Hi, can anyone please suggest me from where can I find books on Malta's underground riad shelters please ? thanks ronald
This may be a good starter for ten Amazon.co.uk: Fortress Malta: An Island Under Siege 1940-1943: An Island Under Siege, 1940-1943 (Cassell Military Paperbacks): James Holland: Books There's a few more books on Malta too if you use the search facility
Hi, Cannot recall any publications devoted specifically to these shelters but I believe most books on this period will touch on Maltas shelter system in some form or another.A lot of the civilians used the old caves and catacombs which run beneath the island.There were I believe underground storage warehouses also. The old railway tunnel between Valletta and Floriana also provided sanctuary for many during the bombing raids, During World War II, Malta became the most bombed place on earth - 6,700 tons of bombs fell in just six weeks. The Maltese minimized loss of life during the war by constructing/adapting air-raid shelters . It was estimated that over 35,000 buildings throughout the islands suffered damage or were destroyed during the war, over 11,000 of them in April 1942 alone, the worst month of bombing. In the village of Mgarr you can visit the Mgarr Air Raid Shelter, a 225 sq m underground shelter dug out of the limestone. In WWII it provided safe housing for 200 people. The shelter is a honeycomb of tunnels and rooms which today have been carefully restored to recreate the atmosphere of the time The three most bombed cities in Malta in World War II were Cospicua, Vittoriosa and Senglea. The Malta at War Museum in Vittoriosa shows a great deal of what happened at that time. Under an often constant deluge of bombs dropped upon the Three Cities, the residents cowered, sometimes for weeks on end, in a claustrophobic warren of underground tunnels and honeycombed rooms in the bedrock underneath the landward fortifications of Vittoriosa. Today these underground shelters have been furnished with original artefacts and people can visit the communal dormitories, private cubicles, warden's office and an entire exhibition offering a fascinating insight into the Maltese peoples grim struggle I was lucky enough to visit the island in 2007 and found it fascinating with a wealth of museums and other WW2 related places to visit. The people are brilliant so helpful its unbelievable. I`m sure someone will be able to give you some more specific advice on possible publications but in the meantime I`ve added a few pictures which you may find interesting Regards Verrieres
They say a picture is worth a thousand words...more of Malta GC shelter conditions during the siege Regards Verrieres
If you walk on the sea end of the great ditch in Valetta you will see many shelters/ tunnels hewn out of the rock. It leads to the Lascaris War Rooms which are in effect a series of tunnels.
A copy of Charles Grechs autobiography would be of use to you, he describes the air raids in some detail. Pete
