Malta has marked the 82nd anniversary of Operation Pedestal, the day when Malta was saved from starvation at the height of the World War Two hostilities.
On 15 August 1942, the battered and bruised merchant carrier SS Ohio laboured its way into Valletta, as Malta felt the worst of the Second World War, having suffered from thousands of bombing raids and being on the verge of absolute starvation.
The Ohio was the fifth and final merchant vessel to make it into Valletta - nine others were at the bottom of the ocean in various parts of the Mediterranean, having been sunk by relentless Axis bombing runs. The convoy brought much needed supplies to Malta.
In a speech marking the event, the President of the Republic, Myriam Spiteri Debono, said the Maltese re-christened Operation Pedestal "il-Konvoj ta' Santa Marija," endowing it with religious overtones, "since because of the dire situation which prevailed in 1942, in our ancestors' eyes the safe arrival of fuel and other supplies seemed to be due to a Marian miracle."
This does not seem at all far-fetched, when one remembers that only five of the fourteen merchant ships reached the Grand Harbour; suffice it to say that certain writers refer to this convoy operation as the last Axis victory in the Mediterranean. If this was a numerical success for the Axis, it was a strategic victory for the Allies, since it averted famine and dire straits of more want for the Maltese and the surrender of the island fortress, which circumstances seemed inevitable, the President said.
"Today, as we commemorate the eighty second anniversary of Operation Pedestal, we also celebrate the stamina and resilience of the Maltese population and the British Forces and remember the dashed lives and hopes deprived of realizing their full potential, of those who died in the process of fighting for victory," she added.
"It would be a waste of time, pointless, if as we remember the hardship of the Second World War, and particularly the Siege of Malta, we are not moved by the injustice of war and of the armed conflict situations prevailing around the world today. The suffering of the populace, in the Middle East, as well as the war in Ukraine, are reminders that humanity has not yet forsaken violence and atrocity but is still employing atrocity and violence, fostering more hatred instead of reconciliation.
"To be worthy of our forefathers, to ensure that their loss of life and limb, their suffering during the Second World War were not wasted, the present Maltese generations, regardless of our small size and resources have a constitutional duty to actively pursue peace and strive for harmony in a world which is witnessing a resurgence of human suffering, a perpetuation of brutality by humans against humans, resort to weapons of war instead of discussion and dialogue as tools for achieving and maintaining peace. We owe a moral debt to our ancestors, to combat this trend."