BATTERED MALTA

Wairarapa Times-Age, 11 May 1942, Page 2

BATTERED MALTA

WHOLESALE DESTRUCTION OF BUILDINGS CASUALTIES NOT HEAVY IN CIRCUMSTANCES. CONTINUED DESTRUCTION OF ENEMY PLANES. (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) LONDON, May 9. The Colonial Office announced that Lord Gort has arrived in Malta and assumed the administration of the Government. A. British United Press correspondent at Malta reports: “I have just toured the island and words do not exist to convey a picture of what has happened there as a result of air-raids, so I shall try figures instead. The following have been destroyed or damaged:—ls,soo houses (this counts blocks of flats as one house), 1 70 churches, 18 convents and nunneries, 10 theatres, eight hotels, 22 schools, eight hospitals, eight of the principal clubs, five of the principal banks, and 48 other public buildings, many of which were world-famous. “Seventy-five per cent of the houses of Valetta have been destroyed or damaged. More than 75 per cent of the buildings in the most populated areas are so smashed that complete rebuilding will be necessary. There is hardly a hamlet in the island that has not been hit. The miracle is that the casualties are so low—llo4 killed, 1316 seriously injured and 1299 slightly injured. This chiefly because of the ef-: fectiveness of the underground shelters.” During enemy raids on Malta on Friday, our fighters destroyed two Messerschmitt 109 s. Anti-aircraft guns destroyed two Junkers 87s and one Messerschmitt.