Senglea bore the brunt of the Illustrious blitz 80 years ago
A detailed look at two days of heavy bombings in 1941, which left many dead and wounded
By the end of 1940, Malta had not yet surrendered to Italian forces and the latter were also to experience two major reverses in Greece and Egypt. On November 20 of that year, German Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler proposed to help ally Benito Mussolini but it was only in early December that the Italian Fascist leader accepted the German ‘offer’ of military aid. On December 10, Hitler issued the order code-named ‘Operation Mittelmeer’ and, on January 4, 1941, elements of Fliegerkorps X started arriving in Sicily.
The Luftwaffe’s first target: Convoy Operation Excess and HMS Illustrious
A large convoy was prepared in the last days of 1940. It was to be known as Convoy Operation Excess. One of the merchant ships, MV Essex, was destined to reinforce Malta. As the convoy was approaching Malta, Hawker Hurricane Mk.Is fighter aircraft were sent from Malta to escort the ships. Italian and German aircraft attacked both the convoy and the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious, even when they were within reach of Malta.
[attach id=1016126 size="large" align="left" type="image"]HMS Illustrious under air attack by...