Operation Bowery
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Operation Bowery was an Anglo-American operation during the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
to deliver fighter aircraft to
Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...
, an operation known informally as a
Club Run Club Run was an informal name for aircraft ferry operations from Gibraltar to Malta during the Siege of Malta from 1940 to 1942 during the Second World War. Malta was half-way between Gibraltar to Alexandria and had the only harbour controlled ...
.
Spitfires The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. It was the only British fighter produced continuously throughout the ...
were needed to replace the remaining obsolete
Hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its ...
fighters, to defend Malta from
Axis An axis (: axes) may refer to: Mathematics *A specific line (often a directed line) that plays an important role in some contexts. In particular: ** Coordinate axis of a coordinate system *** ''x''-axis, ''y''-axis, ''z''-axis, common names ...
air raids. In the first half of 1942, the
Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...
and had inflicted serious damage on airfields, docks and other infrastructure. The bombing had severely depleted the number of operational fighters and anti-aircraft guns and the RAF had to withdraw most of its bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. So many ships were sunk in harbour that the Navy withdrew most of its ships. The (Italian Royal Navy) found it much easier to protect convoys to Libya and the vast majority of the supplies and personnel convoyed reached port in April and May, allowing the Axis forces there to prepare for Operation Venice (26 May – 21 June 1942) against the Eighth Army at
Gazala Gazala, or ʿAyn al-Ġazāla ( ), is a small Libyan village near the coast in the northeastern portion of the country. It is located west of Tobruk. History In the late 1930s (during the Libya as Italian colony, Italian occupation of Libya), th ...
. The success of Operation Bowery regained British air superiority, creating the conditions for Operation Julius and
Operation Pedestal Operation Pedestal (, Battle of mid-August), known in Malta as (), was a British operation to carry supplies to the island of Malta in August 1942, during the Second World War. British ships, submarines and aircraft from Malta attacked Axis p ...
, convoy operations which revictualled Malta, easing the siege and allowing offensive air and naval operations to be resumed.


Background


Intelligence


Axis

In the autumn of 1941 Axis intelligence agencies had established eleven watch stations around Gibraltar, the main one being at
Algeciras Algeciras () is a city and a municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain belonging to the province of Cádiz, Andalusia. Located in the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula, near the Strait of Gibraltar, it is the largest city on the Bay of G ...
. Two of the stations had Spanish agents and others had German and Italians in Spanish uniforms who, by early 1942, had gained a fair degree of efficiency. Messages usually reached Berlin within the hour but the British code-breakers at
Bletchley Park Bletchley Park is an English country house and Bletchley Park estate, estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes (Buckinghamshire), that became the principal centre of Allies of World War II, Allied World War II cryptography, code-breaking during the S ...
could decrypt the signals so quickly that the
Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Tra ...
knew of a ship arrival at Gibraltar before the authorities there had sent a notification signal. Axis reports were usually accurate enough to name the big ships, except in poor visibility. The Germans began to install
infra-red Infrared (IR; sometimes called infrared light) is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than that of visible light but shorter than microwaves. The infrared spectral band begins with the waves that are just longer than those of ...
devices and night telescopes, to be more effective in poor weather and in the dark. In (Operation Bay) buildings were put up on either side of the Strait of Gibraltar for the new apparatuses and were operational by April 1942, the Admiralty having warned on 7 March that ships were likely to be detected at night.


