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From the day Mussolini's Italy declared war on Britain in June 1940, the island of Malta was under siege. Its strategic importance was obvious to both sides, standing as it did in the central Mediterranean, athwart the supply route between Italy and the Axis armies in North Africa. It had therefore to be bombed out of existence by the Axis powers, and preserved at all costs by the British.
That Malta survived was due in part to the courage and fortitude of the Maltese population and the airmen and soldiers who endured the Axis' bombing, contested the air-space above the island and maintained its defences. But without food, aircraft, ammunition and all the impedimenta necessary to warfare in a modern era, courage and fortitude would have counted for little.
The expenditure of vast resources to keep Malta alive and capable of acting offensively has attracted much criticism from historians armed with the wisdom of hindsight. But the fact remains that it was done by the exertion of sea-power, of men-of-war and merchant ships acting as a single arm of British policy. It is this stark and determined effort that is detailed here.
This review of the contest of air-power against sea-power by a professional seafarer, emphasizing the part played by the Merchant Navy, has new resonance in the light of recent events in Europe.
