UXB Malta: Royal Engineers Bomb Disposal 1940-44 [Hardcover]

Sue Hudson is to be congratulated on her book uxb malta both gripping and informative, there is so much ,not known about Malta and her father Lt Carrol .That the maltese history books i feel will need updating,its obvious that much time was spent collecting this wealth of information, well done Sue
Steve Venus (Historian and collector of German bomb fuzes)

Bomb disposing entered into the public sphere with "Danger UXB"(produced by John Hawkesworth, 1979) based on Maj. A.B. Hartley's own memoirs, Unexploded Bomb, an educationally valid series as presenting the dangers to disable new fuzes: from the designing and testing of equipment by the scientists in their labs to counter the new modified weapons, to the effective work on the ground of the section in locating and digging by the sappers, and the officer's examination and handling of the bomb to make it safe. The success then depended on the courage, the self-discipline, the technically adept and methodical manner of the officer, a lot of luck to take the right prompt decisions, as well as his hunch of unexpected flaws in the enemy's design.

As Malta has an area similar in size to Greater London, and not more than two sections (n° 127 and 128) operated on Malta against six RE bomb disposal Companies in London during the Second World War, when during March and April 1942 alone, the bomb tonnage dropped on the island was double the total for the whole of the worst year of the Blitz on London, and the workload was at least ten times the average for a bomb disposal section across all theatres of war, this book has a potentially wide interested reading audience.

On the up side, S.A.M. Hudson (including a word by Maj.Hartley) has succeeded in compiling and tabulating a fairly complete list of statistics arranged quarterly from October 1940 to December 1944 (January-March 1942 incomplete during the heaviest raids)from the quarterly reports; all these are clearly subdivided into High-explosive (HE) and Anti-personnel (AP) bombs, and Incendiaries, which are divided again between German or Italian, and for the particular types of bombs: HE: from the infrequent 35 kg (concrete), the more regular 50 kg (General purpose SC & the Armour-piercing SD), up to the 1,000 kg (Hermann SC & Esau SD), the 1,400 kg (Fritz SD) and the largest, the 1,800 kg (Satan SC), then subdivided again between impact (I) and delayed action (D) fuzes which could explode within 80 hours; AP: the lethal German 2 kg "Butterfly" SDČ and the Italian "Thermos" which used to become active only when they hit the ground. It found that over twenty-four months, until December 1942, the sections had made safe over 7,300 unexploded bombs: 5,500 APs and incendiaries; and over 1,800 HE bombs of 50 kg or more, and just in the month of April 1942 the sections dealt with 267 HE bombs greater than 50 kg.

From the statistics the author revealed how the most interesting cases of the 15% of the bombs that did not explode were eventually disabled or detonated. The stories and anecdotes showed the tension for the officer and his men, and the human side which the statistics fail to mention.

Amongst the most memorable cases on the island were two: one involving the clearance of Thermos bombs from the Royal Opera House in Valetta, in December 1941 which was destroyed four months later, and a second which will be described when on April 9th, 1942, a German 50 kg SC bomb fell through the dome of church in Mosta while a young priest was saying Mass to a filled congregation. He claimed it "bounced twice off the wall, skidded the whole length of the church and finally came to rest without exploding ...no one was injured." The officer (now uncertain if Lt Blackwell or Carroll) felt the neat damage in the cupola showed the bomb had been travelling on such a trajectory that its nose was at a perfect angle to pierce the dome head-on. He examined the fuze head: Series 5 - impact (one of 93% impact bombs), easily discharging it, then unscrewing the rings, before lifting it free. How the officer felt is not reported as it was one of many that were handled, but for the congregation hurriedly moved outside, and the Maltese people it appeared little less than a "miracle", and for believers "a sign from heaven".

A second case which instead the sections remembered more had occurred a few days earlier. Amidst the raids on Valletta, Sliema and Rabat, including a direct hit on Fortress Company's Garage killing nine comrades, one 250 kg bomb had also hit the section's workshop and store behind the rear of the Lintorn Barracks administrative block. While clearing away the debris Lt Carroll observed:
"the bomb fell, right in front of my eyes...I died!
it hit the ground and I died -
and it bounced - and I died -
but I didn't die."
He lived on to finish his task, record the incident, and stoically move on to the next priority job. Perhaps it was only much later that the officer and his men saw the comical side of the story: it occurred on none other than April Fool's Day! For outsiders it may have been another miracle, for insiders a joke to laugh about with a beer to hide the bitterness for the loss of their mates.

