Malta

MALTA
Malta and the Maltese had a close relationship to the British ever since Lord Nelson freed Malta from the cruel dictator Napoleon Boneparte.

Its location could serve as the headquarters to the Royal Navy in The Mediterranean Sea.

Its main industry was the shipyards which was built by the Knights Of St.John to repair

their galleys and when the British took it and in the 1800s they enlarged it and eventually

it became the largest shipyard for some years.

MALTA IN WW2
Malta had been a naval base to Britain since the early 1800s due to its strategic location in exactly the middle of the Mediterranean Sea.

The only protection it had were large guns but these were only built to strike ships and defend the Grand Harbour.So the British established

many AA guns around the largest ports and beaches and also built gunposts and beachposts which many have survived and they also put more guns

at the newly built airfields at Ta' Qali,Hal Far,Hal Luqa,Qrendi and at Rabat on Gozo.The only planes they had were 4 Gloster Gladiators which had to fight the

entire squadrons of bombers the Italians were sending.At the end of May 1940,the Commisioner of Police ordered that, in the event of attack from enemy aircraft a siren

would be sounded and as an all clear waring they used church bells.