- Area:
- Wales
- Programme:
- Heroes Return
- Release date:
- 21 2 2012
Thanks to a grant from the Big Lottery Fund’s Heroes Return 2 programme, a war veteran from North Wales recently returned to her native Malta to recall the role she played in defending the strategically important Mediterranean island from falling into the clutches of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy during the Second World War.
Malta Story, a classic 1953 British war film depicts the love story between an RAF pilot, played by Alec Guinness, and a Maltese girl during the heroic air defence of Malta when the island was under siege.
A young Josephine in Malta before the War.
This month, 85-year-old Josephine Barber from Rhyl returned to her native Malta with her son, Paul Roberts, to recall her very own ‘Malta Story’, which bears an uncanny resemblance to the love story depicted in the wartime classic. Josephine was a plotter in the Lascaris underground War Rooms during the conflict and had the important job of directing British Forces to engage enemy aircraft and monitor their activity.
She is one of numerous veterans from Wales who have made a poignant return to the places where they served during the war. The Big Lottery Fund’s Heroes Return programme has to date awarded over £1 million to more than 830 Second World War veterans, widows, spouses and carers from Wales for journeys in the UK, France, Germany, the Middle East, Far East and beyond.
It was during the war that Josephine met her first husband, Ted Roberts, a soldier from Penrhyndeudraeth, North Wales, who was briefly based on the island before being sent to fight in the Italian campaign and the Middle East. Despite objections from her devoted Catholic family that she was marrying a British Protestant, Ted Roberts was given her father’s blessing and, after the War, she settled in North Wales with her new family.
Josephine Valetta, as she was known then, was born in Malta on March 19, 1926. She lived with her family in the town of Floriana, which overlooked the strategically important Grand Harbour of Valletta. Growing up on the beautiful Mediterranean island, life before the war was idyllic for Josephine and her family.
“Life was peaceful and we used to have family gettogethers and picnics with music playing all the time,” she recalls.
In the face of heavy bombardment, between 1940 and 1942, Britain was clinging on to the island of Malta for dear life since it was so critical to keeping Allied supply lines open. Malta was a significant military and naval fortress, being the only Allied base between Gibraltar and Egypt. Its value increased considerably after the opening of a new front in North Africa. In a two year period, the German and Italian Air Force flew a total of 3,000 bombing raids over Malta in an effort to destroy RAF defences and the ports and capture the strategically important island for themselves. With nowhere to run, Josephine and her family witnessed every fragment of what happened during the conflict.
Under Siege
On June 9, 1940, Italy decided to ride the victorious German wave and declared war on France and Britain. The following morning, Italian bombers attacked Malta (then a British colony), intent on bombing the island into submission and neutralising her offensive capabilities. Rumour has it that the only aircraft available on the islands on June 11 were three Gloster Gladiator biplanes–quickly named Faith, Hope and Charity–whose pilots fought with such skill and tenacity that Italian pilots estimated the strength of the Maltese squadron to be in the region of 25 aircraft.
“We only had three planes to defend the island at the time and they were all ancient,” says Josephine.
“They didn’t stand a chance but then we got the spitfires when the Germans came.”
“They hit our town, Floriana first, because we were overlooking the Grand Harbour. It was the Italians who came first but they flew so high and dropped their bombs from so high that they missed the country most of the times and their bombs went straight into the sea. I couldn’t even see them they were so high. It was only my sister in law that could see them, so she must have had terrific eye sight.”
However, in January 1941, the German Luftwaffe took over and it was then that Josephine and her family new they were in a real War.
“It was when the Germans came that the damage was done,” says Josephine.
“They flew so low you could have talked to the pilots and they weren’t going to miss from there – and they didn’t.”
“It was very frightening and we were very hungry because lots of supplies weren’t getting through to the port.”
“The thing that worried me the most was where I was going to get your next meal. Some people were eating rats but no way could I eat them. Things weren’t bad at the beginning because Mussolini kept everyone guessing about whose side the Italians were going to fight on. When he chose the Germans, I remember my mother doubled her monthly food order and stockpiled food that would keep. She saved a lot of children’s lives by giving food to those who didn’t have any. One lady who migrated to Australia after the war sent my mum a Christmas card every year after that for saving her children’s lives during the war. She said she could never repay her for saving her babies.”
Romance in the Rubble
In the same fashion that the young woman in Malta Story was swept off her feet by Alec Guinness’s character, Josephine was swept off her feet by future first husband and Paul’s father, Ted Roberts, a soldier serving in the Manchester Regiment from North Wales who was briefly based on the island 1940-1943 before going off to fight in the Italian campaign and in the Middle East.
