|
April 1940 |
|
23rd |
Malta Fighter Flight born and
8 pilots volunteer. 24 RN Gladiators arrive in boxes March 39. 18
still there in Spring 1940. 8 to be flown to be flown to HMS Glorious,
10 to HMS Eagle. Maynard hears about 10 for Eagle and ABC gives
permission to keep. 4 of the 10 assembled for Malta Fighter Flight. |
|
29th |
Malta Fighter Flight dissolved
as all 10 Gladiators requisitioned by RN. |
|
May 1940 |
|
4th |
RN decides it only needs 3 of
the 10, leaving 7 on Malta. Malta Fighter Flight reformed after all. |
|
June 1940 |
|
|
Malta defences at outbreak of
war: 34 heavy and 8 light AA guns (instead of approved scale of 112
and 60). One radar set, and four fighters, obsolete Gladiators (soon
only 3). |
|
10th |
Italy declares war on Britain.
Governor: Sir William Dobbie.
Air Officer Commanding (AOC):
Air-Commodore F.H.M. Maynard.
British 1st Submarine Flotilla
of 12 boats divided between Malta and Alexandria loses 3 Malta-based
subs in first week. |
|
July 1940 |
|
1st |
Fleet Air-Arm Fairey Swordfish
strike at oil storage tanks in Sicily. |
|
13th |
12 C.R. 42s engaged by one
Gladiator and one Hurricane. |
|
11th |
First Italian air raid on
Malta - 10 Italian Cants drop bombs on Grand Harbour and Hal Far.
First casualties – six Royal Malta Artillerymen at Fort St Elmo.
Station Fighter Flight of Sea Gladiators in action (Faith, Hope and
Charity). One Maachi 200 (Italian fighter plane) shot down by FO W.J.
Woods.
Constant raids during next
week. |
|
16th |
Italian bombers appearing with
fighter escort |
|
17th |
Four enemy raids |
|
22nd |
No raids – but an Italian S.79
bomber sent over to take reconnaissance pictures and shot down by F/Lt
Burges and FO Woods
By end Four Hurricanes arrive
at Malta en route to Egypt. They stay, (operating from Luqa). |
|
16th |
After five weeks in battle the
RAF lost its first fighter |
|
August 1940 |
|
2nd |
12 Hurricanes fly off
aircraft-carrier Argus (OPERATION HURRY). All aircraft arrive on Malta |
|
30th |
OPERATION HATS launched |
|
September
1940 |
|
2nd |
HMS Valiant, (battleship),
Coventry and Calcutta (anti-aircraft cruisers) accompanying three
merchantmen arrive at Grand Harbour with army and air force personnel
and stores, 8 x 3.7 inch anti-aircraft guns, predictors, height
finders, replacement anti-aircraft gun barrels, 100 Bren light machine
guns and 10,000 rounds of Bofors ammunition. 40,000 tonnes supplies in
total. |
|
15th |
20 Stukas (Ju 87s) dive-bomb
Hal Far airfield.
Two convoys arrive |
|
October
1940 |
|
28th |
Italy declares war on Greece
and invades, thus changing the war in the Mediterranean. |
|
November
1940 |
|
11th |
Fleet Air Arm Swordfish from
HMS Illustrious, after photographic reconnaissance by Maryland's from
Malta attack Italian Fleet at Taranto – the ‘blueprint for Pearl
Harbor’. A complete success. |
|
17th |
OPERATION WHITE: 12 Hurricanes
flown off aircraft carrier Argus. Only 4 arrive at Malta, the rest
running out of fuel and crashing in the Mediterranean.
Two convoys arrive from Egypt.
