John Bryan Bigg
Malta
On 4th May, 1940 Bryan was ordered to Malta. On 30th May he stayed the night at the Victoria Hotel and was on the plane to Malta at 5am the following morning.
A Worrying Time
It must have been a very worrying time to go to Malta, when the Germans were advancing on all fronts.
- Our Army was being driven from Dunkerque
- The Battle of the Atlantic was raging
- The Luftwaffe sought to defeat the RAF
- Our country was being bombed, so that Bryan's parents and family were at risk. Hazel was the Head Girl at Ashford School in Kent. Since the school was in "bomb alley" it was evacuated to Cornwall.
1941: The Year which Shaped the War
| 20th May | Crete invaded |
| 27th May | Bismark sunk |
| 22nd June | Hitler invades Russia |
| 15th Sept. | Battle of Britain won by the Allies |
| November | Kesselring transferred to Sicily in preparation for the invasion of Malta |
| 7th Dec. | Pearl Harbour. Japan enter the war |
| December | 600 German planes transferred to Sicily |
During October 1941 over 60% of German supplies had failed to reach North Africa owing to bombing by Aircraft from Malta. By November 1941 over 70% failed.
Intense Bombing
Malta was subjected to 154 days of day and night bombing, equivalent to 5 months of continuous bombing. The largest number of consecutive days on which London was raided was 57.
One Saturday morning, when Bryan was in his office, it was bombed. He was blown down to the floor below, and ended up wearing no clothes. Fortunately a woman knew that he was there, and so he was rescued.
In March and April 1942 the tonnage of bombs dropped on Malta was twice that dropped on London during the worst whole year of the blitz.
Alan Moorehead wrote: "In the spring of 1942 the Axis decided to obliterate that base, and they wanted to starve it as well. Right through the spring they turned such a blitz upon Malta, as no other island or city had seen in the war".
The people in Malta must also have feared an airborne invasion. They were not to know that Hitler was opposed to such an idea. This was because of the number of casualties in capturing Crete. One hundred planes were wrecked on landing. 5000 Germans landed on the first day, and nearly all were killed. On 21st May our Navy sank 15 vessels, so that another 4000 Germans were lost. The heavy casualties were the result of Enigma providing details of the landing plans. Wherever the Germans landed the Allies, largely New Zealanders, were waiting.
In May 1942 Bryan was bombed when doing his morning exercises. He crawled under the bed, and was dug out with the mattress on his head ninety minutes later. He went to the Hospital to get his head stitched, and while he was there the Hospital was bombed. He remained in Hospital for three weeks with a head wound and wood in his thigh, and was discharged on 20th May.
According to Lord James Douglas-Hamilton, the air battles of the 9th and 10th May 1942 marked the turning point of the campaign. On 10th 63 enemy aircraft were destroyed, or damaged. By 20th October the defeat of the Luftwaffe was complete. (This was three days before Alamein, and a fortnight before the Anglo-American landing in N. Africa - "Operation Torch").
The Battle of Malta ends by 31st December 1942. In that month 4 convoys sailed to Malta without loss.
Leaving Malta
| 1943 March | Bryan left Malta, flying to Gibraltar and arriving in Liverpool by Liner on 16th March. He arrived home on 17th March |
| 1943 18th March | He was appointed to Lodge Hill, Ordnance House, Bath. |