Malta...We Loved It!

I’m not sure why, but I (Marina here) really wanted to see Malta. Our original plan was to sail from Crete to Malta (a 5 day passage) but upon learning more about the local weather in the late winter/early spring we decided this might not be a prudent idea. We also decided that overnight trips for more than one night are really hard on us - we need one more crew to take a night shift. So we did the speed trip across Turkey and Greece to Cephalonia and a couple of days wait there for a weather window to hop to Sicily in Italy, just a one-night crossing. We weren't sure we'd have time to slip down to Malta, but thankfully we did as our race across Greece was quick...so south to Malta we went and are we glad!

I'm not much of a history buff, but some of the history of Malta is interesing, easy to "get" and fun to learn. In particular learning about the First Great Seige from the Turks against The Knights of St. John, and the Second Great Siege during the 2nd World War. Malta was a desireable, strategic location.

An exerpt from the Imray Italian Waters Pilot, Rod Heickel (2006 ed.) about the Great Siege of Suleiman the Magnificent against the Knights of St. John in 1565 goes as follows:
“The Turks, knowing of Malta’s strategic location, decided to rid themselves of this thorn in their side once and for all and on May 19, 1565, a Turkish fleet of 138 ships, 38,000 men, and much heavy artillery reached Malta. Combined with the ships and forces of the North African prirate, Dragut, this force faced only 600 Kights and 9,000 troops. The besieged Knights fought on through the summer of 1565 and lost Fort St. Elmo, until finally they were holed up in Birgu, Senglea and Fort St. Angelo. There were many dead and numerous atrocities on both sides. The Turks tied the dead bodies of the Knights to crosses and floated them across to the defenders while the Knights retaliated by bombarding the Turks with the heads of their fallen troops.

  

Eventually a relief force arrived from Sicily and the Turks retreated after losing, it is estimated, some two-thirds of their troops. Fort St. Elmo was rebuilt and Valletta, named after the brave and stout Grand Master was developed from 1566 onward.”

For two centuries the Knights prospered...and then Napoleon took over and used the riches from the churches there to finance his Egyptian campaign, which the British didn't like so they assisted the Maltese in removing the French...eventually in 1921 the Maltese were given local autonomy under a British governor.

Twenty years later, the Second World War began. A couple of interesting tidbits during this time were one, the Americans came and built a fully functional runway on the island of Gozo in 2 days - they needed to store about 1000 planes there. And two, as the harbour of Valletta is so large, protected and deep, it was a perfect spot to hide submarines.

To continue the Imray excerpt regarding the siege of Malta by the Italian and German air forces in 1941 and 1942:

“In the early part of the Second World War, Malta was a vital Allied naval base separating Europe from Rommel’s troops in North Africa. The Italians began a fierce blitz on Malta in 1941 and, unable to subdue it, were joined by German bombers. Throughout 1942 until November, Malta was bombed incessantly and the Maltese were reduced to living in rubble-strewn towns in near-starvation conditions. The Allies, well aware of how vital Malta was to them, attempted to keep the island supplied by convoys which failed to get through. In August 1942 a convoy with the tanker OHIO carrying much-needed oil, passed Gibraltar and, despite five days of fierce bombing in which many ships were sunk and the OHIO badly damaged, managed to limp into Grand Harbour where huge crowds had gathered to cheer it in and welcome the breaking of the blockade. For their bravery the islanders were collectively awarded the George Cross.”

Malta (the island of and including the islands of smaller Gozo and tiny Comino) are approximately 122 square miles in total. Such a small, tiny place with such great heart and courage.

We spent time taking wonderful old busses to the old town and wandered around – mostly window shopping and just looking around to get a feel for the old town and see the architecture. We felt very comfortable there and although Maltese was the "unusual" language spoken, most people understood a bit of English and we could get by quite easily. 

As we were there for a few days, we did look for a couple of “touristy” things to see and do – such as watch a 45 minute movie on the history of Malta and even more interesting, we took a tour of the WWII Lacarno War Rooms – restricted from the public for years. It looked just like in the movies! Underground, safe from bombings, with huge maps and charts, old desks and phones, switchboards and so on, and the area housed each of the army, navy, air force and marines during WWII. Eisenhower was there at one point.

Another special treat was to meet some friends of friends from the Martin 242 fleet at RVYC (Ray and Annie Parsons) and Matt and I were hosted by Annie's cousin Jerry and his friend Mary to a lovely and delicious dinner out. The dinner conversation never stopped and we hope to see them in Vancouver later this year as they plan to visit.

We left the Grand Harbour of Valletta after three good days to spend a night at anchor just off the small islet of Comino (between Malta and Gozo). It’s a touristy spot, in a bay called “Blue Lagoon”, which was lovely and blue, but not quite as nice as the one in the movie. We spent some time enjoying the sun, the beach and the water – then had a slightly lumpy night’s sleep and back to Sicily the next morning.