The Siege Of Malta: Britain's Submarine Ace (Part 2)

Summary

Podcast Summary: "The Siege Of Malta: Britain's Submarine Ace (Part 2)"

Podcast: WW2 Pod: We Have Ways of Making You Talk
Hosts: Al Murray and James Holland
Episode Title: The Siege Of Malta: Britain's Submarine Ace (Part 2)
Date: October 30, 2025
Episode Theme:
This episode continues the deep dive into the Siege of Malta during World War II, shifting focus from the overwhelming Axis air assault to the formidable defense and counterattacks mounted from the besieged island—especially those by British submariners like Lieutenant Commander David Wanklyn and his crew aboard HMS Upholder. The hosts blend meticulous military history with personal testimonies, dark humor, and gritty detail, exploring how Malta became a "thorn in the Axis side."

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Main Discussion Points and Insights

1. Setting the Scene: The Value and Challenges of Malta (01:59–04:30)

• Malta as both strategic prize and problem: The island's location makes it critical for controlling the Mediterranean, affecting both Axis and Allied operations.
• Recap of Part 1: Deteriorating defenses, under-supplied airfields, and the aggressive spirit of the Royal Navy under Admiral Cunningham (ABC).
• Key insight: The importance of Malta isn’t just defensive—it’s what the British can do offensively from there.

2. The Human Experience: Civilian and Military Endurance (04:40–06:54)

• Stories of daily life under constant bombing:
  • Suzanne Parlby, a British Cypher clerk, stays by choice and vividly describes the terror and necessity to suppress fear.
  • [Memorable quote, Suzanne Parlby, via James, 05:14]

    “You had to use your willpower to quell the fear which would be trying to burst out from within. Showing your fear, of course, was unthinkable, but sometimes it was hard not to.”

• Air raid shelters and the increasing use of tunnels as both refuges and operations centers.

3. Malta’s Fighter Crisis: Outclassed and Under-supplied (06:54–12:08)

• Luftwaffe dominance:
  • Oberleutnant Joachim Müncheberg's Staffel (7./JG 26) decimates the RAF Hurricanes—42 shot down for zero loss in two months.
  • Hurricanes' poor climbing power leaves Malta virtually undefended (“might as well have had no fighter planes whatsoever”—James, 07:23).
• Frustration over slow RAF response:
  • “This is a very early indication that Hurricanes are not suitable for Malta… Why are you sending any Hurricanes at all?” —James (12:08)
• The need for Spitfires is recognized by frontline pilots and ignored at higher command for logistical reasons.

4. Daily Life and Morale on Malta (13:13–18:06)

• Rationing (fuel and food), conscription, and the struggle for basic services.
• Cultural resilience: The Times of Malta continues daily publication; ENSA-style concert parties and entertainers like Christina Ratcliffe keep morale up.
• [Comic interlude, 17:29]
  “There’s a lady without.” “Without what?” “Well, without food and clothing. Well, give her some food and bring her in.”

5. Submarine Warfare: Upholder and the Learning Curve (18:06–26:55)

• Introduction to HMS Upholder and Lt. Cmdr. David Wanklyn—new to command, untested in combat.
• Technical and tactical difficulties of small, underpowered U-class submarines:
  • Range, torpedoes, periscope calculations, the crucial “director angle,” and necessity to fire from dangerously close range.
• Inter-service frustrations: Pre-war rules prevent unrestricted attacks on enemy merchant vessels, squandering chances to strike at the Axis (Afrika Korps shipments).

6. Early Struggles, Setbacks, and Lessons (25:10–27:35)

• Upholder’s early patrols are plagued by misses (“Eight torpedoes were fired without scoring a single hit. A result which can only be described as extremely disappointing.”—message from Captain Roar, 32:50).
• Malta’s isolation heightened by Axis minefields and inadequate minesweepers.