British

The British on Malta obtained tactical intelligence from the local
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
(RAF)
Y service The "Y" service was a network of British signals intelligence collection sites, the Y-stations. The service was established during the First World War and used again during the Second World War. The sites were operated by a range of agencies inc ...
unit. The
Government Code and Cypher School The Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) was a British signals intelligence agency set up in 1919. During the First World War, the British Army and Royal Navy had separate signals intelligence agencies, MI1b and NID25 (initially known as R ...
(GC & CS) at Bletchley Park in England was able to decrypt some
Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...
operation orders, which showed that the main effort was to be against British airfields on Malta. The decrypts were not frequent enough because much of the Axis signals traffic was sent by land line and the time needed to decrypt wireless signals precluded their use for early-warning. The exploitation of radio and wireless transmissions by the Y unit was useful but neither it nor the radar on the island could give sufficient warning of air raids. The air superiority enjoyed by the Axis air forces meant that such warning of raids that was possible was of little tactical value. As soon as a supply convoy left Gibraltar or Alexandria, Axis agents reported it, GC & CS gaining a plethora of decrypts from them which the Admiralty could pass on to the local naval commanders on Axis positions, strengths, reconnaissance practices and the equipment and methods of their bombers and torpedo-bombers. Before a Malta convoy, the RAF conducted many photographic sorties, revealing more about Axis air force locations and strengths but this reached only as far as Naples. The authorities in London had a grandstand view but for early warning of attacks, until May 1942, convoys were reliant on aerial patrolling, radar and lookouts.


Malta

As Malta began to run short of supplies, Operation MG 1 was mounted to escort Convoy MW 10 from
Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...
on 21 March. The convoy was the subject of a tentative attack by an Italian fleet; the Italians inflicted severe damage on several escorts in the
Second Battle of Sirte The Second Battle of Sirte (on 22 March 1942) was a naval engagement in the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Gulf of Sidra and south-east of Malta, during the Second World War. The escorting warships of a British convoy to Malta held off a much ...
but the weaker British force fended off the Italian fleet. The attack on the convoy led to its dispersal which caused a delay and it reached Malta in the morning and not at night as planned, leaving the merchant ships exposed to Axis air attack. In the next 48 hours, all the merchant ships were sunk off Malta or at their moorings; barely of supplies were unloaded. By the end of April 1942, Axis bombing had smashed the docks, ships, aircraft and airfields and the bombers began attacks on army camps, barracks, warehouses and road junctions, the preliminaries of invasion. After 18 April, German bombing suddenly stopped and Italian bombers took over, regularly bombing with small formations of aircraft. During the month, Axis aircraft flew more than against the RAF all but which were fighter sorties. The British lost down in combat against losses, during the dropping of of bombs, three times the March figure, falling on the docks, on airfields. The bombing killed left seriously wounded and demolished or damaged Good shelters existed but some of the casualties were caused by delayed-action bombs. Three destroyers, three submarines, three minesweepers, five tugs, a water carrier and a floating crane were sunk in port and more ships damaged. The island continued to function as a staging post but the Axis bombing neutralised Malta as an offensive base. Two boats of the
10th Submarine Flotilla The 10th Submarine Flotilla was a Royal Navy submarine formation during World War I and during World War II In January 1915 it was based on the Humber but by January 1917 it had relocated to the Tees. During the Second World War it was formed at ...
had been sunk, two were damaged in harbour and on 26 April the flotilla was ordered out because of mining by small fast craft, which were undetectable by radar and inaudible during the bombing; the surviving minesweepers were too reduced in numbers to clear the approaches. By May 1942, the civilian ration was only and the bread ration was cut to on 5 May. The governor, Sir
William Dobbie Lieutenant General Sir William George Shedden Dobbie, (12 July 1879 – 3 October 1964) was a British Army officer who served in the Second Boer War and the First and Second World Wars. Early life William was born in Madras to a civil servan ...
had given a deadline of mid-June for the exhaustion of the food on the island and could only be met by the delivery of substantial supplies of food, fuel, ammunition and equipment brought by sea.
Lord Gort Field Marshal John Standish Surtees Prendergast Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort, (10 July 1886 – 31 March 1946) was a senior British Army officer. As a young officer during the First World War, he was decorated with the Victoria Cross for his actio ...
, who had taken over from Dobbie in May 1942, reported that starvation would force him to surrender within two months.


