The New {and improved} National War Museum

The National War Museum has moved from the old Drill Hall of lower Fort St Elmo to the actual Fort itself. The entrance ticket is valid for both which means that you can tour the fort while visiting the museum. Fort St Elmo played a crucial role during the siege of 1565. The Knights defended it to the last  man and, when it fell on June 23 1565, no defenders were left alive. But it cost the invading Turks many men and a lot of ammunition. I don’t know whether it was a coincidence or a strange twist of fate, but t he first casualties of World War 2 occurred at Fort St Elmo in June of 1940. Due to its long and varied history, Fort St Elmo deserves a post all to itself so I will leave that to another time.

The National War Museum houses a collection of items that date back to prehistoric times. The items are displayed in chronological order and span over four thousand years of history. There is a section dedicated to the Great Siege of 1565 but the biggest, and best, part of the museum is dedicated to the Second World War and the crucial role that  Malta played during those turbulent times.

The exhibits vary from anti-aircraft guns, period uniforms of the British forces and items made by German POWs to the Gloster Gladiator nicknamed ‘Faith’ that I had written about here, the George cross (Malta’s award for gallantry) and President Roosevelt’s jeep ‘Husky’. 

My favourite part of the exhibits was the hall dedicated to the SS Ohio and Operation Pedestal. Computer generated images projected onto the ground show the progress of the convoy of ships that left Gibraltar en route to Malta. It really puts into perspective the amount of men and ships that paid the ultimate price to save the island.

The new National War Museum is a vast improvement on the old one. There is ample space for all the exhibits, which are all clearly labelled, and information is readily available through photographic panels and audio visual presentations. It is definitely worth a visit.

The National War Museum, St. Elmo Place, Valletta VLT 1741

Opening Hours

Monday to Sunday: 09.00 - 17.00hrs
Last admission at 16.30hrs
Closed on 24, 25 & 31 December, 1 January & Good Friday

Operation Pedestal

Malta today celebrates the feast of Santa Maria and with it, the 67th anniversary of Operation Pedestal or, as it is known amongst those old enough to remember it, the Santa Maria convoy.
In the summer of 1942 the war in Europe was at its peak and Malta had experienced its fair share of bombing. Hunger was rife and the island was in dire need of food, grain and oil. Two supply ships had made it to Malta in March 1942. However these were sunk in the harbour with only a fraction of the supplies unloaded. A further two supply ships arrived in June of 1942 with much-needed food. However no fuel oil made it through. In August of 1942 Malta was on the verge of surrender. Operation Pedestal was the final effort to supply the island with the supplies it so urgently needed. Fourteen merchant ships, two battleships (HMS Rodney and HMS Nelson), four aircraft carriers (HMS Eagle, HMS Victorious, HMS Indomitable, HMS Furious), seven cruisers and 33 destroyers set out from Britain entering the Straits of Gibraltar on the night of August 10-11. On August 15 the crippled American Merchant ship SS Ohio (on loan to Britain from the United States) entered Grand Harbour to cheering crowds, supported by the two destroyers Ledbury and Penn. You can go here for the timeline of their passage through the Mediterranean. In all nine merchantmen, one aircraft carrier (Eagle), two cruisers (Manchester and Cairo), and a destroyer (Foresight) were sunk by the Axis accompanied by the loss of 400 men.

The food and fuel brought in by the convoy sustained the island, although its siege was not yet at an end. The ultimate result of Operation Pedestal was that it ensured that Malta stayed in the war. Tacticians say that this helped shift the balance of the war in North Africa just prior to the second battle of El Alamein. Operation Pedestal was the subject of a 1953 black and white British film, Malta Story, which interspersed archive footage of the SS Ohio with scripted studio scenes.

The damage sustained by the Ohio from Stuka bombers was too great for it to be repaired. In 1946, after the war was over, it was towed 10 miles off the coast of Malta and sunk by naval guns. A sad end for a ship with so much history but, perhaps, if it had a choice it would want to lie on the bottom of the sea, close to the island to which it brought so much more than food and fuel.

Sixty seven years later the only bombs that shatter the silence are the petards let off for the feasts of Santa Maria held in 5 villages in Malta and another 2 on the neighbouring island of Gozo. Those who are old enough to remember this event still talk about it with awe and gratitude. Most of the younger generation prefers to ignore the importance of this feat. The rest only vaguely remember it from history class at school. I suppose it is hard to expect today’s generation to be interested in great depth about events which took place so long before they were born. But I was brought up on stories of the war and when the British forces were still in Malta my dad would take me to Grand Harbour to see the aircraft carriers and the battleships and to tell me stories about the war. I was very young at the time, but the names of the Ohio, the Eagle, the Indomitable and the rest still send shivers up my spine - for I am able to acknowledge what they, and their crew of brave men, were able to do that August of so long ago.