The second in a series of articles looks at how the Axis included the village of Mellieħa in their invasion plan and the type of defences and obstacles they faced. Read part one and part three. 

Read part one.

Italian/German preparations for the invasion of Malta, 1942

The Italian naval authorities continued to prepare plans for the invasion of Malta. The Italian authorities knew every detail of the Maltese islands; obviously this was helped by air photography (and probably those Maltese who remained in Italy helped them too).

Mariano Gabriele, in Operazione C3: Malta, said that by early 1942 the Italians knew that Ċirkewwa had a suitable sandy beach to disembark troops. They also knew also that Mellieħa Bay’s left and right flanks are unsuitable for landing of troops and the only place that was good to disembark is in the middle of the bay, and that behind it there was a road to Valletta.

They also mentioned Għajn Tuffieħa as a beach that was accessible for disembarkation. The Italians also knew that if Mellieħa and Mistra bays, apart from other bays, were to be used, they were within the range of medium and light artillery situated in the vicinity of the bays. The bays also had double or triple barbed wire and had a wire connected with electricity provided by a generator.  By mid-April, the Germans had begun to take a more practical interest and a joint German-Italian staff was set up. New plans jostled one another but certain firm agreements were gradually reached.

Beach post pillbox MA9 on the coast’s edge.

The Italians, in conjunction with the Germans, knew that they had to bombard the islands a lot to soften the targets.

Therefore, it was agreed that heavy raids were to be launched before the invasion, including the use of smoke bombs on Mellieħa Bay and the area of Għajn Tuffieħa, where feint disembarkation by the MAS was going to take place.

By May, the definite plan was prepared for the invasion of the islands by the Regio Ezercito (Royal Italian Army), Regia Marina (Royal Italian Navy) and the Regia Aeronautica (Royal Italian Air Force). According to these plans, the main target in the invasion was going to be the southern part of Malta, but here only the area of Mellieħa is going to be analysed.

First of all, the invasion beaches were given code names as in Table 1 below.

Table 1: Proposed invasion beaches and their code name, May 1942

The overall plan included feint disembarkations by high-speed naval vessels in Mellieħa and Għajn Tuffieħa bays. The only invasion plan that elaborates on the Mellieħa area was that prepared by the Regio Ezercito, which involved a feint disembarkation of troops at Mellieħa and Għajn Tuffieħa bays.

Pillbox L10

At Għajn Tuffieħa Bay, saboteurs were to be landed to destroy the Għajn Tuffieħa Camp. The significance of the feint attacks during the invasion was to keep the defences of northern Malta on alert and alienate them, while the real invasion was launched in the southern part of the island.

Meanwhile, Fort Campbell’s guns came into action, when on May 17, 1942, at 1am, radar picked up a number of E-boats off the coast.

The significance of the feint attacks during the invasion was to keep the defences of northern Malta on alert and alienate them, while the real invasion was launched in the southern part of the island

Some 20 minutes later, four e-boats were seen by Fort Campbell moving at high speed to the north. Then Fort Campbell engaged but only got off two rounds before the vessels were out of range. One of them was later sunk by guns from Fort St Rocco.

Pillbox L12

Local anti-invasion defences

With Italy’s entry into the war on June 10, 1940, the eventuality of an invasion of Malta had now to be taken into considera­tion. Serious plans, including references to Mellieħa, were drawn up by the Italian naval authorities and presented on June 18, 1940. They envisaged the use of 10 large boats to disembark troops in Mellieħa Bay.

At the time of the invasion of Crete the British military authorities were of the opinion that the Germans were planning to invade Malta instead of Crete. In fact, soldiers like Tony Grima were told what to do in case of an invasion by the Axis. Towards the end of 1941 the Luftwaffe returned, and this new offensive was aimed at annihilating the island’s offensive power and weakening its defensive capacity; this was interpreted as a prelude to an invasion.

In fact, in the first quarter of 1942, it was common for soldiers guarding the coasts of the island to sight frogmen and this situation kept the garrison on alert. A particular case happened in Mellieħa, when a frogman’s snorkel mask was found in Mellieħa Bay by Captain Austin Cassar Torregiani of the 1 Battalion KOMR. Corporal Alfred Whelpdale remembers that when he was stationed both in pillbox M.B.2 and M.B.3, they sometimes received information that Italian submarines were seen in the vicinity but they never saw them.

Pillbox MA5

As we have seen in the part 1 in this series of articles, a considerable number of pillboxes were built in Mellieħa, which were categorised as beach posts, depth posts and reserve posts.

Apart from these structures, mines, both anti-personnel and anti-tank, and barbed wire were laid in order to protect the island from invasion.

The British knew also that the enemy’s first move would be the neutralisation of the coast and anti-aircraft defences. So, probably, intense bombardment from the air would be the first stage followed by efforts to secure the approaches to a beach.

Coast defence batteries, such as Fort Campbell, had to provide for their all-round defence, and plans had to be formulated within brigade sectors for the rapid concentration of mobile reserves against any enemy attacking one of the posts. According to the British military authorities, there were four possible invasion bays in Mellieħa and for these bays were given a code number (see Table 2).

Table 2: Bays vulnerable to an invasion and their code number, May 1942

To be concluded next week. Read part one.

This series of articles features excerpts from the author’s book Wartime Mellieħa: The Role of the Village During World War II. The author would like to thank the main archives and libraries used to research, compile and update this information and all the living and deceased veterans of World War II who inspired him to conduct this research. A second book is in the making. If anyone wishes to help or assist the author, he may be contacted at charles.a.debono@gov.mt.

Charles Debono, curator, National War Museum

Pillbox MA8 was converted into a boathouse.