One convoy arrives from
Britain |
|
December
1940 |
|
2nd |
Newly arrived twin-engined
Wellington bombers begin offensive actions from Malta by bombing
Naples |
|
4th |
Arrival of first U-class sub
Arrival of German Fliegerkorps
X in Sicily |
|
January
1941 |
|
8th |
Commander G.W.G. Simpson
arrives in Malta to take over command of submarines there |
|
9th |
Nine Ju 87s and nine C.R. 42s
attack ships in Marsa Scirocco |
|
10th |
6pm HMS Illustrious
arrives at Grand Harbour with a convoy. After sustained attack during
the voyage, 126 crew are dead and 91 wounded. The cargo ships arrive
safely |
|
16th |
Over 70 German bombers attack
the Illustrious whilst she is still in Grand Harbour being
repaired |
|
18th |
Over 80 German bombers attack
airfields of Luqa and Hal Far |
|
19th |
German bombers attack Grand
Harbour once more |
|
22nd |
Wavell takes Tobruk, leaving
Italy with just one North African supply port – Tripoli |
|
23rd |
HMS Illustrious slips
out of harbour in the evening and safely sails to Alexandria |
|
February
1941 |
|
5th |
Restrictions on attacking Med
shipping lifted |
|
10th |
Wavell takes El Agheila |
|
12th |
Upholder’s 2nd patrol –
nearly sinks Truant |
|
21st |
Rommel arrives in Tripoli
Axis aircraft lay parachute
mines at Harbour entrance
Continued attacks on the
airfields |
|
March 1941 |
|
|
Messerschmitt 109s of 7/JG26
‘Richtofen’ fighter squadron arrive on Sicily. More than a match for
obsolete Hurricane Mk Is
Small convoy gets through
12 Hurricane IIs flown to
Malta from the Ark Royal |
|
25th |
Rommel attacks
El Agheila in Libya |
|
28th |
Night Battle of Matapan |
|
April 1941 |
|
4th |
Rommel takes Benghazi
First of two Blenheim
squadrons arrives on Malta |
|
10th |
Force K - four British
destroyers - sink five Italian merchantmen and three destroyers for
the loss of one destroyer |
|
21st |
Royal Navy, under Admiral
Cunningham and with assistance of Maltese submarines and Warburton’s
photo reconnaissance team, bombards Tripoli |
|
22nd |
Five of seven Hurricanes shot
down over the sea |
|
27th |
OPERATION DUNLOP: 24 Hurricane
IIs delivered from Ark Royal. 23 arrive in Malta |
|
May 1941 |
|
15th |
HMS/S Upholder’s 7th
patrol until 26th May. Three ships sunk, including the Conte Rosso
on the 24th – for which Wanklyn later received the VC |
|
20th |
German invasion of Crete |
|
June 1941 |
|
1st |
Air Vice-Marshal Hugh Pughe
Lloyd appointed AOC, replacing Air Commodore F.H.M. Maynard |
|
14th |
OPERATION TRACER: 48
Hurricanes dispatched from carriers Ark Royal and
Victorious. 45 reach Malta |
|
22nd |
Bletchley Park breaks Italian
Naval cipher |
|
23rd |
First ‘Ultra’ to Alexandria
and Malta |
|
July 1941 |
|
|
OPERATION SUBSTANCE: convoy
from Gibraltar – 6 merchantmen with Naval escort manages to deliver
65,000 tonnes of supplies |
|
26th |
Italian E-Boats attack Grand
Harbour and Marsamxett and attempt to destroy ships in harbour and the
submarine base at Manoel Island, but it fails and the attacking force
is wiped out |
|
31st |
Axis forces in Libya named
Panzerarmee Afrika |
|
August 1941 |
|
|
Hitler offers Mussolini 20
U-boats for Med |
|
September
1941 |
|
|
OPERATION HALBERD: Convoy from
Gibraltar – 9 merchantmen, one carrier, three battleships, five
cruisers and eighteen destroyers deliver 85,000 tonnes of supplies.
One merchantman lost, one battleship damaged |
|
|
Malta submarines designated
Tenth Submarine Flotilla (but still under Captain (S) One in Alex
(Captain Raw). |
|
9th |
Chief of German Naval Staff,
Rome, reports to Berlin that subs are the most dangerous weapons in
the Med, esp. those at Malta |
|
October
1941 |
|
|
21st Force K (light cruisers
Aurora and Penelope, destroyers Lance and
Lively) arrives at Malta |
|
November
1941 |
|
|
Field Marshal Kesselring and
Luftflotte II transferred from Eastern Front to Sicily
U-boats arrive in Med. |
|
8/9th |
Entire Africa-bound Italian
convoy sunk by Royal Navy Force K with Maltese aerial support |
|
13th/14th |
Ark Royal torpedoed and
sunk by German U-Boat after aircraft delivery mission |
|
24th |
Force K sinks another convoy |
|
25th |
U-boat sinks RN battleship
Barham |
|
December
1941 |
|
|
OPERATION HERKULES: Axis code
name for invasion of Malta in active preparation. General Kurt
Student on command of airborne forces |
|
11th |
Lt- Commander MD Wanklyn
receives VC for action on the Conte Rosso |
|
15th |
Half the entire number of
German U-Boats operating in Atlantic ordered to the Mediterranean on
special orders of Hitler |
|
19th |
Italian human torpedoes
cripple battleships Queen Elizabeth and Valiant in Alex
harbour – for the time being it is the end of the British battle fleet
in the Med |
|
January
1942 |
|
|
German round-the-clock bombing
of Malta begins
Italian anti-submarine forces
now equipped with asdic |
|
29th |
Rommel re-takes Benghazi |
|
February
1942 |
|
13th |
42 internees deported to
Uganda via Cairo under Emergency Powers Ordinance. Sir Arturo
Merceica, former Chief Justice and President of Court of Appeal
included |
|
14th |
OPERATION MF5: convoy from
Alexandria – 3 merchantmen, three cruisers and sixteen destroyers.