Malta convoys

A supply convoy to Malta in January 1942 lost one of four ships and an escort was sunk by a U-boat; the February convoy suffered the loss of its three merchant ships to aircraft attack. During the March convoy, the escorts were forewarned by a submarine sighting and decrypts from the Italian C 38m coding machine that an Italian fleet had sailed from Taranto, leading to the Second Battle of Sirte on 22 March 1942, the defence of the convoy by the 15th Cruiser Squadron which forced the battleship , the heavy cruisers , , one light cruiser and ten destroyers to turn away, having inflicted little serious damage to the British escorts and none to the convoy. Two of the four merchantmen were sunk by air attack near Malta and the other two were sunk at their moorings when the unloading of their cargoes had barely begun. Despite the ferrying of fighter aircraft to Malta by aircraft carrier, submarines had to be used to ferry aviation fuel and by early May the dire state of the island's food and fuel stocks meant that another convoy operation in June was unavoidable.


Axis convoys

The Axis air offensive against Malta and the losses inflicted on the Mediterranean Fleet by Italian human torpedoes of the and other losses made it much harder for the British to attack convoys to Libya. On 4 January, massed air attacks on Malta coincided with the Italian M43, six merchant ships crossing from Italy escorted six destroyers and five torpedo boats, a close escort of a battleship, four light cruisers and five destroyers and a distant escort of three battleships, two heavy cruisers and eight destroyers. Intelligence decrypts revealed to the British the timing and route of the battleship convoy, with reconnaissance reports from aircraft. Bombers from Malta and Cyrenaica missed the convoy and Force K in Malta remained in port. The convoy arrived on 5 January, a notable Axis success; British submarine attacks on the convoy on its return journey failed. On 22 January, T18, another battleship convoy, got four of five ships to Tripoli. On 21 February in K7, three groups of merchant ships departed Italy with another elaborate battleship escort, a British air attack was defeated by German fighters on 22 February and the convoy arrived the next day. The Italians sent eleven convoys in February, thirteen of the fifteen ships arriving, (99.2 per cent) of the supplies despatched being unloaded; submarines sank three of the eleven ships making the return journey. Convoy V5 sailed on 7 March from several ports and attacks failed as they did on the return convoy. on 15 March brought four merchant ships to Tripoli on 18 March. The had used much of its fuel oil on the battleship convoys, when German oil deliveries had been suspended and the Italians had to return to smaller escort operations. Four ships departed Italian ports on 17 and 18 March, one hitting a mine near Tripoli and the rest arriving, the danger of attacks from Malta having diminished considerably. Fourteen convoys had sailed for Tripoli in March and eighteen of twenty ships survived the journey, of supplies arrived (82.7 per cent). On 4 April, six ships in three convoys arrived at Tripoli and delivered six merchantmen on 16 April. The decline of Malta as an offensive base led the British to resort to submarines, which sank a light cruiser and six freighters and bombers from Egypt attacking Libyan ports. In April, of supplies arrived (99.2 per cent). In May the bombers attacked Italian ports and the Italians sent lots of small convoys, 23 to Libya, 26 coastal convoys and 24 return journeys by 110 ships. On 10 May covered Convoy R and Convoy G and a British attack by the 14th Destroyer Flotilla was intercepted by the ''Luftwaffe'', which sank three of the four destroyers. In May of supplies arrived in Libya (93 per cent). Italian ships were at their safest from April to mid-July 1942, convoys sailing from Malta, escorted by a couple of aircraft.


