The Battle for Malta

Today on Far Future Horizons to commemorate the seventy-fifth anniversary of Operation Pedestal we present the BBC Two documentary The Battle for Malta.

Historian James Holland presents a fresh analysis of the World War Two battle for the tiny Mediterranean island of Malta.

Operation Pedestal ~ Malta’s Miracle of August 15, 1942

Operation Pedestal: Depicted, Tanker Ohio being attacked by Savoia Marchetti SM79's and Ju 88's The Cruiser is HMS Charybdis.

Today marks the seventy-fifth anniversary of Operation Pedestal, a British operation to get desperately needed supplies to the island of Malta in August 1942, during the Second World War. Malta was the base from which surface ships, submarines and aircraft attacked Axis convoys carrying essential supplies to the Italian and German armies in North Africa. In 1941–42, Malta was effectively under siege, blockaded by Axis air and naval forces. To sustain Malta, the United Kingdom had to get convoys through at all costs. Despite serious losses, just enough supplies were delivered for Malta to survive, although it ceased to be an effective offensive base for much of 1942. The most crucial supply was fuel delivered by the SS Ohio, an American-built tanker with a British crew. The operation started on August 9^th, 1942, when the convoy sailed through the Strait of Gibraltar.

The Knights of Malta and the Great Siege of 1565

 

Today marks the four hundredth and fiftieth anniversary of Malta's victory over the Ottoman Empire  during the Great Siege of Malta.    

Victory Day, September 8^th, is a national holiday in Malta. It is locally known as il-Vitorja (the Victory) and il-Bambina (Baby Mary). It marks the following events:

• The victory of the Great Siege by the Knights of St. John against the Ottoman Turks of 1565.

• The rebellion against the French troops in Malta ended in those days in September 1800 driving them from the Maltese islands.

• Italy surrendered during Second World in 1943, and turned against its former German ally.

The day is also connected to the Nativity of Mary, and in fact feasts are celebrated in towns Xagħra, Naxxar, Senglea, and Mellieħa on the day.

The Siege of Malta (also known as the Great Siege of Malta) took place in 1565 when the Ottoman Empire invaded the island, then held by the Knights Hospitaller (also known as the Sovereign Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta, Knights of Malta, Knights of Rhodes, and Chevaliers of Malta).

The Knights, together with between 4-5,000 Maltese men, women and children and approximately 2,000 footsoldiers won the siege, one of the bloodiest and most fiercely contested in history, and one which became one of the most celebrated events in sixteenth century Europe. Voltaire said, "Nothing is better known than the siege of Malta," and it undoubtedly contributed to the eventual erosion of the European perception of Ottoman invincibility and marked a new phase in Spanish domination of the Mediterranean.The siege was the climax of an escalating contest between a Christian alliance and the Ottoman Empire for control of the Mediterranean, a contest that included Turkish corsair Turgut Reis's attack on Malta in 1551, and the Turkish utter destruction of an allied Christian fleet at the Battle of Djerba in 1560.

To mark this occasion we present two documentaries concerning the Sovereign Order of the Knights of Malta and the Great Siege of 1565. 

Secrets of the Stone Age 1: The Wisdom of the Stones

Hagar Qin Megalithic Temple Complex on the Island of Malta

Today on Far Future Horizons we begin a three-part series titled "Secrets of the Stone Age" in which anthropologist and author Richard Rudgley sets off on an epic journey back in time and around the world to discover the real roots of civilization.

Ġgantija temples on the Island of Gozo, Malta

In the first episode of this series “The Wisdom of the Stones” Richard Rudgley travels from New York to the Pyramids and beyond in search of evidence of writing, medicine and architecture from the Neolithic or New Stone Age (8000 – 3000 BC) way before conventional history says they existed. It was the time when human beings embarked on a bold experiment, settling down in fixed communities – and establishing a style of living that still exists today.