Air Fronts: Theaters of Operation - The Mediterranean - HMSO: The Air Battle of Malta - 3. The Luck of the Illustrious

THE AIR BATTLE OF MALTA. The Official Account of the R.A.F. in Malta, June 1940 to November 1942; PREPARED FOR THE AIR MINISTRY BY THE MINISTRY OF INFORMATION; London : His Majesty's Stationery Office 1944

III. The Luck of the Illustrious
JANUARY 1941

It was these airborne eyes which, as 1941 opened, discovered the arrival of the Luftwaffe upon the Sicilian airfields and reported an increase of German strength throughout the early part of January. On 9th January nine Ju. 87s escorted by nine C.R. 42's attacked ships in Marsa Scirocco, the bay at the south-eastern end of the island.

Next day, at about six o'clock in the evening, H.M.S. Illustrious steamed into Grand Harbour with a convoy. She was listing to port and badly down by the stern, having been attacked off Malta for seven hours by German dive-bombers. During Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of the next week the sirens sounded six times in Valetta. The Luftwaffe was carrying out reconnaissance. Glenn Martin aircraft followed the enemy back to locate their bases. There was a sense of foreboding in Malta. Its small force of Hurricanes and Fulmars waited for the attack.

On 16th January the Combined Services held a conference. Profiting by recent local experiences of Italian dive-bombing and in the light of methods in use at Dover, reported by Brigadier N. V. Sadler, they planned a barrage to put up a curtain of fire through which the Stukas would have to pass before releasing their bombs. One hour and ten minutes after the barrage details had been completed by the anti-aircraft artillery, the German attack began. The aircraft, approaching from the north-east, looked like a swarm of flies in the distance. The first wave was of Ju. 88s escorted by Italian C.R. 42S ; the second wave was of Ju. 87 dive-bombers. Over seventy aircraft attacked between one o'clock and a quarter to three. To meet them the fighter force of three Fulmars and four Hurricanes took off.

THE ILLUSTRIOUS AT BAY. The aircraft carrier disappears behind a wall of water hurled up by enemy bombs. She lies immobile in French Creek, where she is being repaired, on l0th January 1941.

The main target was the Illustrious. She was being repaired in French Creek across Grand Harbour from Valetta, close against the Three Cities. From the houses, shops and churches of the Three Cities rose up a great yellow shroud of dust and smoke. From the guns went up a box barrage of greater intensity than Malta had ever known. The guns of the Illustrious, the Perth and other ships in the harbour added their weight of steel. The blue waters of the anchorage were churned and lifted in great gouts. Several times the Illustrious disappeared beneath clouds of spray from near misses ; but the flame and smoke of her guns never ceased. With courage and determination the German dive-bomber pilots hurtled through the barrage out of the eye of the January sun. Their bombing was intensely concentrated and accurately placed but they hit the Illustrious only once, upon the quarterdeck.

Their own losses were heavy, five being destroyed by fighters and five by guns, though they claimed next day that all their aircraft had returned.

Malta's few fighters waited to catch the enemy as they came in and as they banked away from the Grand Harbour ; sometimes they followed them in through the barrage. An officer of the Royal Artillery described one such incident :

" I was on a light anti-aircraft gun position in the harbour area for one of these attacks, and I can still see clearly a German bomber diving through that terrific curtain of steel, followed by a Fulmar. The bomber dropped his bomb and proceeded to sneak his way out through the harbour entrance only a few inches above the water. He was so low that he had to rise to clear the breakwater, which is only some fifteen feet high. He was obviously wobbling badly, and as he rose the Fulmar pilot shot him down into the sea on the far side of the break-water. The Fulmar pilot then landed at his airfield, and later I received a message from him to say that he didn't think much of our barrage ! However, he never flew that particular plane again, so badly was it damaged."

THE GUNS OF MALTA. Top and Centre, Bofors A.A. guns in action. The anti-aircraft gunners destroyed 236 Axis aircraft during the siege.  Below, One of the island's coastal guns.

Opposite the Illustrious was berthed a merchant vessel, the Essex, loaded with high explosive, torpedoes and ammunition. She received a direct hit. The bomb went down a funnel and burst in the engine room, the ex-losion being contained by the bulkheads. Damage would have been terrific had she blown up. A working party of soldiers and sailors unloaded her cargo of war materials and she remains in Grand Harbour to this day, her service finished.

In the Three Cities where most of the bombs had fallen it was calculated that 200 houses had been wiped out and a further 500 damaged. The people of Senglea still point to the clock on the baroque ruin of their parish church of Our Lady of Victories. It stands at twenty past two, a silent reminder of that fierce afternoon of 16th January 1941.

The Times of Malta, already establishing its gallant tradition of publishing in spite of bombardment and even direct hits, said in its leader the next morning : " The whole world has been saying that ` Malta can take it'. Nevertheless, the measure of punishment which we may yet have to undergo until victory is achieved must be borne, and in this we shall follow the example set by the citizens of London and of Coventry, and other British cities, whose real ordeal started some months after our own ".

