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The siege of Malta in World War II was a military campaign in the Mediterranean theatre.From June 1940 to November 1942, the fight for the control of the strategically important island of the British Crown Colony of Malta pitted the air and naval forces of Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany against the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Royal Navy.
The Axis plan to invade Malta had its origin in Italian military studies conducted during the Second Italo-Abyssinian War in the mid-1930s. By 1938, Comando Supremo, the Italian army general staff, had estimated the amount of sea transport it would require to move military forces into North Africa, and identified the seizure of Malta as a prerequisite.
Soldiers from a living history group wearing WW2-era Khaki drill uniforms and carrying .303 SMLE rifles on a parade in Valletta in 2008. The Malta Fortress Squadron was a locally recruited Royal Engineers unit based on Malta and on the British Army colonial list prior to Malta's independence. Its history is intimately tied to the succession of ...
Malta (11 June 1940 – 20 November 1942) Bahrain (19 October 1940) Greco-Italian War (28 October 1940 to April 1941) Invasion of Yugoslavia (Operation Punishment) (April 1941) Battle of Greece (Operation Marita) (April 1941) Crete (Operation Mercury) (May–June 1941) World War II in Yugoslavia (April 1941 to May 1945) Iraq (2–31 May 1941)
Malta's garrison was a single infantry brigade; comprising the 2nd Battalion the Devonshire Regiment, 2nd Battalion the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment, 1st Battalion the Dorsetshire Regiment and the 2nd Battalion the Royal Irish Fusiliers.
Military operations from Malta and use of the island as a staging post, led to Axis air campaigns against the island in 1941 and 1942. By late July, the 80 fighters on the island averaged wastage of 17 per week and the remaining aviation fuel was only sufficient for the fighters, making it impractical to send more bombers and torpedo-bombers ...
The George Cross was awarded to the island of Malta by King George VI during the Siege of Malta undertaken by Italy and Germany in the early part of World War II. The island was a British colony from 1813 to 1964. The George Cross was incorporated into the flag of Malta beginning in 1943 and remains on the current design of the flag.
For the next attempt on Grand Harbour, the attack was re-named Operazione MALTA-2. The attack was scheduled for the night of 25/26 July 1941. The earlier operations had shown that MTM could not make the sea crossing to Malta and the number of MAS was reduced to MAS-451 and MAS-452. The aviso Diana was to tow the MTL and carry the nine MTM and ...