Unsung hero of Operation Harpoon tells his story

Gwyn Ernest Powell, 82, was in Malta recently on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the award of the George Cross to Malta by King George VI.

Mr Powell was one of the few survivors of Operation Harpoon, which brought badly needed supplies to Malta in June, 1942, just weeks before the famous Operation Pedestal convoy.

In the early morning of June 2, 1942, I was one of a small contingent of RAF personnel marching along Liverpool's dockside.

We went aboard the cargo vessel Troilus which was carrying food, ammunition, bombs and petrol. Our destination was Malta.

Around midnight between June 11-12, we passed through the straits of Gibraltar. At dawn on June 12, instead of the usual destroyer escort, the six merchantmen: Troilus, Orari and Burdwan, the Dutch Tanimbar and the American Chant and tanker Kentucky were now being escorted by the battleship Malaya, the aircraft carriers Eagle and Argus and the cruisers Liverpool, Kenya, Charybdis and Cairo.

The escort also included 17 destroyers, four minesweepers and six motor launches. Early on June 13 we were shadowed by enemy aircraft. The following day, the convoy was hit by aircraft from all directions.

Torpedoes sank the Tanimbar. The Liverpool, which was covering Troilus, was hit in the engine room and came to a standstill.

The attack continued for hours. Gunners aboard the ships fought stripped to their waists. Thirty aircraft were shot down, some by Hurricanes operating from the carriers.

Bodies floated in the sea, some dead, some alive - crews of ditched German and Italian aircraft. Those who could, swam frantically towards us.

I shall never forget the cries of "Kameraden, kameraden" as with outstretched arms they begged to be picked up. But the convoy ploughed on.

At dusk the Malaya, the two aircraft carriers, two cruisers and eight destroyers turned back for Gibraltar. Despite the heavy attacks, five of the six merchantmen were still afloat.

At dawn, south of Pantelleria, the convoy was attacked by two cruisers and five destroyers of the Italian navy.

Five destroyers, led by Bedouin, left to engage the enemy but Bedouin and Partridge were stopped by hits. Despite being outnumbered and outgunned, the remaining three destroyers forced the Italians to withdraw.

While we were still beyond the range of Malta-based fighter aircraft, the convoy came under heavy attack. The American freighter Chant exploded and sank, and the tanker Kentucky was hit and was taken in tow by the minesweeper Hebe.

Burdwan was hit and severely damaged. Captain Hardy, in the Cairo, decided that all efforts should be concentrated on getting the two undamaged merchantmen, Troilus and Orari, to Malta.

The escorts were ordered to sink Burdwan and Kentucky. Meanwhile, Bedouin was sunk by a torpedo bomber. Eventually we came within range of fighter cover from Malta. A Spitfire made a low level pass over Troilus and Orari and men stood on the decks cheering, some overcome with emotion.

Despite fighter cover, attacks on the two merchantmen continued until the evening when there was a final savage assault by 12 dive bombers. Two bombs entered the water - one on each side of the Troilus and the resulting explosions almost lifted her out of the water.

The Polish destroyer Kujawiak drew alongside and with a loud hailer announced that there was a film crew on board. Would the troops on Troilus line the rail and cheer?

This we did with gusto. Sadly, Kujawiak struck a mine shortly afterwards in the approaches to Valletta and sank. Perhaps that is why we never see any film footage of "Harpoon".

Orari later struck a mine but, following close astern of Troilus, limped into Grand Harbour.

Although it was past midnight, cheering crowds lined the battlements of Valletta. The sky was lit up by searchlights and for the survivors of Operation Harpoon this was a moment never to be forgotten.

I would very much like to know the fate of the Troilus. Can anyone help with information?

When I joined the RAF at 19, when the war broke out, I was paid two shillings per day. By 1942, I was getting about four shillings a day.

The pay never worried us, really, because we were fighting a war. It was not like civvy street, where somebody was earning more than you.

After six years in the forces, I went back to my job in the civil service and remained there until I retired.

My first visit to Malta after the war, was 20 years ago.

Palazzo Parisio was not open to the public then but the late Marquis Scicluna took me and my wife round the palace. A young lady played the piano in the ballroom and my wife was thrilled to bits. It was a real treat.

For a time during 1942, I was billeted at Palazzo Parisio. The Scicluna family loaned the premises to the RAF because when we arrived in June we were in tents in Buskett Gardens.

But a week or so after we arrived at Buskett, the Germans dropped a stick of bombs through the camp and killed quite a few of the personnel, so they moved us to Palazzo Parisio.

It was very comfortable but food was scarce. In the morning we were given a piece of bread, about seven ounces in weight, and it had to last 24 hours.

We were on the airfield almost from dawn till dusk. I was an armourer looking after the armaments on aircraft, the cannons and machine guns. If the aircraft were carrying bombs, we fused the bombs and loaded them.

During 1942, the Germans started dropping a lot of anti-personnel bombs mostly on the airfields. They were the size of a tin of syrup. Most of them exploded on hitting the ground. Others didn't explode and the armourer used to go out and detonate the unexploded ones, which was nerve wracking.

Some were duds, some had a time fuse and others had a trembler fuse - any vibration would set them off even if you walked close to them or a truck drove over them.

We had to go up to the bombs, put an explosive charge alongside them, light a fuse and then run for our lives. You had between 20 to 30 seconds to get into a slit trench.

If the bomb was in the middle of the airfield, you ran and threw yourself on the ground.

In July, Malta was being bombed quite severely. The bombing eased off for a while but in October there was another heavy blitz.

We had many more aircraft by this time - Spitfires were being flown in from aircraft carriers. An aircraft carrier would leave Gibraltar with about 40 to 50 Spitfires on board and sail into the Mediterranean. They would then take off and land in Malta.

We had Maltese personnel at the airfield. Petrol was so short that we hired Maltese mules, donkeys and carts to carry ammunition and other stores, instead of using trucks.

They used to come in the morning. If there was an air-raid warning they all galloped off to find shelter away from the aerodrome.

Do you remember the film "Ben-Hur" when the charioteers raced each other? That's how the mules and donkeys pulling carts would race off the airfield in an air raid warning.

I was here till September and by that time I was on a Beaufighter squadron. Beaufighters were twin-engined aircraft, heavily armed with four cannons and six machine guns and they used them to attack shipping. They used to patrol the course between here and North Africa to shoot down German aircraft which were used to supply Rommel in North Africa.

Producing a copy of The Times, dated October 16, 1943, which he had kept, Mr Powell said:

It used to amaze me that despite the raids and everything that went on, The Times came out every day.

We knew about Mabel Strickland. The Times cost two pence then. In spite of the war you still had domesticated adverts for irons or for sewing machines.

Look at this advert "a quantity of toilet paper damaged by sea water". I can't imagine what one would do with that. Other adverts offered empty salt sacks, four bags of tobacco sweepings and five cases of empty bottles.

These adverts were placed by the Food and Commerce Control Officer.