Prelude


Club Runs


Operation MG 1

Operation MG 1 to escort Convoy MW 10 to Malta succeeded but hardly any of the supplies reaching Malta survived Axis air attacks. Malta had been neutralised as an offensive base by the loss of 126 aircraft on the ground and twenty in the air. The RAF withdrew most of its bombers and reconnaissance aircraft and the Navy evacuated most of its ships; Axis convoys were being run to Libya with scant opposition. The demands on the
Home Fleet The Home Fleet was a fleet of the Royal Navy that operated from the United Kingdom's territorial waters from 1902 with intervals until 1967. In 1967, it was merged with the Mediterranean Fleet creating the new Western Fleet. Before the First ...
for escorts for the Arctic
Convoy PQ 16 Convoy PQ 16 (21–30 May 1942) was an Arctic convoy of British, United States and Allied ships from Iceland to Murmansk and Archangelsk in the Soviet Union during the Second World War. The convoy was the largest yet and was provided with a con ...
in May 1942, led Churchill and the War Cabinet to decide that merchant ships could not be risked on Malta convoys until its air defences had been reinforced. The Air Officer Commanding,
Air H.Q. Malta An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosphere ...
, Sir
Hugh Lloyd Hugh Lewis Lloyd (22 April 1923 – 14 July 2008) was an English actor who made his name in film and television comedy from the 1960s to the 1980s. He was best known for appearances in '' Hancock's Half Hour'', '' Hugh and I'' and other ...
wrote that Recent Club Runs to deliver aircraft from Gibraltar had been dogged by failures and inefficiency; the new external fuel tanks for Spitfires had proved inadequate, forcing the cancellation of the Club Runs Operation Spotter I and Operation Picket I Club Runs. The deck of was too short for enough Spitfires with long-range tanks to be accommodated, was in dock for emergency repairs and the fleet carriers had lifts that were too narrow for the wingspan of Spitfires or were busy in the Indian Ocean. Churchill made a request to the US president,
Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...
, for the use of the American aircraft carrier, (Captain John W. Reeves, Jr.), that was in British waters, which Roosevelt granted.


Operation Calendar

''Wasp'' and its destroyers and sailed for the River Clyde and by 14 April had taken on 52 Spitfires Mk Vc (trop) at King George V dock at
Shieldhall Shieldhall is a district in the Scottish city of Glasgow. It is situated directly south of the River Clyde and is part of the wider Govan area. Location and history Taking its name from the country estate which occupied the territory until the ...
with the pilots of 601 Squadron and
603 Squadron No. 603 (City of Edinburgh) Squadron is a squadron of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force, based in Edinburgh, Scotland. On reforming on 1 October 1999, the primary role of 603 Squadron was as a ''Survive to Operate'' squadron, as well as providing ...
. The ships sailed that day and went west-about Ireland then sailed southwards. ''Wasp'' and its destroyers were met by the British battlecruiser ( Captain Charles Daniel, commander Force W) and the destroyers , , and . The ships passed the
Strait of Gibraltar The Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Europe from Africa. The two continents are separated by 7.7 nautical miles (14.2 kilometers, 8.9 miles) at its narrowest point. Fe ...
on the night of 18/19 April, where Force W was joined by the cruisers and and the destroyers , , , and . RAF staff officers briefed the pilots while the new long-range external tanks were attached. The 90-gallon tanks were found to be as unserviceable as on Operation Spotter, ill-fitting and leaking large amounts of fuel, which was being siphoned off into the slipstream instead of flowing into the engine. Many of the Spitfires were discovered to have guns that were non-operational and only a quarter of the Spitfires had operational R/Ts. Covered by
F4F Wildcat The Grumman F4F Wildcat is an American Carrier-based aircraft, carrier-based fighter aircraft that entered service in 1940 with the United States Navy, and the British Royal Navy where it was initially known as the Martlet. First used by the B ...
s from ''Wasp'', the 48 Spitfires that were airworthy, of the 52 embarked, took off for
Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...
on 20 April at about 20° 20' East. A US Sergeant pilot flew to Algeria and passed himself off as a "lost civilian pilot in need of repatriation". The other 47 Spitfires arrived safely but the Axis air forces were forewarned of their arrival. Force W turned back, stopped briefly at Gibraltar and then returned to the Clyde, arriving on 26 April. When the Spitfires arrived at Takali, the blast pens, to protect aircraft on the ground, had been destroyed by bombing and the ''Luftwaffe'' flew 272
sortie A sortie (from the French word meaning ''exit'' or from Latin root ''surgere'' meaning to "rise up") is a deployment or dispatch of one military unit, be it an aircraft, ship, or troops, from a strongpoint. The term originated in siege warf ...
s against the Spitfires that day. Next day 27 Spitfires remained operational and by dark only 19 were serviceable. The Spitfires that lasted longest were hampered by the chronic shortage of spare parts and ground crews lacking familiarity with the type; the poor standard of the aircraft sent from Britain made this worse and the "humiliating shambles" had been witnessed by the Americans. Lloyd signalled to London that too many of the new pilots were inexperienced and that ".... only fully-experienced operational pilots must come here. It is no place for beginners".


