In ww2 Malta suffered multiple bombardments especially round the cities were the grand harbour was situated. Approximately 30,000 buildings were destroyed or damaged. The death toll only rose to about 1300 and to this very day the toll has been a great mystery since not so many people perished. In 2 years there were about 3000 raids- that’s 4 raids per day! However, there might be several factors to explain why so many people survived the war.
The usage of radar helped ground troops to identify incoming enemy aircraft and ships. This method of prediction helped them to warn civilians to take cover and grab anything of necessity such as food and water. The radar (radio detection and ranging) was used and still is to calculate the altitude, range and speed of an aircraft, spacecraft, missiles, ships or weather paths. This apparatus was of great importance in intercepting the enemy’s line of attack.
The enigma machine was the first ever computer and was used to encrypt or decrypt any secret message passed on in the war. This machine was widely used by the British troops to decipher their enemy’s next location. This factor helped the allies in malta to send their hurricanes and spitfires to the enemy’s near by location and hunt them down before they come to Malta. The bastions that were built by the knights were used as shelter and these proved to be of great defence to the Maltese.
Since they are made from thick limestone; they were hard to sustain heavy damage. People dug inside them and created rooms for families to shelter during raids. People that lived around thegrand harbour used these shelters frequently as their village or town used to be a battlefield. If it wasn’t for these factors the Maltese population would have struggled to get back of its feet. We thank God that the death toll was below expected and that we didn’t surrender as Winston Churchill said, “A nation has to eat not to surreneder. “