7. Shifting the Tide: Submarine and Air Force Successes (29:20–47:49)

• British setbacks in North Africa, Greece, and Crete free up Malta, temporarily, from sustained Luftwaffe attacks.
• The rise of offensive submarine action:
  • HMS Upholder’s breakthrough:
    • After being threatened with loss of command, Wanklyn scores multiple sinkings:
      • [34:03–37:13] Sinks merchant ships and, notably, a German troopship (Conti Rosso, 18,000 tons, 1,300 troops lost) under dramatic and dangerous circumstances.
  • Visuals: Upholder returns flying a “Jolly Roger” with 4 bars and crew in looted German helmets.
    [Al: “That’s a Guy Ritchie film, them coming back in in their German helmets, isn’t it?” 37:13]
• Fleet Air Arm operations:
  • Daring nighttime mine-laying and torpedo sorties by Fairey Swordfish.
  • 19-year-old aircrewman Nat Gold exemplifies nerve and chaos: engine-off glides through flak, navigation mishaps, and unflappable responses (“the old Pegasus engine never let us down…” 37:25–41:53).

8. Rebuilding Malta’s Defenses: Airpower and Anti-aircraft Guns (42:00–51:35)

• Arrival of more Hurricanes (not Spitfires), giving very partial air superiority due mainly to the Luftwaffe’s temporary absence.
• Defenses: Heavy and light AA guns multiply; major convoy breakouts.
• Failed Italian E-boat attack on Grand Harbor demonstrates improved defense coordination.

9. Malta Becomes the Axis’ Bane (51:45–58:06)

• Golden Phase: Malta’s offensive capacity peaks—air and submarine operations are well-coordinated.
• Submarine flotilla status achieved; Upholder scores massive convoy kills (Neptunia and Oceania, both 19,500 tons).
• [Notable quote, Captain Roar, 54:28]:

  “Lieutenant Commander Wanklin’s devastating accuracy at 5,000 yards range in poor light and his ship yawing badly was almost unbelievable, and shows the highest skill—not altogether unexpected from this most able officer.”

• With Ultra intelligence breakthroughs and the deployment of Force K (cruisers & destroyers), naval ambushes wipe out Axis convoys (“The result was a holocaust for the Italians—nine out of ten merchant vessels sunk.”—James, 55:55).
• In November alone, 70% of Axis supplies are sunk, far exceeding the wolf packs’ successes in the Atlantic.
• Wanklyn awarded the Victoria Cross. Surprised during lunch when Shrimp Simpson reveals the ribbon sewn onto his tunic (56:46).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

• Suzanne Parlby’s fear:
  “[05:14] You had to use your willpower to quell the fear which would be trying to burst out from within. Showing your fear, of course, was unthinkable, but sometimes it was hard not to.”
• James on RAF frustration:
  “[12:08] Why are you sending any Hurricanes at all? What's the point? Because they're just going to get shot down. They're not achieving anything, so why bother?”
• Al on Upholder’s audacity:
  “[37:13] That’s a Guy Ritchie film, them coming back in in their German helmets, isn’t it? Well, he’s missing a trick there. Come on.”
• On submarine action:
  “[47:49] … they’ve just sunk the Conti Rosso, an 18,000 ton troop ship and 1300 Axis troops.”
  “What an action. That's incredible. And to get out of that, you need skill and luck.” —James (47:57)
• On supply destruction:
  “[56:46] By the end of December 1941, Malta is really, really hurting the Axis effort in Libya. In November alone, 70% of all Axis supply sunk.”
• Contextualizing Axis convoys:
  “[55:55] ...The result was a holocaust for the Italians—nine out of ten of the merchant vessels are sunk. The tenth is left ablaze. Three destroyers also sunk...”
• On the burden of war:
  “[54:27] Our job was to stop reinforcements reaching North Africa. And by sinking these ships, this was achieved. But of course, later, one does always think of the appalling loss of life. But, you know, war is awful. Can’t really argue that, can you?”

