Faith, Hope and Malta: Ground and Air Heroes of the George Cross Island [Paperback]

A softback reprint of a 1992 book giving the story of Malta's part in the Mediterranean war, for which it was awarded the George Cross. A good account, worth getting if you missed the original.
--Aeroplane - Sept 2008

This excellent book is a reprint of the first published in 1992. The book covers the period from1940 to 1942, when in April 1942 more bombs were dropped on that small Island than the whole of the British Isles in any month during the Battle of Britain. The author covers all aspects of this historic siege and divides the different subjects into separate chapters. We are told of the heroic exploits of the aircrew but we also learn what it was like to live and maintain the aircraft under such awful conditions. There is also one chapter dedicated to the women who served there.
During the book great emphasis is placed on the co-operation between the Services and in some pictures sailors are seen servicing RAF aircraft. Once there it was a case of getting down to it and doing what was asked of you.
Having many years ago read the story of the GLADIATORS, Faith, Hope and Charity by Kenneth POOLMAN, we are told by George BURGESS the Flight Commander, they were never given that name when he was there. Oh dear another illusion shattered!
The Fleet Air Arm chapter covers the actions of 830, 828 and 821 squadron's. At a time when aircrew and aircraft were at a premium, the loss of four crews due to a navigation error must have seemed a pointless waste of valuable assets, but an appositive note 3t least some of the crews made it ashore to become POWs.
The accounts of the ground crews give an excellent idea how awful conditions were. But there was a lighter side, for instance the story of the 'LuqaHarriers'. They had named themselves this title due to the actions they took during air raids. A lorry would rush around the dispersal areas to pick up the men and rush them to the shelters. One day one of the airman missed the lorry and so set off on his own and beat the transport to the shelter. It was believed that the others had just witnessed the first four-minute mile!
As for food, the description of biscuit duff is worth reading on its own. In brief is started life as a flat, square, very hard, pale brown biscuit manufactured by various UK firms, but many suspected it had to be SPILLERS! As for the date of origin this varied from the First World War to the Crimean! The cooks would soak these biscuits in a large vat of water until they went soft and mushy. Then came the clever bit. Add a tin of fish and you had breakfast, Corned Beef for lunch and then a little cocoa and behold you had a chocolate pud. Although there are three chapters of the ground crew, there is no mention on how the aircrew were fairing. The nearest we get to this is we are told it was noticed that when strapping a
Squadron Leader into his SPITFIRE, he was fully dressed but was negative a shirt. But he had maintained standards by wearing a tie.
The men running Malta were in a way a law unto themselves, in that if you were transiting through the Island you were likely to be high jacked! If you had special skills or had an aircraft they could use better than where it was destined, then you were on their books! Also there was no time for an area familiarization flight as that would have used up valuable fuel, so you would be put straight into action. For aircraft being delivered to the Island they could turn round a SPITFIRE in 9 minutes. This included removing the Ferry Tank, rearming and refueling whilst the Ferry Pilot would be told to push off as a 'Malta Veteran' climbed in.
The account of the bravery by all the aviators and what they achieved, under such horrendous conditions in some ways is hard to comprehend. Although the SPITFIRES were to be the final tool of victory, one cannot forget the BLENHEIM crews who due to their method of operation were asked to carry out impossible missions.
Finally one can not list all the names of the heroes during this phase of the war, but one man can not be ignored i.e. Warby WARBURTON the Photo Reconnaissance ace who took the final photographs before the Taranto raid and whose remains were finally discovered in 2002 and was laid to rest in the military cemetery Duernbach, Bavaria on 14 May 2003. Noting that the author has previously published a book titled Warburton's War, then if it is good as this one, I will be trying to obtain a copy.