Siege of Malta in WWII Trivia Quiz

Answer: Italy

Malta is situated only about 50 miles (80 kilometres) to the south of Italy. At the time of WWII, it was a British colony, becoming independent in 1964. Because of its location, Malta was a useful base for the British Mediterranean Fleet, but its proximity to Italy made it vulnerable once the war began.

Answer: Alexandria

The fear of attacks from the Italian Air Force led to Britain moving the Mediterranean Fleet's base to Alexandria, to cover the eastern part of the Mediterranean while France covered the west. The fall of France in 1940 meant that Britain had to patrol the whole of the Mediterranean, with bases at Gibraltar and Alexandria.

Answer: Italy

The Axis powers were well aware of the value of Malta as a stopping off and refuelling point for the British forces, and it would have been of equal strategic importance to them. Italy, being so close, was able to launch air attacks against Malta, but these had less impact than originally feared. British forces were still able to move supplies through the Mediterranean and attack the enemy's shipping carrying out the same activities.

Answer: Faith Hope and Charity

RAF Hal Far was Malta's first airfield, opened in 1929. The aircraft on the island at the outset of the siege were bi-planes, built by Gloster Aircraft Company. Reinforcements, in the form of four Hawker Hurricanes, helped share the workload. The names of 'Faith', 'Hope' and 'Charity' were given to three of the Gladiators, with 'Hope' being lost during an air raid, 'Charity' being shot down and 'Faith' surviving the war.

Answer: Aircraft carrier

The description of islands as 'unsinkable aircraft carriers' has been attributed to several people and places. Malta's position made it an ideal place for basing fighter planes, so the description certainly applies to the island. The air base on Malta was a primary target for both the initial Italian bombardment and the later German one.

Answer: Rommel

Erwin Rommel, the Desert Fox, was in charge of the Afrika Corps and tasked with driving the British out of North Africa. He expressed his concerns that a failure to capture Malta would cause difficulties for the Germans since attacks on German shipping created a lack of supplies.

Answer: Herkules

Operation Herkules was a plan to invade Malta by air and sea to cut off Allied forces' supply routes. Detailed plans had been drawn up, with paratroopers to be dropped by air and amphibious craft bringing more troops by sea. The problems suffered by the Germans during the invasion of Crete, with Göring in particular opposing the plan, meant that Operation Herkules was abandoned in November 1942.

Barbarossa was the code name for the Russian invasion, Sea Lion for the planned invasion of Britain and Juno was a naval operation in the German's Norwegian campaign.

Answer: Keith Park

Sir Keith Park was appointed in July 1942. Having developed the tactic of attacking incoming bombers as early in their approach as possible during the Battle of Britain, Park used the same process in Malta. Enemy aircraft were attacked before they had a chance to reach their targets, reducing the damage they caused.

Of the options listed, only Park came from New Zealand. Montgomery and Dowding were both British and Josip Broz was better known as Tito, later to become leader of Yugoslavia.

Answer: November 1942

By the summer of 1942, Malta had more aircraft available, including over one hundred Spitfires. The Luftwaffe, under the command of Albert Kesselring, stepped up their attacks, but suffered huge losses. By November, Kesselring decided taking Malta was a lost cause, and the long siege was effectively at an end. Allied forces had defeated the Germans at El Alamein, reducing the threat further, and shipping was now reaching Malta without being attacked.

Answer: Dragon

The George Cross is the civilian version of the Victoria Cross and is only awarded in exceptional circumstances. King George VI confirmed that Malta, as an entity, had been awarded the medal in April 1942. The letter signed by the monarch is held in Valletta's War Museum along with the George Cross. If you know your mythology it might have made the question easier to answer, since St. George, England's patron saint, is renowned for having slain a dragon.

The centre of the George Cross shows George himself, on his horse, putting a dragon to the sword.