Malta1... are you Maltese?

[bsdaddict]

Heya Malta1, I noticed your name and saluted you after you shot me down last night.  I'm JockItch, btw...  was just curious whether or not you were Maltese, since I am (well, half...) and I don't run into many people from that little rock.  I've spent many summers in Malta and have a lot of family (pretty much everyone on my Mothers side) still living there.  My uncle owns Bacchus in Mdina, have you ever been there?

Anyway, was curious and if you are actually Maltese and wanted to give you a shout.  

JockItch

[stantond]

No, I am not Maltese.  I was born and raised in Kentucky.  I got the name from the intense mediteranian air battles over Malta in WW2.  An administrator in Air Warrior also used that nick, but that wasn't me.  I was LZ in Air Warrior and part of the 121st RAF Eagles Squadron, which was comprised mostly of trainers.

I'm pretty picky about what parts of the world I would like to visit but Malta is on the list.  If I am over that way on leisure travel I plan to visit.  I enjoyed that Humprey Bogard movie the "Maltese Falcon" as well.  



JockItch


Malta

[bsdaddict]

ahhh, cool...   for choosing to use the name and recognizing the struggle that took place there...   I've been surprised that no major media (no movies, no history channel specials, etc...) has ever covered the Battle for Malta, or the Second Siege of Malta as the Maltese refer to it.  It was, as you said, intense.  Not just the air war, but the struggle to get supplies to Malta was a heroic undertaking in and of itself.  I remember reading books about it as a boy.  Malta Convoy is one that comes to mind.  Crazy stuff, huge convoys reduced to a handful by the time they got close to the harbor.  And the bombing that Malta suffered through was among the most intense of WW2, in fact the whole seige was seen to be so significant that King George awarded the island the George Cross, the only time it's ever been awarded to a geographical landmass.  The war has left quite an impression on the island and it's inhabitants, an impression that's still visible today.  

There's a story about 3 obsolete biplanes that were the sum of the Maltese air defence at the start of the conflict.  One of them (Faith, IIRC) has been preserved and hangs from the ceiling in the War Museum in Valetta.  The fighters were renamed Faith, Hope and Charity (a nod to Malta's heavily catholic culture) in recognition of their heroic fight.  Faith, Hope and Charity gives a brief overview of their role if you're interested.

I could go on, but I digress.  Suffice it to say that I'm quite bummed that I only discovered AH recently, and missed the Malta scenario.  I'm hoping it's revisited sometime in the future.  

And yeah, you should definately visit the place.  So much to see, both scenic and historical...

[Roscoroo]

Wednesday April, 19th, 2006 10 PM Eastern we have the Snapshot " Picchiatelli Over Malta ".  
http://events.hitechcreations.com/s...?snapshot_id=61Snapshots are walk on events and all are welcome.


Just cause u missed the Big Malta scenario .. you can still get into a smaller Snapshot event though .

[Debonair]

so, whos gonna win the derby this year?

[bsdaddict]

Originally posted by Roscoroo
Wednesday April, 19th, 2006 10 PM Eastern we have the Snapshot " Picchiatelli Over Malta ".  
http://events.hitechcreations.com/s...?snapshot_id=61Snapshots are walk on events and all are welcome.


Just cause u missed the Big Malta scenario .. you can still get into a smaller Snapshot event though .

Nice!  I'm so there!

edit - btw...  that URL you provided is messed up.  I'm looking for info on tonights event on the ahevents site, but am having trouble finding it.  Lotsa links on the site don't work...

edit #2 - found it via the calendar.  http://events.hitechcreations.com/snapshots/snapshot.php?snapshot_id=61