E-BOAT ATTACK ON MALTA

Press, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23394, 30 July 1941, Page 7

E-BOAT ATTACK ON MALTA

DEVASTATING FIRE FROM SHORE (Received July 30, 1.30 a.m.) LONDON, July 29. Malta earned the honour of repelling the first sea attack against British territory during the recent E-boat attack on Valetta. Local men are proud of the part they played. They had waited a long time for the chance of using their guns alongside the British garrison. Islanders rushed to vantage points at the first sound of heavy gunfire and saw the foreshore of the Grand Harbour illuminated by bursts of dazzling light amidst the mist as the guns flashed from their massive emplacements where the guns of other days pounded at pagan pirate craft. A criss-cross of fire was concentrated on the dancing white dots—the enemy E-boats rushing in to attack. The leading E-boat went up with a flash. Then came a sharp detonation, leaving no trace of the boat or survivors. Mingling with the explosions and the whine of shells over the water was the roar of aeroplanes as they dived, eager to participate in the fight. The accuracy of the gunfire was so great that the streaks of shell appeared to be attracted to the frail hulls of the E-boats as if by magnets. Eboats an instant before alive with speed, were suddenly transformed into scattered, motionless debris.