor, Lieutenant-General Sir William Dobbie (1879-1964, Governor 1940-42), to which the governor replied: “By God’s help Malta will not weaken but will endure until victory is won.”

His Majesty King George VI’s handwritten message to Governor Sir William Dobbie. Photo: Maltacommand.com

The George Cross scroll inscribed on a marble plaque placed on the façade of the Presidential Palace, Valletta.

The king’s words explain clearly why he was awarding this signal civilian medal collectively to the population of the Maltese islands at the height of World War II. That evening, Governor Dobbie addressed the nation over the Rediffusion Relay System in which, inter alia, he said that “the safety and well-being of this fortress rests, under God, on four supports. These are the three Services and the civil population. Each of them is essential to the well-being of the others, and each one depends on the other three and cannot do without them.”

Actually, the George Cross had only been instituted a year and a half previously, on September 24, 1940, by the same King George VI who, when announcing the new award, said: “In order that they should be worthily and promptly recognised, I have decided to create, at once, a new mark of honour for men and women in all walks of civilian life. I propose to give my name to this new distinction, which will consist of the George Cross, which will rank next to the Victoria Cross, and the George Medal for wider distribution.”

The George Cross medal awarded to Malta. Courtesy: National War Museum

Percy Metcalfe (1895-1970), the designer of the George Cross medal. Photo: National Portrait Gallery, UK

The medal, 48mm high and 45mm wide, was designed by Percy Metcalfe (1895-1970). The obverse consists of a plain silver cross with a circular medallion in the centre depicting St George and the dragon surrounded by the words ‘For Gallantry” and the Royal Cypher “GVI” in the angle of each limb. The reverse is plain and the one-and-a-half inch ribbon is dark blue. The George Cross is the civilian equivalent to the Victoria Cross, the highest British military honour that can be bestowed.

One may here rightly query why this civilian honour was awarded to the whole country and its inhabitants. The answer is simple and straightforward: because it was the Maltese islands and the whole of the civilian population, together with the Navy, Air Force and Army (including the local Royal Malta Artillery and the King’s Own Malta Regiment) that defied the odds to hold out to the bitter end, even when it seemed that they were fighting for a hopeless cause.

Malta had come to the forefront of World War II with the entrance of Italy on the side of Germany on June 10, 1940. Air raids started to be carried out on the very next day at 6.55am with casualties being experienced immediately. The first bombers were 10 Savoia Marchetti 79s, escorted by Macchi 200s. A second wave of 15 similar bombers followed almost immediately. The first raid brought about the first casualties, six RMA personnel. There were seven bombing sorties that day which resulted in 11 civilians killed and 130 injured.

This was to be the order of the day for the subsequent years – no less than 3,340 alerts up to August 1944 – in which no less than a total of 1,468 civilians were killed and a further 3,720 were injured. It is estimated that over 17,000 tons of bombs were dropped over the island, thus making Malta one of the heaviest – if not the heaviest – bombed places during World War II.

The incessant bombing resulted in over 30,000 buildings destroyed or damaged, including private residences, churches, clubs, hotels, theatres, flour mills and centuries-old auberges dating to the era of the Knights of St John. The destruction of so many private homes meant that hundreds of Maltese had to live in underground shelters, which amounted to about 2,000 by 1942. Digging underground shelters in the living rock was also providential because it saved the lives of so many people who could have been killed. To make matters worse, the siege brought about an incidence of typhoid, diphtheria and tuberculosis. The islands’ health problems were further exacerbated, in November 1942, with an outbreak of an epidemic of poliomyelitis (infantile paralysis).

As already stated, the George Cross was awarded to Malta in April 1942, which happened to be the worst ‘war month’ for the island. In April, no less than 6,727 tons of bombs were dropped by over 2,000 bombers, resulting in the deaths of 339 civilians and 208 servicemen, apart from widespread damage including the Royal Opera House at Valletta on April 7. It has been estimated that, in April 1942, more bombs were dropped on Malta than on the whole of Great Britain at the height of the Battle of Britain.