The weather closed down. H.M.S. Perth sailed during the night. There was a lull during which repair work upon the Illustrious was pressed forward.

On 18th January determined dive-bombing attacks were launched against Luqa and Hal Far airfields by more than eighty of the Luftwaffe to tie down the fighters so that the Illustrious might be finished off. For a time Luqa became unserviceable ; the island's striking forces were sadly depleted but fighters shot down seven of the enemy and four went to the gunners who had worked out barrages over both airfields.

Next day the Luftwaffe returned to the attack on Grand Harbour. Six Hurricanes, one Fulmar and one Gladiator constituted the fighter strength against this heavy raid. Between them they brought down eleven of the enemy, and the guns destroyed eight. This represented about a quarter of the attacking force, without reckoning the large number of probables credited both to guns and fighters. Malta's R.A.F. Intelligence signal described it as " a good bad day with a fair score ". This is how it was described by a colour-sergeant of the Royal Marines, one of those manning a battery on the top of the ancient fort of St Angelo :

" The Sunday raids were interesting and exciting. We had two visits from Jerry. Bombs were dropped in and around all the creeks, causing terrific clouds of dust, flying masonry and iron. Although I did not see it myself, it was stated that a motor-car complete went sailing over the top of us. The dust and spray often blinded our view but the dive-bombers always came on. As they broke through the dust they seemed like hawks looking for prey.

" The sight was one never to be forgotten, the bursts of the heavies, the red tracers of the Bofors and light machine-guns, and the illumination made by the crashing planes all adding to the splendour of the day.

" Since these attacks I have witnessed many more dive-bombing attacks from the same position and more concentrated on us. Although tragic, I must say that it is very exciting and good sport to be having a crack at a dive-bomber. You lose all sense of fear and self-preservation while it lasts. You get the same feeling as being at a football final."

On 20th January the weather was fine, but the only enemy action was a reconnaissance by a Ju. 88 at 23,000 feet over Grand Harbour. There was a little indiscriminate night bombing from a high altitude, but practically no further activity by the Luftwaffe during the subsequent days. H.M. Dockyard completed the repairs to the Illustrious and rendered her seaworthy. On 23rd January she sailed east under her own power at twenty-three knots ; two days later she was in Alexandria. The Italian radio had just stated that " the damage suffered is of such proportions that she will be out of service for the duration of the war ".

A lighter incident at the end of January was the approach of an Italian Cant Z 501 float-plane at dusk one evening. With navigation lights burning, it flew round the island for nearly forty-five minutes. Then a searchlight was exposed from the ground, and the float-plane gratefully landed near Comino Island, at the north-west extremity of Malta. Interrogation of the four members of the crew revealed that they had been lost and had just signalled their base to expose searchlights to aid their return. At this very moment one of the island's searchlights chanced to be turned on.

During this January a football match was played to raise funds for the R.A.F. Benevolent Fund. This game was a great social success, and the organisers, seeking other methods of raising funds, formed a concert party. It was called the Raffians, and was composed of officers and men of the Royal Air Force and English civilian radiolocation girls from Air Headquarters. The producer was Flying Officer Cecil Roche, a professional artiste who, finding himself in Malta at the outbreak of war, joined the Royal Air Force on the island. The Raffians toured the airfields, out-stations and camps. When transport was short they travelled on the bomb disposal lorry. They brought amusement and relief to the hard-pressed men of the Services during the long siege. They worked in their spare time, often under fire. On one occasion while a performance of The Babes in the Wood was being given, bombs were being dropped near by. The show was carried on until the blast of a near miss brought the scenery down on the heads of the cast. On this, as on many other occasions, the theatre lighting failed, and emergency lighting was fixed by using power trailers brought in from the airfield.

THE DROWNING BOMBER This Italian S.M. 84 bomber, half submerged in the sea, was shot down by Malta's fighters on its way to the island.

In one of Valetta's narrow streets is the Manoel Theatre built by the Grand Master Manoel de Vilhena in 1731, and said to be the oldest theatre still in public use in Europe. Here it was that the Knights of St John staged masques, comedies and divertissements before Europe's most brilliant audiences, crowding the tiers. Happily the huge stage, the superb acoustics, and the seventeenth - century auditorium of boxes painted and gilded with floral designs have been preserved ; and it was here that the Raffians staged their most ambitious shows, including the special performance given in honour of the men of the Merchant Navy, who, in August 1942, fought the convoy through.

The " Illustrious blitz "-    it is always so remembered in Malta - marked the beginning of the siege proper and a general toughening of the war. The relatively low figure of sixty-three civilians killed in the month was due to their use of the rock shelters, which were being rapidly extended in all target areas. There was devastation in the dockyard and the Three Cities were severely battered, their ancient narrow streets being choked to this day with heavy masonry. It was the declared intention of the enemy to prevent ships from using the harbours and to blast the aircraft from the airfields. In North Africa, General Wavell's armies occupied Cyrenaica. Malta stood in the way of Rommel's campaign and of the battle for Greece. The island's significance as an air base was recognised in February 1941, when the status of the Air Officer Commanding was upgraded from Air-Commodore to Air Vice-Marshal.