“I met him on a bus going to a wedding,” recalls Josephine.
“He said he fell for me straight away and knew I was the girl he wanted to marry. I wouldn’t have chosen to sit next to a soldier because I would have got in trouble with my parents. But the bus was full, so I had to sit by him. There were large houses in Floriana where I was from - full of soldiers. But they didn’t stand a chance with the local women. I think I was the only one who got engaged to a soldier.”
Fearing the consequences, Josephine kept the relationship a secret from her family for a long time:
“My family are devoted Catholics and they wouldn’t have accepted it at the time,” she says.
“It was only when he asked me to marry him that he had to go and ask my father for permission. My father couldn’t understand why I didn’t want to marry someone Maltese. However, he had my father’s blessing and we got engaged. Then, after two years, he went off to Italy to fight in the Italian Campaign and ended up in the Middle East. When we were young kids, we used to run past the army barracks because we were frightened of the soldiers - then I ended up marrying one. I suppose you start feeling sorry for them. They’re away from home, hungry and fighting for you.”
Josephine on her wedding day in Porthmadog with first husband, Ted Roberts.
Josephine’s sympathy and kindness transcended the boundaries of war.
“I remember feeling sorry for a young German boy who was a prisoner of war at the barracks at Luqa Airbase,” says Josephine.
“He was starving. My mum used to roast a whole leg of pork so I made some sandwiches for this boy and he was delighted. I don’t think my mother would have minded because she was very Christian and had two sons in the RAF. She probably would have liked someone else to do the same for them if they were POW’s.”
Fighting for Survival
During the siege of the island, the situation became desperate with civilians buried daily under the rubble and famine becoming the norm as Allied relief convoys at sea became easy prey to enemy air attacks.
“From our house, you could see over the whole harbour and all the attacks,” she says.
“I remember early one morning the Germans tried to come in to attack but all the planes were blown up like matchsticks. It’s sad because they were all human beings and I did feel sorry for them even if they were the enemy. Sometimes we could watch the attacks from our house if they were on the other end of the harbour.”
Unfortunately, there was no hiding from the bombs for Josephine’s family home: “Our house was bombed and it was cut in half like a piece of cheese,” she says.
“I was in Sliema when I heard the news and I think I could have beaten Roger Bannister running that day because I ran all the way from Sliema to Floriana where we lived (five miles). My mum and dad were lucky to survive. They were in the shelter under the house, although all the water pipes burst and they had water up to their knees.”
“It was a lovely house and we had beautiful China. Everything was the best. We naturally got upset but my father put it into context by saying that people were dying in the war all over the world and that we’re lucky to be alive. ‘The house can be rebuilt and we can buy new China,’ he said.”
“I ended up staying in this bombed out house with British soldiers for a while. They gave me an army blanket so I could have privacy to sleep.”
Josephine Barber wearing her George Medal near the Lascaris War Room in Valletta.
A Wedding to Remember
Josephine and her sister had another lucky escape on the day of her sister’s wedding in April 1942: “My sister married an RAF man George Ellis stationed at Luqa and I was her bridesmaid. We were driving near the airbase on the way to her wedding when, all of a sudden, we were attacked by a German fighter plane,” says Josephine.
“I jumped out of the car and lay flat on my belly on the ground. I remember my sister shouting at me for getting my dress dirty before we had taken the photos at her wedding.
“The fighter plane must have seen the men in uniform as he was strafing along the road and decided to attack and machine gun us. I remember one of the German pilots waving at me from the cockpit, that’s how close they were. I remember waving my fist in anger back at him. The cheek of it, I thought.
“The Valletta Royal Opera house was also bombed on my sister’s wedding day. It was a replica of the one in Rome. When I went back on my recent return, I got to see the new Opera house being rebuilt to its former glory, which was nice.”
The Attack on Illustrious
The attack in Valletta harbour on the new British aircraft carrier, HMS Illustrious, is also prevalent in Josephine’s mind, especially since she could see all the events unfolding in front of her eyes from her home in Floriana. The carrier helped escort convoys carrying vital supplies to Malta and was heavily bombed during one such operation in January 1941. The raids devastated the dockyards and three cities but the Axis failed to sink her although she had stained heavy damage out at sea and in the port itself.
“From our house we saw the Illustrious coming in and being bombed,” recalls Josephine.
