Luftwaffe raid on Malta in the Summer of 1942

[@drott150]

I grew up with a Maltese lady next door. She was the mother of my best friend. She was born around 1930 and was a girl during the war. One day a German air raid just like this one - and for all I know it WAS this one - occurred over her village. The siren was blaring and she ran for the shelter, but it was too late and she was caught out in the open. One bomb behind her went off and the blast wave knocked her out. She was recovered by a relative and eventually found safety in the shelter. She endured numerous air raids throughout the war, but happily survived it all. She would come to America shortly after the war, living in New York initially and marrying an Italian American young guy whose parents had emigrated in the 1920s. She lived to well into her 80s before passing away in a nursing home after suffering from dementia for many years. Her brothers and other siblings never had dementia. I always wondered if the concussion from that bomb so many years before may have played a role in her condition.

[@jakhamar55]

No way. It was probably all the wine.

[@f9gbvc]

@@jakhamar55 A pointless comment of minimal wit.

[@jakhamar55]

@@f9gbvc I think its very relevant. Her "brothers and other siblings" were all there as well and never had dementia. She was notorious for lingering in the cellars where the wine was stored according to local residents.

[@drott150]

@@jakhamar55 I know you're joking, but she was a teetotaler her whole life. A typical, extremely devoted mother that strictly adhered to traditional European cultural values for women {something that is virtually non-existent today}.

[@hw97karbine]

@@drott150 My own grandmother who lived through the same was widowed in middle age, she wore black for the rest of her life and never remarried. It was a different time.

[@northernskys]

Most likely from between late 1941 to late 1942, as the earlier Luftwaffe attacks on Malta, in early 1941, were mostly done by Ju87's, before the Luftwaffe left the fight to the Italians. Bf 110's from ZG 26, and Ju88's from NJG 1, were operating under Fleigerkorps 11, during that period of the assault on Malta, and this could be some of them. Another great video with some great shots.

[@Mangoshake2021]

Wow very informative thanks

[@Conradlovesjoy]

Would you say that the median between late 41 and late 42 might be…. Summer of 1942 like the title says? Lmao.

[@Thorr-kl6jl]

A good book is: "Memoirs of a Stuka Pilot", by Melmute Mahlke. The author flew JU-87s against Malta in early 1941. He also flew against France, Britain, and in North Africa. He briefly flew against the USSR, before being wounded. Originally, Mahlke had trained to fly JU-87s from the aircraft carrier "Graf Zeppelin". A good movie is "Besatzung Dora" ("Aircrew Dora"). This movie was directed by Karl Ritter, and was released in 1942. It was filmed on location in France, Berlin, near Leningrad, and in Libya. The director had the use of actual JU-88s during filming.

[@stevenprescott4426]

I recognise so many of those landmarks...it's very eariee, yet fascinating, to see a genuine Luftwaffe raid over a place I know so well. Great that we have access to such excellent historical documentation.

[@hw97karbine]

The amount of visible countryside contrasted with today is also remarkable.

[@Grandizer8989]

I visited Malta a few years ago and rented a car and saw every inch of Malta. You can see shrapnel damage all around Valletta including the Opera House that was never rebuilt.

[@hw97karbine]

You make it sound like there was a link between the rented car and the damaged buildings :D

[@Grandizer8989]

@@hw97karbine edited lol

[@mirrorblue100]

That Ju 88 was a nice looking aircraft.

[@berteisenbraun7415]

Malta Civilians were TOUGH!

[@Oligodendrocyte139]

The island with the George Cross medal.

[@17cmmittlererminenwerfer81]

Thanks for not adding cheesy sound effects and then claiming its "original sound" like so many wankers do on KZbin.

[@mirrorblue100]

Amen

[@shaunwest3612]

Very brave people,my friend grandmother was Maltese,she was hard as nails,she lived through it💪

[@ericgrace9995]

Is that the famous bomb that's on display in the Maltese Church ? It smashed through the roof and didn't explode .

