The Siege of Malta

The Siege of Malta

Malta occupies a key position in the Mediterranean, especially since it provides a base for naval and air forces to deploy from essentially controlling naval passage around the Mediterranean. War was already being waged in Northern Africa, mostly over control of the Suez Canal and various colonial interests that Germany, France, Italy and Britain had along the northern coast. Since control of Malta, at that point a British colony, meant control over the shipping lanes around the Mediterranean, it immediately became a target for Axis forces. The Siege of Malta began almost immediately as the Italians declared war on the Allied Forces in 1940. The siege, was waged almost primarily in the sky, contrary to the initial assumptions of the British Forces, who thought that the island would be protected by a decently strong naval presence. However, the Italian Air Force waged a somewhat successful campaign agains Malta, dropping bombs and damaging key targets on the island. The defenses on the island were severely limited when the siege began, consisting mostly of Gladiator biplanes and some anti air guns. These had limited effect against the invading force and the Italian air force conducted their operations relatively unhindered. However, the effect of their raids was limited and was small scale enough that British forces brought in reinforcements in the form of Hurricanes and a few more destroyers to the island relatively unopposed. The Hurricanes represented a huge step up from the outdated Gladiators, and the combination of those with Sea Fairey torpedo bombers and a greater submarine and naval presence were extremely effective for a short while, forcing the Italian forces back to Naples. However, this defeated brought the attention of the Germans on the island, which then deployed part of it's navy and several squadrons of the Luftwaffe to aid the Italians in their campaign. British forces on the island started to suffer heavy casualties against the much more experienced and well equipped Luftwaffe pilots. The Axis gain air superiority and their shipments to the rather beleaguered North African campaign were able to run unhindered during mid 1941. During this time, large amounts of explosives were also dropped on the island, mostly damaging civilian homes. Germany's Balkan campaign combined with Operation Barbarossa and the invasion of Russia led to the Luftwaffe forces being deployed elsewhere, with the Italian Air Force (Regia Aeronautica) left to continue their air campaign. This allowed the Allies to recover, with their forces receiving much needed reinforcement and supplies. These reinforcements allowed them to actually go on the offensive, sinking half of the tonnage that the Axis attempted to send to Northern Africa. This continued until December of 1941 when Germany sent back several squadrons of the Luftwaffe and almost half of it's U-boat float in order to sink Allied ships in the area as well as provide protection for their supply convoys. A more effective bombing campaign was once again put into effect and the Axis regained air supremacy over the Mediterranean and their shipments were able to pass through unhindered. The return of the Luftwaffe and their Messerschmitts meant that the Hurricanes stationed at the island, despite being a vast upgrade from the Sea Gladiators, were seriously outclassed. As a result, since moral was low, the British command at Malta requested the delivery of Spitfires to the island in order to help regain air superiority. An Axis plan to invade the island was scrapped due to faulty intelligence reporting much stronger defenses on the island than existed. The requested Spitfires were eventually delivered and with them, provided the much needed air superiority over the Luftwaffe. Spring 1942 saw the greatest number of Axis forces arranged against the island, but the Spitfires helped reduce their number to a mere fraction of what they were and the RAF once again ruled the skies of the Mediterranean. However, there were deeper problems for the Allied forces on the island. Their supplies had fallen to critically low levels and they were in desperate need of a convey carrying supplies. The Axis forces were aware of this and hounded convoys headed for Malta. Two convoys were forced to turn back and were unable to deliver their shipments, while one convoy made it but after suffering heavy casualties. In response to this, the Allied forces swapped the commander at Malta from Hugh Lloyd to Keith Park, a commander more experienced in air combat, which was the dominant form of offensive and defensive action around Malta. This, combined with the deteriorating position of Germany in Northern Africa and in the European theater meant that the Allied forces were able to gain the upper hand in the battle and begin raiding the Axis supply runs with abandon. Eventually, as Italy found itself in a worse and worse position during the war, air raids on Malta by the Regia Aeronautica ceased completely and the siege on Malta was lifted.

- Makoto