Whole force turns back and no supplies delivered |
|
28th |
OPERATION SPOTTER: First
attempt to fly Spitfires from HMS Eagle thwarted by fault with
overload fuel tanks |
|
March 1942 |
|
7th |
OPERATION SPOTTER: second
attempt to fly Spitfires from HMS Eagle – this time successful,
and 15 arrive on Malta |
|
21st |
OPERATION PICKET I: 9 more
Spitfires flown from HMS Eagle |
|
20th-25th |
OPERATION MG1: convoy MW10
from Alexandria – 4 merchantmen, 5 cruisers and 17 destroyers. 2
merchantmen, Pampas and Talabot, sunk in Grand Harbour.
A third, Breconshire, towed into Malta and then sunk. Only
5,000 tonnes supplies saved |
|
22nd |
2nd Battle of Sirte:
Rear-Admiral Vian, protecting MW10, sees off Italian Fleet
|
|
29th |
OPERATION PICKET II: 7 further
Spitfires flown from HMS Eagle |
|
|
4,992 Axis sorties during
March |
|
April 1942 |
|
|
Axis air attack reaches
climax. Royal Opera House, Valetta and many other buildings
destroyed. Total tonnage of bombs dropped in March and April is twice
that dropped on London during blitz. Fliegerkorps II flies 9,599
sorties against Malta in April |
|
5th |
Easter Sunday |
|
7th |
Royal Opera House destroyed.
Times of Malta building hit |
|
9th |
Bomb penetrates dome of Mosta
Church near Takali (third largest suspended dome in world) while
congregation inside, but fails to explode
Dobbie forced to leave Grand
Palace |
|
14th |
RN submarine HMS Upholder
lost, including Lt Commander David Wanklyn, VC. Upholder
had sunk 128,353 tonnes of shipping – 53,648 more than any other
submarine |
|
15th |
George VI awards the George
Cross to the island of Malta |
|
20th |
OPERATION CALENDER: USAN’s
carrier Wasp delivers 47 Spitfires of 601 and 603 Squadrons.
46 arrive on Malta. After 48 hours of Axis bombing, only 7
serviceable Spitfires remain |
|
21st |
Photographic reconnaissance by
Fl Lt. Harry Coldbeck reveals 1,500 400 yd glider strips being
prepared at Gerbini, Sicily, for airborne assault on Malta |
|
22nd |
10th Submarine Flotilla forced
to quit Malta base |
|
23rd |
39th General Hospital at St.
Andrews destroyed by Ju 88s: other hospitals extensively damaged |
|
26th |
British Ultra discovers plans
for withdrawal of Fliegerkorps II from Sicily to North Africa and
Crete |
|
30th |
Malta ack-ack gunners shoot
down 102 Axis planes in the month |
|
May 1942 |
|
2nd |
Ultra confirms two Luftwaffe
gruppen already withdrawn from Sicily. COS in London assures Governor
Sir William Dobbie that invasion threat has for the moment passed |
|
7th |
Field Marshal Viscount Gort VC
takes over from Dobbie as Governor |
|
9th |
OPERATION BOWERY: USAN carrier
Wasp and HMS Eagle, together deliver 64 Spitfires. 60
arrive safely |
|
10th |
Greatest air battle of Siege:
victory for RAF, with 63 Axis aircraft shot down or damaged
Fast 40-knot minelayer, HMS
Welshman, arrives with crucial supplies, departing seven hours
later
Kesselring reports to German
High Command that Malta has been successfully neutralised |
|
17th |
Petty pilfering on airfields
prompts Wing Commander Gracie to erect gibbets on perimeter as a
warning threat to would-be culprits – pictures reach Daily Mirror |
|
18th |
OPERATION LB: HMS Eagle
delivers 16 further Spitfires – all arrive safely |
|
19th |
Axis spy, Borghi Pisani, a
Maltese in Italy, lands at Dingli Cliffs, but captured, tried and
hanged on 28th November |
|
26th |
Rommel begins second advance
to Egypt |
|
June 1942 |
|
9th |
OPERATION SALIENT: 32
Spitfires launched from HMS Eagle. 30 arrive on Malta |
|
12th-16th |
OPERATION VIGOROUS: convoy
from Alexandria – 11 merchantmen, 1 dummy battleship, 8 cruisers, 26
