Since Phoenician times the small island of Malta has played a crucial role in  world events due to its pivotal position in the Mediterranean, 60 miles from Sicily and 180 miles from the North African shore. At only 17.5 miles long and 96 square miles it is smaller than the Isle of Man. Malta fell into Roman hands in BC216 after their defeat of the Carthaginians and they called the island Melita.

Christianity, it is said,  was bought to the Island  in AD60 by shipwrecked St Paul who gives his name to  Malta’s Anglican Cathedral. John the Baptist, whose beheading in c 30AD is immortalised in Caravaggio’s  painting which hangs in St John’s Cathedral – described as amongst  the ten most important paintings in history -  baptized Jesus Christ in the River Jordan. He is the Patron Saint of The Knights of Malta. The Arabs who were finally expelled  in 1224 leave their mark in the language and most place names on Malta. 

Even Napoleon took Malta for a while; seeing  himself as another Alexander The Great he  wanted to annex Egypt and India and bring them into his Empire  but Malta stood in his path.  On 11th June 1798  he had pompously walked up the narrow streets of Valetta but four months later the Maltese people, tired of hollow promises and French greed, pleaded for British intervention.  This intervention came in the form of a naval blockade under Admiral Lord Nelson which resulted in the French surrender on 5th September 1800. At the Treaty of Amiens in 1802 the Maltese formerly requested that the British stay. So began  Malta’s  170 year period as part of the British Crown which was a mutually beneficial and peaceful besides the June 1919 riots. In 1947  Malta became the first country to gain independence from Great Britain; but she is still a member of the Commonwealth. 

It was Roger the Norman from Sicily who brought back Christianity to the Island  but it would be  Suleiman the Magnificent Sultan of Turkey, feared throughout the modern world as the hater of all things Christian, who would threaten  again Malta’s peace and stability. However he would face  unexpected resistance! The Knights Templar or to give them their full title The United Religious Military and Masonic orders of the Temple and of Saint John of Jerusalem, Palestine, Rhodes and Malta.

The Knights of Malta formed around 1048 in Jerusalem  are also known as the Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem.  They dedicated themselves to offering food and lodging to the  visiting  Christian pilgrim and later founded a hospital. Such were the hazards to these travelling Christians that perforce  the Knights became  fighting men as well. 

After Jerusalem was sacked  by Saladin, the Knights stated their long period of wanderings, first to Cyprus, then  to Rhodes for a period of 220 years until expelled by Suleiman, after a massive siege. Mindful of their deep Christianity and of the threat of the Otterman Empire  Emperor Charles V of Spain gave Malta to the Knights and so expectedly  they  found themselves manning the frontier of Christendom. 

Thus started one of the greatest events in history.  The Great Siege of Malta 18 May 1565.  Suleiman’s force of 30,000 troops including 6,000 Janissaries – his own guard -  with a battle squadron armada of 180  ships, started an assault on Malta guarded by just 640 Knights and 8,000 auxiliaries, drawn from different  Christian nationalities including England. Their commander was La Valette aged 72 who gives his name to Valetta;  he was aided by a cunning tactician and    Englishman Sir Oliver Starkey.  The Turks, haters of Malta, had boasted they would burn everything and slaughter the population as the Romans had done in Carthage. Valette had made his preparations  for defence based around the Grand Harbour and what  Napoleon later  called the Three Cities.

Between Fort St Elmo which looked out to sea and Fort St Angelo, his HQ,  Valette had  a great ditch dug, making it almost impossible for an attacker  to cross.  St Elmo, which   bore the initial brunt and took a battering from over 6,000 cannon balls,  was  asked by Valette  to hold out for 4 days;  in fact did so for over thirty.  At this stage 8,000 Turks had been killed for the loss of 1,500 from Valette’s force. ‘’If the daughter has cost us so much’’ said  Turkish Commander Mustapha Pasha referring to the dead Turks ‘’what will be the price of the mother’’ referring to St Angelo. Throughout the ordeal women and children toiled to repair walls, hurled stones at the attackers, tended the wounded and poured boiling water over the attackers.  A great chain was slung across the harbour to deny Suleiman’s galleons access. 

Starkey had sent pleas for help to Christian  countries. At last a force of 9,000 men sent by the Viceroy of Sicily  landed in Mellieha Bay. This tipped the scales and the Turks ran for the safety of their ships. Though the Knights mourned the loss of 250 of their own and 7,000 other auxiliaries, leaving only 600 fit men, they could rejoice at what they had achieved.  They quoted he words of St Francis of Assisi  who on meeting  a stranger would say ‘’My Dear Brother God give thee peace’’. 

My talk hopefully will give the audience an idea of the remarkable events of 1565 and the pivotal role played by the Knights of Malta  in the defence of Christianity;  the Knights who had for years been roaming around the Mediterranean looking for a firm base.

It is probably true that few people realise, indeed even within the Christian world,  just how much they owe to the Knights of Malta.  Malta had become the bulwark between the  followers  of Islam and  the Christian world. I call this the First Great Siege of Malta.  Sir Oliver Starkey is a highly revered name on Malta even today and yet hardly known in England, the  country of his birth.  He was  one of the great architects of  victory in 1565 and was buried in St John’s Cathedral.  The first person to be buried in this cathedral was Jean La Valette who died in  1568.

The second half of my talk relates to a quite different siege and 400 years later;  but there are similarities in the sense that Malta again stood between the forces of good and the forces of evil. In the First World War Malta had been christened the nurse of the Mediterranean because she was such a major hospital base for the 135,000 wounded from Gallipoli, Salonika  and Palestine. In the Second World War she was christened the unsinkable aircraft carrier.