That the bestowal of the George Cross was richly deserved was agreed by all and did not elicit adverse comments but, as The Times (of London) aptly commented in its editorial of Saturday, April 18, 1942, under the headline ‘Malta Makes History’, “No one, least of all our enemies, will deny that an honour had never been more richly deserved. Nor will there be doubt that the islanders, much as they have borne and have yet to bear, will fulfil the determination expressed in the governor’s reply, that ‘by God’s help Malta will not weaken but will endure until victory is won’.”

Lieutenant-General Sir William G.S. Dobbie (1879-1964), Governor of Malta 1940-42. Photo: En.wikipedia.org

The actual medal and the official citation arrived in Malta in an unusual way. On May 4, 1942, Governor Dobbie was replaced by Field-Marshal Viscount Gort (1886-1946, governor 1942-44) who was transferred from the governorship of Gibraltar. He arrived by air on May 7 and carried in his uniform pocket the George Cross medal which, it has been said, he showed to Dobbie on the latter’s request. It has also been speculated that Gort had brought with him the terms of a possible surrender, but this is hotly disputed and, in fact, historian Douglas Austin points out that there is no evidence to corroborate this assertion and that evidence points to an opposite direction.

The fact that there were plans to run two convoys to Malta in June – Operation Harpoon from Gibraltar (delivered 25,000 tons of supplies) and Operation Vigorous from Alexandria (failed to deliver any supplies) – indicate that the British government was not thinking of surrender. On the other hand, it is known that there was a ‘target date’ for surrender if supplies failed to get through.

However, it is a fact that Malta was in a precarious position, and it was only after Operation Pedestal (the Santa Marija Convoy) delivered 55,000 tons of supplies, including much-needed fuel, that Malta could breathe more freely. The siege was finally raised with the arrival of two convoys, both from Alexandria, before the end of the year: Operation Stoneage in November and Operation Portcullis in December, which delivered supplies amounting to 35,000 tons and 55,000 tons respectively.

His Majesty King George VI inspecting a guard of honour mounted by the Royal Malta Artillery when he visited Malta in 1943. Photo: Militaryimages.net

The scene at Palace Square, Valletta, when the ceremony of handing over the George Cross medal was taking place. Photo: Timesofmalta.com

But a public ceremony for the official presentation of the medal to the Maltese people could not be held before September 13, 1942, because of the wartime conditions still prevalent at the time, and even the official presentation date was not allowed to filter to the outside world before the following day due to security reasons. The ceremony took place at St George’s Square, Valletta, in front of the Governor’s Palace. Police Commissioner Joseph Axisa handed the case containing the medal and the citation to Governor Gort who addressed the audience present. Part of his speech was as follows:

“By the command of the King, I now present to the people of Malta and her dependencies the decoration which His Majesty has awarded to them in recognition of the gallant service which they have already rendered in the fight for freedom…

“How you have withstood for many months the most concentrated bombing attacks in the history of the world is the admiration of all civilised peoples. Your homes and your historic buildings have been destroyed and only their ruins remain as monuments to the hate of a barbarous foe. The Axis Powers have tried again and again to break your spirit but your confidence in the final triumph of the United Nations remains undimmed…

“Now it is my proud duty to hand over the George Cross to the people of Malta for safekeeping.”

September 13, 1942: Governor Field-Marshal Viscount Gort (1896-1946) presenting the George Cross medal to Sir George Borg, Chief Justice of Malta, who accepted it on behalf of the Maltese population. Photo: Maltacommand.com

The guarded George Cross medal publicly displayed on Palace Square. Photo: En.Wikipedia.org

The Chief Justice of Malta, Sir George Borg, received the case and delivered an address. The case was then placed on a guarded plinth in the centre of the square so that the crowd could file past to view the medal and the document. The medal and the messages are, appropriately, housed in the War Museum at Fort St Elmo, Valletta.

Malta’s current national flag still carries the George Cross medal.

A set of three postage stamps, issued by the Maltese post office in 1967, commemorating the 25th anniversary of the award of the George Cross to Malta.

In 1943, the George Cross was incorporated into the flag of Malta and it has remained there ever since independence in 1964.