Comments by "Big Blue" (@bigblue6917) on "S.S. Ohio and the Siege of Malta" video.

@BigHenFor I am sure you will know, but others may not be aware, of the significance of this medal. The George Cross is the second highest award and is the civilian equivalent of the Victoria Cross, Britains highest military honour. It instituted on 24 September 1940 by King George VI. Malta was awarded to the island of Malta in a letter dated 15 April 1942. The king wrote that it was, 'To honour her brave people, I award the George Cross to the Island Fortress of Malta to bear witness to a heroism and devotion that will long be famous in history.'
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The actor Jon Pertwee served on HMS Hood and was transferred off the ship for officer training shortly before she was sunk by the German battleship Bismarck. He must have known many of those who died when she was sunk.
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I did know about the S.S. Ohio and I have long thought it had more then its share of luck on that trip. It is as if it had taken all the luck it would have had over its normal lifetime and had it all in one go. To give you an indication of how short of aviation fuel the RAF was, ground crews had to push the fighters to the end of the runway before the pilot could start his engine. That way the save fuel. Air attacks on Malta were so frequent that when one group of Spitfires arrived they had just enough time to refuel before they had to take off to face the next attack. Gave the German Stukas something of a shock though as they were not expecting the Spitfires, their arrival had been missed, and the RAF pilots had what was referred to as a Stuka party. That is a each Stuka dived down a Spitfire followed it. All the Stukas were shot down. And the Me 109s flying topcover never had a chance to intervene. Their problem was if they dived down to intercept the Spitfires they were flying to fast and just ended up passing the Spitfires, which would then leave the 109s open to being shot down. At various points during any war you look at decisions and wonder why those decisions were made or not made. Why the Axis forces did not take Malta has got to be one of those decisions has got to be one of those. I know other things were going on, such as the invasion of Russia, but the fact that the Germans had to send forces to North Africa anyway just shows how important taking Malta should have been.
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@alecblunden8615 three Italian fighter squadrons took part in the Battle of Britain. All biplanes I seem to remember. After three week they went back home. The three squadrons were reduced to the point were they had enough aircraft for one squadron.
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I forgot to mention about the British submarines based as Malta. So avoid being attacked during a raid they would submerge in the harbour during the hours of daylight and surface after dark. The were usually alongside the harbour wall when this happened. That way they could take on supplies et cetera before going back out on patrol and the Axis airforces did not even know they were there.
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@simongleaden2864 true. What I should have said it could also be given to military personnel for none military situations. I may be wrong but I seem to remember bomb disposal personnel could also receive it.
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@JohnP538 as you chaps aren't doing anything would you mind popping up and shooting a few Gerry down for us.
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@TheHistoryGuyChannel This is true but by taking Malta it would have meant the only way to supply the Allied troops in Egypt was by sending the supplies around the Cape. At the same time Axis supplies would have been safer. This would have forced the evacuation of troops in Egypt and its surrender to the Axis forces. And considering how many military personnel, how much equipment Tanks, aircraft and ships the Axis lost in North Africa and the Med the price would have been worth paying. I believe that the number of Axis soldiers who surrendered in North Africa at the end of that campaign was around 250,000, which is more then those at Stalingrad.
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@elcastorgrande After Crete Hitler would have all but ruled out paratroopers making an airborne landing. I have wondered if it is a mental attitude problem. German and Italy are land based forces used to fighting in continental Europe. Whereas Britain and America were for the most part are sea based forces. If they had to go anywhere to fight it usually involved a landing of some sort. So they would have had a better understanding of what was involved and therefor more willing to consider it. We only have to look at Operation Sealion to realise Germany had little understanding of how to conduct such operations.
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