Operation Bowery

''Wasp'' returned to
Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
on 29 April 1942 and embarked another 47 Spitfires Mk Vc (trop) at Shieldhall; the aircraft had better streamlining which yielded a small but useful improvement, despite the drag of a tropical air filter. The loading arrangements were as incompetent as they had been for Operation Calendar, the condition of the aircraft was as deplorable as before and its recurrence was a serious embarrassment. The Flag Officer Glasgow reported that the situation "is unsatisfactory, and has unfortunately created a very bad impression". The long-range fuel tanks still fitted badly and leaked; many aircraft had defective R/T and poorly serviced guns; Reeves refused to continue loading until the long-range tanks had been repaired. ''Wasp'' stopped at the
Tail of the Bank The Tail of the Bank is the name given to the anchorage in the upper Firth of Clyde immediately North of Greenock, between Inverclyde and Argyll and Bute. This area of the Firth gets its name from the deep water immediately to the west of th ...
and its crew completed the repairs to the long-range tanks. ''Wasp'' and is destroyers ''Lang'' and sailed to
Scapa Flow Scapa Flow (; ) is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray,S. C. George, ''Jutland to Junkyard'', 1973. South Ronaldsay and Hoy. Its sheltered waters have played an impor ...
, still part of Force W, with ''Renown'', the cruiser ''Charybdis'' and the destroyers ''Echo'' and the US ships sailed from Scapa Flow on 3 May. On the night of 7/8 May, Force W was joined from Gibraltar by ''Eagle'', with the destroyers ''Ithuriel'', , ''Westcott'', ''Wishart'', ''Wrestler'', ''Antelope'', , and ''Vidette''. ''Eagle'' carried 17 Spitfires left over from abortive Club Runs. On 9 May 1942, eleven of ''Wasp'' Wildcats rose to cover 64 Spitfires as they took off from ''Wasp'' and ''Eagle'', 61 arriving at Malta. The 23rd Spitfire to take off from ''Wasp'' had failed to gain sufficient flying speed, its propeller being set in coarse pitch by mistake, fell off the flight deck and was cut in two by the bow of the carrier, killing the Canadian pilot, Sergeant R. D. Sherrington. Another Canadian, Pilot Officer Jerry Smith, found that he had a faulty fuel pump and landed on ''Wasp'' the second time around, stopping the Spitfire short of the end of the flight deck. A Spitfire was lost en route to Malta but the other sixty-one Spitfires landed at
Luqa Luqa ( , ) is a town located in the Southern Region of Malta, 4.3 km away from the capital Valletta. With a population of 5,945 as of March 2014, it is a small but densely populated settlement which is typical of Malta's older towns and vi ...
and Takali between and After the fiasco of the Operation Calendar Spitfires, the reception arrangements for the Bowery Spitfires were much improved. The aircraft circled at low altitude covered by light anti-aircraft guns as they waited their turn to land. Manpower and material for quick repairs to runways had been substantially increased and as each Spitfire landed, it was met by its numbered runner, who directed the pilot to a particular blast pen, the Spitfire rapidly to be refuelled, rearmed, its slipper tank detached and the ferry pilot replaced by an experienced pilot, intended to be ready to fly in ten minutes. Ammunition rationing was lifted during the arrivals and while the Abdiel-class, fast minelayer (Captain William Friedberger) was in harbour. The first Spitfires arrived at and about half of them were airborne by when ''Luftwaffe'' aircraft tried to catch them on the ground as they had the Calendar Spitfires. For a loss of three Spitfires, 37 Axis aircraft were shot down or damaged; the air battle on 10 May becoming known as the Battle of Malta. The anticipated big bombing raid at dusk did not occur.