A third example is a report that official histories would gladly choose to exclude, but which a few locals whether in Belfast during the Troubles, in Basra after 2003, or in Helmand since 2006 would happily remember for "making history". The section was called out in November 1941 to deal with a strange unidentified object, around St Aloysius College in Birkirkara, which at first sight seemed a new unknown weapon. In reality, the son of a family friend of Lt Carroll, young Maurice Bonnici, had contrived a fake AP out of two empty tins painted green, a coiled wire terminating on a radio single-pin plug, originally to get even with the officer who had won a bet from the family, with the sole boyish hope that his school might be temporary closed and sealed off, and the play mates would be given one or two days holiday. Though quite certain that the object was a hoax, the officer had no choice but to take all the precautions and make all the necessary tests before taking it away. Carroll chose not to mention anything to the family, and the tale could have died a death until years later the boy, now an engineer, came forward to reveal his version to the author. Perhaps it was more than a case of setting the record straight, but to reveal to the world and to his family the first productive (sorry destructive) engineering project Bonnici had designed.

Secondly, by producing a study in chronological order Hudson has showed the changing war policies of the Axis partners in the Mediterranean, as well as presenting the state of the theatre once the RAF regained control of the air. Contrary to Italian sources, the war over Malta was very much a German affair except between June and December 1941 after the Hitler's attack on the Soviet Union with Operation Barbarossa. The Italian bombs were less well-designed, and more predictable to disable. The German bombs then, like the present IED in Afghanistan, were designed to destroy buildings, but primarily as UXBs to maim or kill all those technicians called to defuse them. He also showed that once the war had moved away from North Africa the number and bomb tonnage dropped declined dramatically. The bomb disposal sections, however, were still fully active first in training infantry troops in preparation for Operation Husky in the landing of Sicily in discovering, marking and removing and allied AP mines around the coast; and then after the Italian surrender in September 1943 to deal with all the reports on Malta since 1941 that were not marked priority, as well as other cases of bombs which surfaced follow rebuilding operations. They were still at it from time to time until March 1979 when the British Army left the garrison.

Thirdly, this book has more similarities to a local privately produced pamphlet made for veterans association members than an official work, as the latter usually is focused exclusively on the practices of the officers. In Malta UXB Hudson covers more than the names and careers of the RE officers: Lts FW Ashall, MBE., TWT Blackwell, MBE, GD Carroll, H Lavington, EEC Talbot, GC, MBE (Empire Gallantry Medal converted to GC but not cited in Michael Ashcroft George Cross Heroes, 2010 George Cross Heroes: Incredible True Stories of Bravery Beyond the Battlefield) and T Whitworth, as well as Capt RL Jephson Jones, GC and Lt WM Eastman, GC, the RAOC officers who took part against the first air raids during the summer of 1940 before any official bomb disposal section had been formed, he mentions the names of the members of all the sections, in particular the NCOs, since with the limitation of personnel it was decided that they could disable bombs up to 50 kg in weight. Two NCOs L/Sgt RCM Parker and Cpl CA Brewer, and one ranker, Spr WD Scott, were each decorated: the first (later commissioned) with a GM, the last two with BEMs. Though the unit served overseas there was greater contact with the local population than might occur in other long term overseas posting; the work it was doing virtually made them in the eyes of the people as fellow friendly Maltese, so the book should be seen not solely as the RE in Malta but as Malta's army bomb disposal units.

Finally, the book comprises certain useful websites which interested readers might wish to follow up.

On the downside, this book which is recommended on the RE Bomb Disposal Officer's Club website has two weaknesses. The first, is that there is an error in the appendix in the dates of the personnel concerning Lt Blackwell. When reading the text and then looking forward to the appendix this is an irritation, caused by careless proofreading. That will be both annoying and disappointing to any author who has worked so long on a volume. One wonders now if other errors did not creep into the narrative.

Secondly, but more serious, this book reminds of a good cake baked by a cook with the right ingredients but carried out in the incorrect order. Read more ›