This is the second article in a two-part series. Read part one.

Author Robert A. Bonner’s book, The Ardwick Boys Went to Malta, contains some curious fragments of information on the desperate food situation in Malta. 

In July 1942, just a month before the fabled and providential Santa Maria convoy, hardly any merchant ships carrying supplies was managing to run the gauntlet and reach the island safely.  Stocks of foodstuffs dwindled dangerously, to the point that surrender to famine started appearing, at first a possibility and then a probability. Rations to service personnel were drastically reduced.

These were entitled daily to 12 ounces of bread, nine ounces of meat and vegetables, eight ounces lentils, 1½ ounces tinned sausage, one ounce tinned cheese, tinned milk, sugar and margarine, ½ ounce salt, pepper, jam and herrings. On some days, special treats of two ounces of tinned fruit and two ounces of chocolate twice a month were added. Occasionally, eight ounces of tinned meat – corned beef ­– replaced the meat and vegetables. Potatoes became virtually unobtainable. 

On September 8, 1942, the ‘war diary’ of the Ardwicks recorded an extraordinary highlight: “First meal of powdered egg in the form of balbuljata arrived. Powdered milk introduced. Supply of pasteurised milk for children between two and nine years ceases. Adults get equivalent of 1 ¼ pints of milk per fortnight from the skimmed powdered milk.” 

These privileged rations were reserved for the fighting men. The locals had to make do with much less. By November 11, Victory Kitchen subscribers were approximately 190,000. And, by November 24, the government officially requisitioned every potato grown in Malta.

Food, whether its scarcity or its celebration, had, by then, turned into an obsession. An entry dated October 5, 1942, reads: “A recent convoy meant the issue of two bottles of beer and four ounces of chocolate to every man. Everyone looked forward to it for days and consumed it in state on a Sunday afternoon. Variety was added to the rations by one issue of McConachie a week, one of casserole of beef and, on Thursday, four boiled sweets each.” 

A McConachie was a tinned stew of beef, turnips, onions, haricot beans and potatoes in a thin broth, first introduced as rations for soldiers in the field in the Boer war. 

The hand illustrations included in the Bonner book are the focus of this feature. Jack Whitehouse drew them all and possibly many more. They show competent draughtsmanship, without any claim to being soaring works of art. Whitehouse only used stark line drawing, with any shading equally drawn in ink lines, not in softer pencil or watercolour. He believed sheer outline served his narrative adequately. There is a certain military neatness to them and a general accuracy of recording.

Whitehouse illustrated static constructions as well as dynamic scenes of everyday life in frontline war conditions. Differently from Bonner, Whitehouse shows interest in the ‘natives’, their toils, their survival instincts, their passivity under awesome, life-unfriendly conditions. Though existential angst prevails, this is cushioned by an indestructible fighting spirit.

A comparison with our own home-grown war artist Alfred Gerada (1895 – 1968) proves inescapable. Their hand is quite similar, though Gerada uses sinuous contours and colour wash liberally and had a better command of the human figure. They both show themselves ardent believers in Malta’s imperial destiny and translate their convictions into an unshakable confidence in the invincibility of the British empire. Heroics, with some bravado thrown in.

Now, for this newspaper, the wheel has turned full circle. A fitting celebration of the splendid Ardwick boys comes from The Sunday Times of Malta issue of February 21, 1943: “The Manchesters, without earning any showy glory, have stood up to the blitz, the siege, short rations and hard work. 

The effort they have put in will never be forgotten by the Air Force or by Malta, for, but for the infantrymen, there would have been no RAF and, possibly, no Malta”.

This is the second article in a two-part series. Read part one.

Acknowledgements: The author would like to thank Susan Essex, Judge Joe Galea Debono and Major Ray Miller.