Word: malta
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1940-1949
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
When Italy entered the war, the British Navy, fearful of Italian air attacks, was resigned to abandoning Malta as a base, and feared it would have to give up all east-west traffic through the Mediterranean. Its fears proved unfounded-until last fortnight...
...prong of Tunisia where the Mediterranean is squeezed into a 90-mile-wide channel, through which all east-&-westbound convoys must pass. Dead in the middle lies the island of Pantelleria, loaded with Italian shore batteries. One hundred and twenty miles to the east is the British stronghold of Malta. The waters of the strait make an ideal hunting ground for Axis submarines, torpedo boats and bombers...
...immediately out of service, fighter planes could not go up for protection, and Rear Admiral Arthur Lumley St. George Lyster had no defense but his anti-aircraft and the few fighters already in air. Those aloft could not return for refueling, would have to use an air base at Malta. The attack was a great deal more severe than a previous attack on the aircraft carrier Ark Royal, pictures of which last week reached the U. S. (see cuts...
...dusk, with Malta in sight, torpedo planes attacked for the last time. But the Illustrious crowded on speed, and the torpedoes crossed only her wake...
Raid & Counter-Raid. Two days later, the R. A. F. hunted out the Stuka base at Catania, firing hangars and gasoline dumps, ripping the runways, destroying or damaging some 40 grounded planes. German bombers kept striking back at Malta all week, claiming hits on a cruiser and new hits on the Illustrious, insisting she would be out of action for the rest of the war. The British announced ten German planes shot down over Malta in the first attack, then 15 more, added to their total with every raid. Meanwhile their own bombers hammered away at Catania...