When 80 years ago the island was moments away from falling to its knees, it was a concerted effort by the British, the Americans… and women that turned things around for Malta.

The British provided the first Spitfires to be deployed out of Britain in World War II.

The women provided their expertise to fly the aircraft from Southampton to Scotland in dire weather conditions, from where the Spitfires could set sail for Malta.

And the Americans supplied a large aircraft carrier to bring them here.

All of this led to an air battle in Maltese skies on May 10 of 1942 that was a turning point for the island, signalling the beginning of the end of the siege.

But the ‘Glorious 10th of May’ arrived after several attempts to arm the island with aircraft that could stand up to the German air fleet, Ray Polidano, director general of the Malta Aviation Museum Foundation recounted.

 “When the first bombs hit Malta in 1940, there were only swordfishes and flying boats on the island. Luckily for us, the Royal Navy had in storage a couple of Gladiators that should have gone on the aircraft carrier Glorious that was tragically sunk off Norway,” he said.

"The Royal Air Force ‘borrowed’ the Gladiators – known as Faith, Hope and Charity - starting what became known as the fighter flight. Back then there wasn’t even a squadron in Malta.”

Eventually, the island received two batches of Hurricanes that flew here from aboard an aircraft carrier off Gibraltar.

“It was a terrifying experience for the pilots especially for the ones at the very front of the carrier, as they would have a very short stretch of deck to take off from, before disappearing under the deck and then gradually rising into the skies.

“We received 12 Hurricanes on the first attempt, but the second shot didn’t go so smoothly. The aircraft carrier captain was too wary of approaching the island, so he let the Hurricanes off too early, and out of 12, we only received four: the remaining eight ran out of fuel and fell into the sea.”

With just a few Hurricanes, Malta could only fend off Italian aircraft. The Germans Messerschmitts in fact ran riot of the local planes.

14 Messerschmitts shot down 34 Hurricanes without loss

“Fourteen Messerschmitts managed to shoot down 34 Hurricanes without any loss, so Malta eventually decided to contribute towards the purchase of two Spitfires which could fend off the German aircraft. These were aptly named Malta and Għawdex, but, ironically, they never made it to the island and fought the war elsewhere in Europe.

“Malta remained without any Spitfires, until the situation in the UK improved enough for them to be able to afford Spitfires overseas. In fact, the first aircraft to be deployed outside of Britain left for Malta.”

Around a dozen arrived here in March of 1942, but they were still not enough to fight off the hundreds of enemy aircraft based in Sicily, so the British turned to the Americans.

By then, the US had joined the war and one of its large aircraft carriers, called the Wasp, was based in Europe.

Churchill ‘borrows’ aircraft carrier from Roosevelt

“Winston Churchill asked Franklin Roosevelt if he could borrow the Wasp to supply Malta with Spitfires. These were assembled in UK factories, flown to Scotland and carried through the Strait of Gibraltar.

“But when, finally, a total of 46 Spitfires successfully flew to Malta, the Germans were ready with their own aircraft to bomb them soon after they were grounded.

“At this point, we were back to square one. So, for the second time, Churchill asked Roosevelt if he could borrow the aircraft carrier. On May 9, 64 Spitfires took off from the Wasp and the Eagle aircraft carriers.

“This time our people on the ground were well prepared. It worked like clockwork – as soon as the Spitfires landed, the pilots were replaced, the aircraft rearmed and refuelled, with the whole process taking nine minutes at most.

“When the Germans tried a repeat of their April attack, they found 64 Spitfires waiting for them.”

There were around six raids on Malta on May 10 on 1942, but the day will mostly be remembered as the day that Malta started getting the upper hand.

Scratches on a wall on Triq is-Salvatur in Lija still bear testimony to that remarkable air battle: “sadly, a Spitfire crashed against a house in Lija. The Australian pilot was killed as was a Maltese soldier who was buying cigarettes from a nearby shop,” Polidano said.

After May 10, Malta continued to receive a steady delivery of Spitfires, but by August, morale had dipped to its lowest, as famine swept the island.

“Authorities had calculated that if a convoy didn’t make it by August, the island would have had to surrender. And it was the four surviving vessels out of the 14 that left off as part of Operation Pedestal, that saved the island. But that is a story for another time.”

 

The women who delivered Malta’s Spitfires

Women were not allowed to fight in the war, so some joined the civilian service Air Transport Auxiliary to deliver aircraft from factories to RAF and Royal Navy squadrons.

And it was a group of ATA women who delivered most of the Spitfires that landed in Malta in May of 1942.

“The weather was so awful that they flew the planes from Southampton to Scotland very low, following the roads across England, up to Scotland. They were constrained by time as Malta was in dire need of the aircraft, but they all made it in time without accident,” Polidano said.

One of them, Polish Anna Leska-Daab had found herself in the UK after stealing an aircraft when Nazi-Germany invaded Poland, which she flew over to Romania.

The ‘mad house’ in Ta’ Qali

The war changed much of Malta’s landscape, with landmarks being heavily damaged or totally obliterated.

One sad casualty was Chateau Bertrand in Ta’ Qali, also known as the ‘mad house’ by the locals, probably because of its quirky indoors and outdoors.

“It was built as the private residence of Contino Giuseppe Teuma Castelletti, who seems to have been inspired by Villino Florio in Palermo, designed by Ernesto Basile - an Art Nouveau pioneer in Italy.

“Villa Bertrand was not far from Malta’s first civilian airstrip, which was opened in 1938 at Ta’ Qali. The terminal was situated where the US embassy stands nowadays, while the chateau was close to Mdina Glass.

“During the war, the chateau was requisitioned by the air force and used as a sergeant’s mess. But with Ta' Qali being one of the most bombed sites on the island, it was destroyed by enemy fire,” Polidano said.

“In April 1942 it was considered unsafe and was blown up as a result. What is very interesting, is that while a lot of people lamented the fact that Gourgon Tower in Gozo was blown up to make way for the Gozo Airstrip in 1943, nobody missed Chateau Bertrand. Nowadays, all that is left are the palm trees lining the road that led up to the villa.”

Throughout March and April of 1942, over 800 tonnes of bombs were dropped daily on Ta’ Qali, as the Germans believed the British were operating an underground hangar there, he noted.

“By the end, there was nothing left on Ta’ Qali to bomb and there wasn’t even a runway. Planes would take off and land on an airfield that was often steamrolled before take-off and after landing.”

Malta's hidden treasures

This article is being published as part of a series called Malta’s hidden treasures, a collaboration between the National Archives of Malta and Times of Malta. The project, forming part forms part of the European Digital Treasures co-funded by the European Union through the Creative Europe programme, allows readers to gain an insight into Maltese history, society through our archives. 

You can discover more at the National Archives of Malta headquartered at the historical building of Santo Spirito in Rabat and other archives. If you are unable to visit the archives in person, you can access an online oral and visual archive on www.memorja.com The website is the main repository of recent Maltese national and public memory and hosts hundreds of recollections dating back to the 1920s. 

More information about the national archives on 2145 9863 or customercare.archives@gov.mt

More from the series:

Of hooded penitents, evil eye and other Easter traditions

When a Royal Opera House competition divided the country

When Maltese patriots, intellectuals were kicked out of their own country

The women raped and murdered by men in Malta 300 years ago

When 2,000 children celebrated Christmas on a British aircraft carrier

When Malta Railway steamed from Mdina to Valletta in 25 minutes

The tin ring and bloody parchment at the archives

When the British Empire waged war on the Maltese goat