destroyers, 4 corvettes, 2 minesweepers and 2 rescue ships forced by
presence of Italian Fleet to return to Egypt. One cruiser and 5
destroyers lost and no supplies delivered |
|
12th-17th |
OPERATION HARPOON: convoy from
Gibraltar – 6 merchantmen, 1 battleship with cruisers, 26 destroyers,
4 corvettes, 2 minesweepers and 2 rescue ships heavily attacked for
four days. 2 merchantmen reach Grand Harbour. 1 cruiser, five
destroyers and four merchantmen lost. Only 25,000 tonnes of supplies
delivered – but enough to save Malta from starvation for another 2-3
months
Rationing at peak. |
|
1st -14th |
Renewed Axis blitz timed to
coincide with Afrika Korps advance to Egypt |
|
22nd |
German high Command scrap
Operation Herkules following fall of Tobruk |
|
28th |
Crew of ditched Beaufort of
217 Squadron overpowers crew of rescuing Italian Cant seaplane. Fly
Cant to Malta where Italians made POWs |
|
July 1942 |
|
14th |
Air Vice Marshal Sir Keith
Park takes over as AOC from Air Vice Marshal Sir Hugh Pughe Lloyd.
Park and Kesselring, as in the Battle of Britain, are opposing
commanders once more |
|
15th |
OPERATION PINPOINT: 32
Spitfires fly from HMS Eagle. 31 arrive safely Malta |
|
21st |
OPERATION INSECT: 32 Spitfires
fly from HMS Eagle. 25 arrive safely on Malta |
|
July / August |
Successful offensive action
against Axis shipping convoys with supplies for Afrika Korps |
|
August 1942 |
|
August - October |
RAF and Fleet Air Arm continue
successful offensive operations against Axis shipping supplying
Rommel’s Afrika Korps |
|
10th -15th |
OPERATION PEDESTAL: Santa
Maria convoy from Gibraltar – 14 merchantmen, 4 aircraft carriers, 2
battleships, 7 cruisers and 24 destroyers. Bombed continuously for
five days by aircraft, U-Boats and part of the Italian Fleet
Five merchantmen reach Malta,
delivering 53,000 tonnes of supplies delivered (from 83,000 tonnes).
9 merchantmen, 1 carrier – Eagle – 2 cruisers sunk; 1 carrier,
all cruisers and 3 merchantmen damaged |
|
11th |
OPERATION BELLOWS: 38
Spitfires fly off HMS Furious. 37 arrive safely on Malta |
|
17th |
OPERATION BARITONE: 32
Spitfires fly off HMS Furious. 29 arrive safely on Malta |
|
September
1942 |
|
7th |
Rommel checked at Alam Halfa |
|
October
1942 |
|
10th -20th |
Final Axis blitz on Malta |
|
23rd |
Battle of El Alamein begins |
|
29th |
OPERATION TRAIN: 29 Spitfires
take off from HMS Furious for Malta |
|
November
1942 |
|
7th |
Operation Torch begins –
Americans land in western theatre for first time |
|
15th -20th |
OPERATION STONEAGE: convoy
from Alexandria - 4 merchantmen, five cruisers, 17 destroyers,
delivers 35,000 tonnes of supplies. 1 cruiser damaged. The Siege
finally raised |
|
18th |
HMS Welshman arrives
with more essential supplies
12 Spitfire fighter-bombers
each slung with 2 x 500lb bombs attack chemical factory at Pachino in
Sicily |
|
December
1942 |
|
1st |
OPERATION PORTCULLIS: convoy
from Port Said – 4 merchantmen with 1 cruiser, 18 destroyers and 1
minelayer reaches Malta with 55,000 tonnes of essential cargoes –
first convoy with no loss since 1941 |
|
January
1943 |
|
21st |
Tripoli falls to Allies |
|
23rd |
OPERATION HUSKY, the invasion
of Sicily, agreed at Casablanca Conference
Simpson relieved of Tenth
Flotilla for George Phillips
Monty takes Tripoli |
|
May 1943 |
|
13th |
Axis surrender in North Africa |
|
June 1943 |
|
1st |
King George VI visits the
island |
|
July 1943 |
|
10th |
OPERATION HUSKY: Allied
invasion of Sicily begins
Operational HQ on Malta. 608
Allied planes available on Malta for air cover of the invasion |
|
August 1943 |
|
17th |
Sicily successfully captured
by Allies |
