Manawatu Evening Standard. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 1942 MALTA'S DEFIANCE.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LXII, Issue 98, 25 March 1942, Page 4

Manawatu Evening Standard. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 1942 MALTA'S DEFIANCE.

There is about the gallant defiance of Malta, which is still experiencing more air raids than any other locality in the war. a quality of supreme courage that may well cause even the enemy —as instanced by one Nazi airman—to voice admiration. Certain it is that never in the history of aerial warfare has so heroic a stand been made, and by civilians as well as the Armed Forces, at a strategic keypoint of the kind. The latest instance of an attack by no fewer than 75 enemy bomber craft need only be considered to cauge the qualities of the island’s defenders. For the size of the objective this* is a colossal force, and it proves how the enemy appreciates that in Malta he has one of the toughest nuts of the war yet to crack. Of the raiding bombers and their^ fighter escort no fewer than 17 were brought down, and a good proportion of them by anti-aircraft fire. The reputation of these antiaircraft gunners bids fair to reach the heights of the Air Force personnel who have for many months kept constant watch over the island and have furthermore demonstrated its great strategic value by sallying forth repeatedly to assaults on enemy convoys attempting to steal across to Tripoli. doing valuable reconnaissance work, and generally helping to maintain the Allies’ mastery of the Mediterranean. If ever the full story of Malta's heroism can be told it will make one of the most glowing pages in history. One may well ask, what of the lives of the civilian population in this island fortress which, though it may have lost some of its value as a great naval base, is a serious thorn in the side of the enemy? A short time ago, the cable news related, the islanders, oblivious to a fierce aerial encounter that was raging overhead, rushed from their shelters to see for themselves some new British fighter planes that were in action over the island for the first time. . Their admiration for the Royal Air Force can readily be imagined from such an incident. And besides that they have a great contempt Tor the enemy, particularly the Italians. A writer who visited the island but two -months ago—it was then being attacked almost every day from the air—tells how the people have adapted themselves to the strange life of dwhiling almost continuously in shelters. Malta is an island of large families; shortly after dusk the trek underground begins. Shelters abound all over the island. Behind Malta’s great i bastions complete habitations have been cut into the limestone. Here little colonies dwell in harmony, comfort, and safety. One shelter stretches a mile beneath | the town. When dawn returns | the great subterranean family reI turns to home and breakfast, work rind school. Food appears to be lplentiful—and the spirit of the people remains high despite many I trials; they are content to leave

their fate in the hands of the Paladins of the skies—and the experts of the anti-aircraft batteries. Malta may have still more anxious days ahead, as there are evidences of attacks being developed on an even greater scale to remove this serious check to the enemy’s plans, but the stoicism of the past will stand the people in good stead.