HMS ''Welshman''

''Welshman'' was ordered to make a solo run to Malta. Churchill said "... we may well lose this ship ... but in view of the emergency ... there appears to be no alternative". At Gibraltar on 7 May, the ship embarked some unusual items, along with of medical stores, other supplies and food, 72 crates of smoke-screen chemicals, 100 spare
Merlin The Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN) is an interferometer array of radio telescopes spread across England. The array is run from Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire by the University of Manchester on behalf of UK Re ...
aircraft engines and 120 passengers, most being RAF ground crews trained on Spitfires. During the night the unusual items were unwrapped, they turned out to be plywood bulkheads for the superstructure and cowls to be put on top of the funnels. At on 8 May. ''Welshman'' continued its voyage, independent of Force W, disguised as the French destroyer '' Léopard''. Early on 9 May, the Spitfires passed overhead and at a
Junkers Ju 88 The Junkers Ju 88 is a twin-engined multirole combat aircraft designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works. It was used extensively during the Second World War by the ''Luftwaffe'' and became one o ...
(Ju 88) inspected the ship as the turrets faced forward and a couple of crewmen ''loafing around'' gave the aircraft a wave as it made a low pass and flew away. A British Catalina appeared, then another Ju 88 checked the ship. Between Galita and the Tunisian coast a
Vichy Vichy (, ; ) is a city in the central French department of Allier. Located on the Allier river, it is a major spa and resort town and during World War II was the capital of Vichy France. As of 2021, Vichy has a population of 25,789. Known f ...
French seaplane flew by and the ship received a challenge from a land station but ''Welshman'' kept going. As dark fell, the navigator, Lieutenant-Commander Lindsay Gellatly (RAN), plotted a route to Malta as ''Welshman'' accelerated to about . Gellatly guided the ship through shoals to the south of
Cape Bon Cape Bon ("Good Cape"), also known as Res et-Teib (), Shrīk Peninsula, or Watan el Kibli, is a peninsula in far northeastern Tunisia. Cape Bon is also the name of the northernmost point on the peninsula, also known as Res ed-Der, and known in ant ...
then rounded
Pantellaria Pantelleria (; ), known in ancient times as Cossyra or Cossura, is an Italian island and comune in the Strait of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea, southwest of Sicily and east of the Tunisian coast. On clear days Tunisia is visible from the i ...
, turning eastwards towards Malta, the island coming into view two minutes before the sun appeared. The trawler ''Beryl'' met ''Welshman'' off Delimara Point and led it close to shore along a route used by fishing boats, to avoid mines. ''Welshman'' rounded Ricasoli Point and its starboard paravane severed two mines from their moorings, which passed close by the stern without exploding. As soon as ''Welshman'' entered Grand Harbour a smoke screen was raised from the canisters on the ship. When the Axis bombers attacked, ''Welshman'' was showered by wreckage from bomb explosions nearby, of girders were blown onto the forward
Oerlikon 20 mm cannon The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons based on an original German Becker Type M2 20 mm cannon design that appeared very early in World War I. It was widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others, with various models empl ...
, bomb splinters punctured the hull above the water line and the deck plates were buckled but the cargo was unloaded. After refuelling, ''Welshman'' departed from
Valetta Valletta ( ; , ) is the capital city of Malta and one of its 68 Local councils of Malta, council areas. Located between the Grand Harbour to the east and Marsamxett Harbour to the west, its population as of 2021 was 5,157. As Malta’s capital ...
at following the last operational minesweeper, then raced for Gibraltar, arriving on 12 May.


Aftermath


Analysis

Stephen Roskill Stephen Wentworth Roskill (1 August 1903 – 4 November 1982) was a senior career officer of the Royal Navy, serving during the Second World War and, after his retirement, served as the official historian of the Royal Navy from 1949 to 1960. He ...
, the naval official historian, wrote in 1962 that though the Club Runs by ''Eagle'' and the two by ''Wasp'' were vital to the survival of Malta by creating the conditions for a convoy operation, they had no effect on the lack of supplies. In 2003,
Richard Woodman Captain Richard Martin Woodman LVO MNM (10 March 1944 – 2 October 2024) was an English merchant navy officer, novelist and naval historian. Woodman served at sea mainly working for Trinity House and retired in 1997 from a 37-year nautical c ...
wrote that the safe delivery of Spitfires, ground crews and spare parts were only the start of the attempt to revive Malta as an offensive base. The mid-June deadline given by Dobbie for the exhaustion of the food on the island remained and could only be met by the delivery of substantial supplies of food, fuel, ammunition and equipment brought by sea.


