‘UXB Malta’ tells the stories behind the
unexploded bombs in Malta during World War II. Complete with interviews with survivors and research from hundreds of previously unpublished wartime documents, UXB Malta is the first book to reveal what it was like to work in Army bomb disposal in the most bombed place on Earth. British author SUSAN HUDSON talks to Erika Brincat
Hi Susan – in a nutshell what is your book about please?
During the Second World War, as the Regia Aeronautica and the Luftwaffe unleashed their full might against the island of Malta, the civilian population was in the eye of the storm. Faced with the terror of the unexploded bomb, the Maltese people looked for help to the Royal Engineers Bomb Disposal Section, who dealt with all unexploded bombs, across an area the size of Greater London and through 3,000 raids in two years.
Through violent winter storms and blazing summer heat, despite interrupted sleep and meagre rations, they battled to reach, excavate and render safe thousands of UXBs, and saved thousands of lives in the process. Day after day - and in 1942 hour after hour - through constant air raids, they approached live bomb after live bomb, mindful that it could explode at any moment.
What is your connection with Malta – why did you choose to research and write about this topic in particular?
My father the former Lieutenant George Carroll was an officer in the bomb disposal unit in Malta. He was interviewed by historical organisations - he was 87 at the time - and I heard a number of stories about his experiences, and I thought there was more to this. Through research I discovered the scale of the attacks on Malta but I couldn’t find much about bomb disposal in those books. Yet this was about what happened on the ground and what happened to the people of Malta.
The book is based on true stories which happened to the British Army during World War II in Malta. How did you manage to collect these stories, data and diaries?
I started with my father’s army records and I also recorded my father. Then I went to the British National Archive. Every unit kept a war diary detailing each and every bomb disposal – with the date, location, whether it was buried in the ground or not, and who handled it. However I wanted the human side of the stories. I had names of officers and I used family history research techniques to track down widows, sons, and two surviving men including one officer who wrote a diary of his time here and a lance corporal who served the whole time – I interviewed them and recorded everything.
Then it was about turning facts into a story. I visited Malta several times as I wanted to understand what the experience had meant for the community – I had to learn about bomb disposal and travelled all over the island to understand what had happened. If a bomb went off in a field in Lija or the bus station outside Valletta for example I wanted to know what the implications were. I also used the Malta National Archives and found several air-raid reports and how the Civil Defence intervened.
How long did it take you to collect all the data?
This all started in 2005 and it took me four years to complete. It took about three and a half years to collect the data and six months to write the book although the research and writing overlapped at times.
Did you choose to write about these happenings because you are you intrigued by the heroism of everyday people?
Yes it is a story which has never been told. There is so much information one can make it work into a narrative. It’s about World War II and survival against the odds and the strength of character of these two communities – the English and the Maltese.
What does UXB stand for?
UXB refers to an unexploded bomb. The Royal Engineers’ job was to deal with every unexploded bomb in Malta except for the airfields and Royal Navy premises. The volume of bombing was mirrored in the number of unexploded bombs. Between December 1940 and December 1942 in the span of two years the Royal Engineers dealt with 7,300 unexploded bombs! Unexploded bombs often caused more disruption than exploded ones. In 1942 there were many shelters - whenever there was an air raid people would go to the shelters, however if an unexploded bomb was left people could not come out and return to normal life until it was made safe. At the height of the bombing there were only two officers and thirty men to deal with the unexploded bombs. When anti-personnel bombs were dropped in Valletta in 1941 my father and his men had to deal with 93 in a day.
Your father must have quite a few stories to tell...
Yes, one time a large bomb fell on top of the bastions and it buried itself in the bastion. As the officer he had to work alone with an archaeological trowel to find the fuse. He crawled along the bastion and scraped the rubble. He said “Then suddenly the bomb fell, right in front of my eyes. It hit the ground – and I died – and it bounced – and I died – and it rolled – and I died – but I didn’t die”. By some miracle it never exploded thankfully! It was a 250kg bomb.
He also cleared 19 bombs and 13 fuses from the Opera House whilst it was still intact as it was being used as a temporary police station. He developed a string railway to remove the bombs from inside the Opera House. Every bomb he took out it could have killed him and he had to take 19 out in all.
Actually he has only told a few stories about those events. A lot of people who lived through that period have some memory loss of events. He was living under the bombing 24/7 in Floriana. One time in Luqa he dealt with a 1,000kg bomb! Two or three men were helping him deal with the fuse when a German fighter plane came by machine-gunning the airfield. He actually ordered his men to hide under the bomb!
What do you think it is about historical war stories, which fascinate so many people?
People ask themselves what they would have done in those circumstances. Say one time I was talking to a 19 year old reader and we were discussing what it must have been like for Lieutenant Talbot at age 20 leading bomb disposal for six months in Malta before he transferred to intelligence duties with the RAF. I think the appeal is that readers can identify with these people and they ask themselves “would I be able to achieve that?”
When I speak to Maltese people – I even met some Maltese women on the plane for example and one of them remembered that her mother had an unexploded bomb in her house. In fact I attended Malta Day in London last September 2010. I was talking to a Maltese man and sure enough we found that his family’s story was documented in the book. Thanks to the book they can make the connection more easily. In fact I took many copies of the book to Malta Day and I sold each and every one of them.
3,000 raids in two years does sound like an awful lot. Were there many casualties?
None of the men lost their lives as a result of the actual bomb disposal. But there were accidents such as a mine which exploded and there were two tragedies within the span of three days. Yes, some tragedies did happen unfortunately.
Do the survivors remember in clear detail what happened to them?
Yes and no. They all remember certain things very clearly. They tend to remember a funny story, or something they survived, however they don’t remember the relentless day to day bombing. It is recognised that suppression of memory is a natural reaction to human trial but it can lead to post traumatic stress disorder. These bomb disposal men will never discuss how hard it was, and in the words of one of the men they were “just doing a job”. I’m still keen to hear from anybody with stories of bomb disposal and I’d be delighted to hear from them. I’d like to keep the collection of information ongoing.
Is the book available in local bookshops?
Yes it is available from all Agenda Bookshop outlets throughout Malta. It is also being sold in London and all over the world - there is a large Maltese community in the US and Australia for example whose relatives were in Malta during World War II and who have a personal interest in these stories.
For further enquiries or to share information readers can contact [email protected]