In 1940 Great Britain’s major effort was in stemming the German ambitions of invasion which were only halted following the Battle of Britain. During this  period Malta was in many ways lying in a backwater. However, this all changed dramatically on the 10th of June 1940 when Italy declared war against Great Britain and her allies and joined Germany. Mussolini made no secret of the fact that he wished to invade Malta. However this could only be achieved following air supremacy and thus the island  became the  target  for massive and continual air bombardment from both the Italian Air Force and then later from the Luftwaffe. From Germany’s point of view Malta stood right between Italy and North Africa and therefore the supply route for Rommel’s army in Egypt.  Such was the importance of Malta   that  Hitler planned an invasion using 30,000 paratroopers once air supremacy was achieved. For Great Britain and her brave Maltese garrison the odds were not good. All she had available in the form of aircraft were three ancient  Gloucester  Gladiators from a bygone age  which were nicknamed Faith Hope and Charity. With almost reckless brave they took to the skies and took on the Italian Air Force. It  was only with the arrival of some hurricanes flown HMS Eagle  an aircraft carrier that the balance was part  restored. 

Malta relied heavily upon supplies from the outside world including food, ammunition, fuel and spare parts. However what she did possess were natural harbours.  The Grand Harbour  and neighbour Marsamxett Harbour were capable of being used as a base for submarines, battleships and aircraft carriers.  With the Wellington Bombers and Beaufighters Malta could now take the offensive, sinking Italian shipping which was supplying Rommel’s Africa Corps. Then the spitfires arrived from HMS Furious and Hitler turned his attention to Russia. For Malta some of the pressure was eased.

Over 30 convoy  sent  to reach Malta, via  Gibraltar or from   Alexandria, both a thousand miles away.  Some were disastrous, other  with limited success so by the summer of 1942 Malta was on the verse of surrendering, with 7 September being the deadline.. The War Office decided then to mount the biggest convoy of the  war  Operation Pedestal. The Commander was Admiral Sir Neville Syfret whose son taught me at school. It set out from the Clyde  on 9th August 1942 – 14 merchant ships with vital cargoes protected by a huge array of naval vessels from aircraft carriers to motor launches. Having passed Gibraltar  the armada entered the hornets’ nest. Pounced on by aircraft from above and submarines from below this brave armada steadily made his way, though getting ever smaller, following sinking of  9 cargo ships,  one aircraft carriers and  two cruisers and the damaging of other ships. Thirty four protecting aircraft were lost. Two  crucial  merchant ships the SS Ohio and the SS Brisbane Star continued  to bravely  press on despite both being severely damaged. The SS Brisbane Star now only able to sail at three knots fell behind the armada, took a different route and had plenty of adventures under her master Captain Riley. She finally arrived in Grand Harbour, with a huge cargo, to  great jubilation on the 14th of August.  Captain Frederick Riley Master being awarded the DSO. The SS Ohio an even bigger ship with a cargo of 10,000 tonnes of aviation fuel and kerosene had to be buoyed by  two frigates which guided her steadily into  Grand Harbour which she reached on the morning of the 15th of August the Feast of Santa Maria.  Her master Captain  Dudley Mason was awarded the George Cross.

These urgent supplies saved Malta,  turned the tide of war in the Mediterranean, starved  Rommel’s forces in North Africa, bolstered Montgomery’s  preparations for El Alamein and  probably shortened the war. On  15th April 1942 King George V1, awarded the island of Malta the George cross  in recognition of the  heroic effort of the  Garrison  and the Maltese  civilian population.

The cost of victory was high both in  airmen, sailors and from the local population.  The  striking Valetta Air Forces Memorial in the centre of the City commemorates those  airmen who no known grave.  The Capuccini Naval Cemetery, on the outskirts of Rinella,  has 350  First World War  graves including the crew of HMS Russell and 700 from the Second World War, including  three George  Cross winners and the first RAF pilot to be  shot down. Mtarfa cemetery near the ancient city of Mdina  contains the graves of six Foreign Office personnel  who were killed when the plane crashed on its way to a conference with Churchill. The Captain of HMS Kingston killed alongside  his Yeoman of Signals as they tried to usher their crew to safety. The only VC was awarded to the captain of the submarine HMS Upholder which was subsequently  sunk without grace. The crew are commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial being the port from which they had departed England.

Piers' presentation, supported by numerous images will cover:

• Malta's ancient history

• Malta's geography

• St Paul and his religious influence on Malta

• The Knights of Jerusalem and their journeys around the Mediterranean

• The threat of The Otterman Empire to Christendom

• Jean de Valette and Sir Oliver Starkey heroes of The Great Siege 1565

• The Siege, the outcome and the worldwide implications

• The great building programme

• The intervening years leading to Napoleon's arrival

• Malta joining the British Crown

• The Rinella 100 ton gun and the Victoria Defensive Lines

• Malta becomes The Nurse of the Mediterranean during The Great War

• Italy declares war on Great Britain June 1940 and starts bombing Malta

• Gloster Gladiator bi-planes Faith Hope and Charity

• Allied convoys attempt to reach Malta. Hurricanes arrive from aircraft carriers

• German starts bombing from Sicily 60 miles away

• Wellington Bombers and Beaufighters start attacking Italian shipping

• Hitler turns his attention to the East.

• Victoria Cross and George Cross winners Royal Navy, Army and RAF

• Malta becomes 'George Cross' Island and change of Governor

• Operation Pedestal and the story of SS Ohio and SS Brisbane Star

• Spitfires arrive and allied dominate the skies over Malta

• Rommel struggling to get supplies for his Afrika Corps

• Malta's part in Battle of E Alamein and role in Operation Huskey - landings on Sicily.

• Britain's post war legacy.