After 20 years of intensive research, Charles Bezzina, the Gozitan renowned poet and author, is launching the second revised edition of the book, Il-Qilla tal-Gwerra fuq Għawdex 1940-43. With over 1,800 references, 96 pages of photos and 700 pages to its credit, this work may easily be considered as the most comprehensive study on the history of Second World War Gozo.

The comments of the author on this work are very revealing and capture the spirit of the book, "It is a mammoth detailed publication which deserves attention ... This book fills in a lacuna in Melitensia. All this thanks to my late father, who was a war historian and remembered the war not as a boy but as youth from 15 to 18 years, and was the first author in the Maltese islands to put Gozo in wartime history".

Bezzina hails from Victoria and has been honoured with the international prize, Citta Di Valletta for his contribution to poetry. This award was presented to him by the President of Malta in 1994. Bezzina is also the Gozo representative of the Poets Society of Malta.

This book has been in writing for 20 years in that it has been building upon the revised edition with the same title published in 2000. Bezzina, in this latest edition continued to expand and go further in depth on the work started by his father, Frank Bezzina (1925-1996) who lived the war years. Frank had published two books about Second World War Gozo, Il-Qilla tal-gwerra fuq u madwar Għawdex 1940-43 in 1977 and in 1981, published F'Għawdex fi zmien il-gwerra.

Gozo, during the Second World War was not considered as a prime military zone or target per se and was of no major significance to the Axis forces in the same way as Malta. But still, Gozo was not to be underestimated as it formed part of the Maltese islands and hence part of the overall strategic territory.  

The role played by Gozo in providing shelter to the thousands of Maltese refugees who crossed the Gozo channel is a remarkable show of solidarity and hospitality towards their compatriots. The provision of food and shelter diggers to the sister island of Malta is significant as well as some other less-known facts, to which the reader will find enthralling. One particular detail, which the author points to, is the amount spent on shelter construction in Gozo where he managed to find an error in official documentation in the total amount spent.

 Gozo also played a role in the invasion of Sicily in 1943, (code-named Operation Husky). This event is found in the book by the same author, The Gozo Airfield published in 2004.

The book under review not only pays special attention to detail but has brought to the fore wide-ranging topics with other accounts dealing with the black market situation, the role of the Church, life in Gozo, pro-Italian elements in Gozo and much much more. The sheer volume of the work and detail are most evident in all the chapters. The book also has a very interesting month-by-month calendar of war events in Gozo.

In all, about 150 Gozitans died as a result of air attacks on the island of Gozo and as sailors in the merchant navy. These are the unsung heroes to whom the book is dedicated to.

It would be a sore miss if this book does not find a sponsor for translation into the English language thus adding further to its literary significance and reach to a wider readership audience.

Books may be ordered at: www.bdlbooks.com

The author may be contacted on email: [email protected] for further information.