Three Kings

Wavell smiled. “I have thought as much, but you must realize these dispositions were not entirely of my own making. In my last meeting with the Prime Minister, the man questioned me on the posting of each and every battalion at my disposal. Churchill can be somewhat insufferable, with all due respect, and he is rather insistent that Greece be strongly reinforced. I informed Mister Dill and others in London that the real danger here would not occur until the Germans sent motorized units and armor to North Africa. Now that whirlwind is upon us, and our own General O’Connor is in full retreat, trying to save what little armor we have left there while I send half the cupboard off to Greece.”

“Well General,” said Tovey. “I am aware that the First Sea Lord met with Churchill and determined that Egypt would be Germany’s next move should they fail to break us with the Luftwaffe. The loss of Gibraltar has made that threat even more perilous for us and possible for the enemy.”

“Agreed,” said Wavell. “Yet the Prime Minister seems adamant on the matter of Greece.”

“I am well aware of his determination,” said Tovey, but HMS Invincible is here for a reason, which I must now disclose.”

There came a knock on the cabin door and an adjutant appeared with a rush of urgency, bearing a single page message from the W/T room.

“Please excuse me, sir” The man came in and quietly handed Wavell a message, saluting and withdrawing as he had come.

Wavell took a long breath as he read the paper, then fixed them all with a steady gaze. “Well gentlemen, we have yet another problem. The Germans are landing paratroops on Malta.”

Chapter 20

They came out of the grey pre-dawn sky, the lines of planes seeming endless to Squadron LeaderJock Martin, at R.A.F. Luqa. He was up in a Hurricane with Squadron mate George Burges. They had the only two serviceable planes at the field that morning, and they were going to be quite busy.

The island was simply not ready for the storm blowing in on the cold morning air. It was led by another formation of eighteen S-79s of the 34thStormo, only this time there were twelve C200 fighters in escort. They were coming out of the northeast, and in so doing they pulled the two British Hurricanes off in that direction, a deliberate ploy to draw off any resources from the main attack. Over 150 Ju-52s transports carrying the leading waves of enemy troops.

34thStormo was just one of six formations assigned to the bombing that day. They would hit the Grand Harbor, the seaplane base atKalafrana, the airfields atTa’Qali, Luqa and Hal Far and targets of opportunity all over the island. The air raid sirens droned mournfully as weary crews of the 7th AA Regiment ran to man their batteries. It was the tenth consecutive day that had begun like this, and in spite of some success in shooting down fifteen enemy planes, the bombers were getting through the relatively thin defense and doing a good deal of damage on the ground.

Malta was not ready, not the island fortress that Lieutenant GeneralDobbie called it in his address to rally the troops. In his Order of the Day he announced that the Germans had landed paratroops on the northern island ofGozo twenty minutes earlier, and the fight was on. “The decision of His Majesty’s Government to fight until our enemies are defeated will be heard with the greatest satisfaction by all ranks of the Garrison of Malta,” the order began. While they might finally get a crack at their tormentors face to face on the ground, the hard truth of the matter was that the troops would have little satisfaction in that.

“It may be that hard times lie ahead for us, but I know that however hard they may be, the courage and determination of all ranks will not falter, and that with God’s help we will maintain the security of this fortress.”Dobbie’s order was an understatement, as the troops were going to need God’s help if they had any chance to weather the storm that was coming.

By 1942 the British garrison would triple in size, with a hundred aircraft ready to oppose an attack. Yet now, it was a pathetic shadow of that force. Before the war, the British thought the island would be indefensible. The Italian Regia Aeronautica could count 5400 aircraft in Italy and North Africa. Malta received only a few old fighters in packing crates, the famous Gladiators that had been left there as spares for the British aircraft carriers. They would take the names “Faith, Hope and Charity” before the Hurricanes arrived, but after ten days of steady air attacks, the old Gladiators were long gone.