Subsequent operations

Attempts had been made to recover oil from ''Breconshire'', sunk at its moorings after arriving in Convoy MW 10 in March. A hole was made in the underside of the ship for a suction pipe but on 3 May only of fuel oil was pumped out due to water seepage. On 4 May one of the oil lighters being used for the extracted oil was bombed and sunk and by the end of the month more had been extracted but it had to be moved in barrels after all of the oil lighters had been sunk; lack of fuel oil reduced the amount of local patrolling and German (E-boats to the British) laid more mines, despite two being sunk. To receive a large enough convoy to end the food, fuel and supply shortages at Malta, ''Eagle'' delivered 17 Spitfires in Operation LB on 18 May, 32 in Operation Style on 3 June (27 arrived) and 32 in Operation Salient on 7 June. Three submarines delivered aviation spirit,
paraffin Paraffin may refer to: Substances * Paraffin wax, a white or colorless soft solid (also in liquid form) that is used as a lubricant and for other applications * Liquid paraffin (drug), a very highly refined mineral oil used in cosmetics and for med ...
and ammunition during the period.


Operation Julius

A big supply operation for Malta, Operation Julius, was planned for June, eleven merchant ships were to reach Malta from Alexandria (
Operation Vigorous Operation Vigorous (known in Italy as 1942, "the Battle of mid-June 1942") was a British operation during the Second World War, to escort supply Convoy MW 11 from the eastern Mediterranean to Malta, which took place from 11 to 16 June 1942. Vigo ...
) and six more from Gibraltar ( Operation Harpoon). The convoy from Gibraltar sailed on 12 June, supported by Force H but on 15 June when the main body of Force H had turned back at the
Sicilian Narrows The Strait of Sicily (also known as Sicilian Strait, Sicilian Channel, Channel of Sicily, Sicilian Narrows and Pantelleria Channel; or the ; or , ' or ') is the strait between Sicily and Tunisia. The strait is about wide and divides the Tyr ...
, the convoy was attacked by ships and aircraft, which sank three of the freighters. More ships were mined and sunk off Malta and only two cargo ships reached port. Vigorous was handicapped by the lack of battleships and aircraft carriers and turned away from Malta on 14 June, after losing two merchant ships and two being damaged by Ju 87 and Ju 88 bombers; a cruiser and a destroyer were sunk by the 3rd S-Boat Flotilla. When the Italian fleet was spotted heading towards the convoy it was ordered to return to Alexandria on 15 June.


Operation Pedestal

By late July, the 10th Submarine Flotilla had returned to Malta and in August a convoy sailed from Britain, the largest yet attempted to Malta. Several subsidiary operations took place, including a diversionary operation by the Mediterranean Fleet and another Club Run Operation Bellows. On 11 August the aircraft carrier dispatched 37 Spitfires to Malta; the carrier ''Eagle'', veteran of so many Club Runs was sunk by the same day. The escort for the convoy comprised three fleet aircraft carriers, two battleships, seven cruisers and 24 destroyers. Axis naval and air forces made a maximum effort with ships, submarines and aircraft, managing to sink all but four of the freighters and the tanker ''Ohio''. Despite the severe losses, of supplies and of fuel reached Malta which revived Malta as an offensive base.


Orders of battle


Scotland to Gibraltar


Gibraltar towards Malta


Notes


Footnotes


References

* ** * * * * * * * * * *


Further reading

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bowery, Operation Battle of the Mediterranean Malta Convoys Conflicts in 1942 Naval battles and operations of the European theatre of World War II