“The British said that nobody was hurt but we could see the Ambulances going in from our house and taking the injured to the military hospital. That’s war I suppose. You don’t want the enemy to know that they’ve hurt you. There were lots of sailors injured and probably killed I would say. For twelve days under heavy air attack, everybody pulled together to repair the ship in the Grand Harbour and make sure she wasn’t sunk. Soldiers, sailors and locals. She was hit a few times. The Germans must have been freaked out when they came back to finish her off one day to see that she had gone from the harbour. They were determined to sink her but they failed.”
A Subterranean life in the Mediterranean
At the age of 17 in 1943, Josephine singed up and become a plotter in the Lascaris War Rooms, a deep underground layer built into the rock which was used by the Allied Operational Headquarters as a secure places from where to conduct operations. Josephine had the important role of plotting out information regarding the activity of enemy aircraft on a giant grid-map, which was then relayed to Fighter Control who would use the information to direct aircraft flown in to engage the enemy. She wasn’t old enough to sign up, so she persuaded the local priest to make her a fake birth certificate to make her a year older so she could join the effort.
“We were very safe in the war rooms because we were so far underground,” says Josephine.
“The German bombers couldn’t get us there. Sometimes, very rarely, if they hit the sea on our side, we could feel the vibrations. That’s the only time we would hear them.”
Josephine looks through some old photos and memorabilia from WWII with her son, Paul Roberts.
The George Cross for Josephine
The bravery of the Maltese people during the second Siege of Malta moved King George VI to award the George Cross to Malta on a collective basis on 15 April 1942 "to bear witness to a heroism and devotion that will long be famous in history". Josephine is one of its proud recipients and wore the medal with honour on her recent return to Malta with her son.
The Big Lottery Fund has extended its Heroes Return 2 programme. The programme has no fixed deadline for applications at this time. This extension is for those veterans who have so far been unable to undertake a commemorative visit.
More information and details of how to apply for a Heroes Return 2 grant are available by calling 0845 00 00 121 or visiting www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/heroesreturn
BIG is continuing its support for UK veterans through its new £35 million Forces in Mind initiative to establish an independent trust to provide long term support and advocacy for former service personnel. The funding will help veterans who served in conflicts including Iraq, Afghanistan and the Gulf War struggling with the transition to civilian life, especially those whose psychological well-being subsequently impacts on the quality of their life and others around them.
Heroes Return was the centre-piece of the Veterans Reunited programme including Home Front Recall which awarded £19.2 million to support UK-based group events and activities to commemorate those who contributed to the war-effort on the home front, and Their Past Your Future with an ongoing £9.6 million scheme funding a UK-wide schools and education programme to give young people the opportunity to learn first-hand from veterans about their experience of war.
Further Information
Big Lottery Fund Press Office – Oswyn Hughes: 02920 678 207
Out of hours contact: 07760 171 431
Public Enquiries Line: 0300 123 0735
Textphone: 0845 6021 659
Full details of the Big Lottery Fund programmes and grant awards are available on the website: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
Notes to Editors
- The Big Lottery Fund (BIG), the largest distributor of National Lottery good cause funding, is responsible for giving out half the money raised for good causes by the National Lottery.
- BIG is committed to bringing real improvements to communities and the lives of people most in need and has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK since June 2004. The Fund was formally established by Parliament on 1 December 2006.
- Since the National Lottery began in 1994, 28p from every pound spent by the public has gone to good causes. As a result, over £27 billion has now been raised and more than 370,000 grants awarded across arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment.
- Heroes Return £17 million scheme provided funding to Second World War veterans, their wives or husbands, widows and widowers and, where required, their present-day carers to visit the overseas areas where the veterans saw active service. By linking with activities funded through the Their Past Your Future scheme, Heroes Return is also helping to give young people a better understanding of the efforts and sacrifices made by veterans.
- Home Front Recall provided grants of between £500 and £20,000 for regional and local projects across the UK in 2004-2005 that commemorated the events of the Second World War and the contributions of different groups in society. The scheme funded a very wide range of projects including special community days; reunions and exhibitions; recordings of the experiences of those who lived through the War; plays and pieces of creative artwork. In addition, the scheme funded a number of national grants to organisations such as the TUC to fund a range of commemorative activities.
- Their Past Your Future is an ongoing UK-wide schools and education scheme to give young people the opportunity to learn first-hand from veterans about their experience of war. The Big Lottery Fund is working closely with the Imperial War Museum and the museums, libraries and archives sector UK-wide to help young people to research and learn about the personal experiences and roles played by forces personnel and civilians. Competitions have enabled schools to take part in World War Two related visits with veterans. The Imperial War Museum has a website (www.theirpast-yourfuture.org.uk) with a wide range of resources for schools to use and details of projects delivered by museums across the UK.
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