Spitfires Daring Mission To Save Malta in World War II- Operation Bowery
By: Karthick Nambi
Tags: Creativity, War, History, Lessons, World

Spitfires Daring Mission To Save Malta in World War II- Operation Bowery

As Malta was crucial for Britain in World War II, Churchill sent RAF Spitfires to Malta in a peculiar transport.

Spitfire in Malta.Source-Historynet

An aircraft carrier floated towards the tiny island of Malta in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea.

The island was of strategic importance to Britain for its operations in North Africa, and it safeguarded the Suez channel. Off the aircraft carrier came out Spitfire aircraft of the RAF (Royal Air Force).

The aircraft will not return to the aircraft carrier. It will land in Malta amid heavy Luftwaffe attack and participate in the island’s defense against Luftwaffe and help Britain win World War II.

Malta:

Malta heavily bombed in World War II.Source-Wikipedia

Malta has been a point of strategic importance for centuries. Malta was the fortress of the Knight Templar, and its proximity to Europe and Africa was important for trade.

Malta became part of the British colony, and in World War II was one of the most bombed sites by Axis powers. Malta was crucial for resupplying Allied troops in North Africa.

As Spain and Portugal were neutral British supplied its forces in North Africa via its colony of Gibraltar in Spain. From Gibraltar, the supplies reached Malta and then to North African ports. Also, Malta safeguarded the Suez canall as it was the vital lifeline between Britain and its colonies in Asia.

This vital link for the allied war supply line was a constant annoyance to the Axis powers. Instead of a full-scale invasion, Axis powers thought to bomb and siege Malta and force it into a surrender.

Malta was bombarded by Italian and German air forces day and night. Though the island had anti-aircraft artillery, it was of minimal effect. The defense was so insignificant that Luftwaffe conducted daytime bombings on Malta. What Malta needed was air power, especially Spitfire fighter planes from the RAF.

USS Wasp. Source-Pinterest

Sensing the importance of Malta, Winston S. Churchill, the prime minister of Britain, decided to sent Spitfires to Malta.

The Spitfire was the state of the art fighter aircraft in the RAF and a perfect match to any Luftwaffe fighters. The problem was that spitfires could not fly from Britain to Malta due to the distance.

A cargo ship carrying the Spitfires if attacked by Luftwaffe cannot defend itself as warships cannot escort the cargo ship in the Mediterranean. A novel idea to fit the Spitfires with an extra fuel tank that would increase its range was proposed.

The Spitfires would launch from an aircraft carrier in Mediterranean and fight Luftwaffe aircraft on the way to Malta. The mission was code-named Operation Calendar.

Operation Calendar:

Spitfire on the elevator of USS Wasp. Source-World War Photos

The first ship for the mission the American aircraft carrier USS Wasp set sail from Glasgow on 14th April 1942 with 601 and 603 Squadrons of RAF onboard.

After a brief halt in Gibraltar,the USS Wasp was joined by with Royal Navy destroyers and continued her journey into the Mediterranean. Forty-eight spitfires took off from the deck of the ship towards Malta.

The Luftwaffe knew of the arrival of the Spitfires in advance and bombarded the Ta’Qali airfield where the Spitfires were parked. All the Spitfires burned into ashes within 48 hours of their landing in Malta. The lessons learned in Operation Calendar helped in the planning for Operation Bowery.

Operation Bowery:

Spitfire on USS Wasp. Source-World War Photos

On 29th April 1942, 47 Spitfires rested on USS Wasp destined for Malta. The leaky tank issue in the Spitfire got rectified.

Also, the HMS Eagle transported 17 Spitfires in this mission. An exciting incident during the operation was HMS Welshman disguise.

The HMS Welshman, a Royal Navy cargo ship, also traveled from Gibraltar to Malta. HMS Welshman was disguised to look like a neutral French destroyer, the Leopard.

Axis pilots fell for the camouflage and thought it was a Vichy French ship and didn’t attack it. The HMS Welshman made it to Malta with the essential supplies needed for the survival of Malta’s population.

HMS Welshman.source-Wikipedia

The Spitfires which landed in Malta were immediately refueled and took off to fight the Luftwaffe in six minutes. The aircraft that burned in the airfield was a valuable lesson learned from Operation Calendar.

The RAF shouldn’t park its Spitfir’s until the Luftwaffe threat is over. The battle that day cost Luftwaffe 47 aircraft and effectively ended the daytime bombing on Malta. Further fighters that arrived in May and June strengthened the defenses of Malta.

Tit Bits:

R V Jones. Source-Wikipedia

One exciting event in defense of Malta was the German efforts to jam the radar stations.

Malta’s radar station was able to track axis aircraft movements in the Mediterranean and deployed spitfires to counter it. The German jammed Malta’s radar signals from Sicily, Italy. Radar operators in Malta contacted RV Jones, the man in charge of the Battle of Beams in Britain.

RV Jones knew it would take some time to counteract German jamming techniques. RV Jones instructed the Malta operators to continue their business as usual as if the jamming did not affect them. As Malta defenses operated normally, Germans thought that their jamming operations were ineffective and switched it off.

Malta, a tiny island in Mediterranean, stood until the last moment, thereby effectively helping Britain win World War II.