[@nobbytang]

Jeez …no buildings in Bugibba or Qwra in St Paul’s bay …..only 82 yrs ago …

[@MadagascarJoe]

1:53 St Pauls Bay

[@MM22966]

They named their fattest bomb "Hermann"...while their boss is a notoriously fat man named Hermann. There is no possible way anybody will get in trouble for this. But then again, what are they going to do, send the crews on daily raids over an island that is akin to sticking your head in a hornet's nest and giving it a good swift slap?

[@暁吹雪型8m]

マルタ島はイタリアにとっては、喉元に突き付けられたナイフのような位置ですね。是が非でも攻略を目論んだけど、ドイツの降下作戦は損害大だったようだし。

[@MultiDivebomber]

Unsinkable carrier

[@Dalesmanable]

You can’t change history, but I wonder what would have happened had Hitler not invaded the USSR but used his forces elsewhere, as here, in North Africa and in the Atlantic.

[@MarsFKA]

No oil in North Africa. It was the oil east of the Urals that ha was after.

[@lon2515]

The Soviet union would have invaded Germany,that's what they were getting ready for.Hitlers attack on Russia was a preemptive strike.

[@matthewwagner47]

Shows germans loading large diameter bombs during early war. The allied also has large bombs that were used often

[@kingnorlen]

German's had the biggest bombs, up to 1800kg were used, but mostly 500kg & 1000kg. The Do 217 could carry 4x1000kg, such a workhorse for a plane of that size.

[@rossedwards5724]

@@kingnorlenThe RAFs Grandslam was 10 tons

[@A.G.798]

​@@kingnorlen die größte deutsche Fliegerbombe hatte 2.500 Kg. Gewicht! Die 1.800 Kg. schwere Bombe genannt "Satan" war für Eindringen in gewachsenen Fels spezialisiert, und sie Detonierte in einer Tiefe von bis zu 30 Meter, um hauptsächlich die britischen Flugzeuge in ihren Unterirdischen Bereitstellungs Räume zu Erwischen.

[@Conradlovesjoy]

So many internet historians who know nothing.

[@matthewmcmacken6716]

'The key to Africa.' Someone probs said it.

[@jims6323]

Those look like Do-17's....flying pencils!

[@hw97karbine]

0:31 looks like it might be a Do 215 with inline engines, while at 0:34 I'm fairly sure it's a Do 217

[@MarsFKA]

@@hw97karbine Very likely. The 215 and 217 had replaced the original Do17 by that stage of the War. In fact, 217s were flying as early as mid-1940. I have "Fighter Pilot" by Paul Richey, which tells of No 1 Squadron in France before Dunkirk and he mentions encountering 217s.

[@hb9145]

What a mess the British put them in.

[@Broadswords]

If in German/Italian hands instead, how well do you think that would have gone for the locals then? Much, much worse.

[@hb9145]

@@Broadswords What do you mean? The civilians would be blockaded for years and bombed to smithereens by the RAF? Seriously, though, they wouldn't be any worse off than Pantelleria.

[@christoffermonikander2200]

@@hb9145If you really think being occupied by the Nazis and Fascists is no worse than being held by the Allies you really need to read a history book. Or just travel to Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Holland, Greece and count the monuments remembering all the atrocities that took place during the occupation of those countries by the Axis powers.

[@hb9145]

@@christoffermonikander2200 I am a historian, and I live in Norway... The Germans were tough, but what they did was mostly (very harsh) reprisals for resistance/attacks on German troops. The biggest atrocity by far in Norway was conducted by the British when they sunk the "Rigel" and strafed allied(!) POWs in the water in Helgeland. More than 2500 dead. Back to Malta: Ordinary people just want to live their lives. Not being able to say your opinion is bad, but getting starved by a blockade for years is even worse. Yes, most people in Malta would be better off in German/Italian hands. No doubt.

[@Conradlovesjoy]

@@christoffermonikander2200someone forgot who wrote the history books….

[@tornadoman1054]

Pure evil