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Structural Timeline (Key Segment Timestamps)

• 01:59 – Personal sketch of Lt. Cmdr. David Wanklyn; the concept of “imperturbability”
• 04:40–06:54 – Suzanne Parlby’s testimony; the Luftwaffe versus Hurricanes
• 10:27–12:08 – Complete Hurricane losses and argument for Spitfires
• 14:43–18:06 – Rationing, conscription, morale, and cultural resilience
• 18:06–26:55 – Intro to submarines; Upholder’s technical/tactical challenges
• 34:03–37:13 – Upholder's breakthrough attacks, dramatic returns to port
• 41:53–47:49 – Swordfish missions, Nat Gold's story, arrival of new fighters
• 47:49–49:49 – Sinking of Conti Rosso; scale and danger of submarine ops
• 49:45–54:56 – Build-up of collective anti-Axis attacks; emergence of the "golden phase"
• 54:28–56:46 – Wanklyn’s recognition; Captain Roar’s commendation and outcomes
• 58:06 – Closing thoughts: Malta’s respite is ending as the Luftwaffe prepares a renewed assault

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Tone and Style

• Language: Authentic, energetic, a blend of expert historical analysis and dry, often dark British humor.
• Atmosphere: Immersive, tense, and evocative—with frequent asides celebrating ingenuity and condemning bureaucratic blunders.
• Personal Touch: Hosts frequently reference first-person testimonies, visits to Malta, and direct reflections from the people involved.

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Conclusion & Teaser

The episode closes on a bittersweet note. Despite Malta’s temporary ascendancy and staggering infliction of losses on Axis supply lines, the hosts warn that this period of dominance is fragile. The Luftwaffe’s return looms, and the enduring shortage of Spitfires haunts the defenders’ prospects.
Next episode preview: The long-awaited arrival of Spitfires and another epic turn in Malta’s siege.

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“The sort of iron law of war is that the enemy has a vote. While the Luftwaffe have been absent, when they return, things are going to get a lot more serious again.” —Al Murray [58:34]

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

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[D]

Lt. Commander Wanklin is a man of resolute character, quiet speech and has penetrating brown eyes. He is over 6ft in height and like most submariners in wartime, sports a beard. He married his wife, Elspeth Kinloch in Malta and has a two year old son, Ian, now staying at Ellangowan in Mygall. He is a Scot by birth but best known in Cheltenham. Asked what quality was most needed in submarine warfare for success, Britain's submarine ace replied, hmm, that's a nasty one. So I'll use a long word, imperturbability. That was an interview with Lieutenant Commander David Wanklin in the Times of Malta on 24 December 1941. We'll get to why he's being interviewed a little bit later on, but it's a favourite bit of journalism for me, I have to say that.

[A]

So welcome to we have ways of making you talk with me, Al Murray and James Holland for The second episode in our Siege of Malta series titled the Thorn in the Axis side. Because the thing to remember is that, that any place like Malta, you need to hold it, but you holding it is a problem for the enemy as much as the enemy attacking you is a problem for you, that there's a plus one, minus one here. The Germans don't just want it for themselves, they need it denied to the British because of what the British can do in the Mediterranean if they hold Malta. And in our last episode we laid out the rather parlous state of defences, the inertia from the pre war provision made in Malta and then the extremely aggressive spirit of the Royal Navy Mediterranean Fleet under abc, under Admiral Cunningham, which I think is a key note throughout the history of the Second World War in the Mediterranean until it sort of, sort of stops, when it stops. And I think what's really striking is that when we've talked about the Navy before, if we've touched on it, we've talked about the Battle of the Atlantic, really, which doesn't have this major encounter stuff going on in it. It's a. It's an increment, a war of increments. It's a game of cat and mouse. This is not a game of cat and mouse. This is the Royal Navy going, come and have a go if you think you're hard enough to the regime arena, pretty much giving the Italians a lot to think about. But as we also pointed out the last episode, Churchill's main worry is what happens when the Germans turn their attention and their professionalism in comparison with the Italians to this theatre. And this is where we got to at the end of the last episode with the attack, the attacks on Illustrious, the attempt by luftlotte10 to be much more serious in prosecuting the war against the British in Malta. So the Luftwaffe are in Sicily, but they're starting to have other fish to fry. Is the German problem at this stage of the war?

[D]

Of course, can't be everywhere. That is the problem. You know, raids are continuing, mainly directed at the harbors and the airfields. You know, there are daily occurrence. More and more people are living in shelters.

[A]

Now.

[D]

Suzanne Parlby, she's a young British Cypher clerk. She's had the opportunity to leave the island for. Actually, no, I'm not going to. I'm going to stay here. So she's working for Military Intelligence, first in the Auberge de Castile, which is in the main square in the center of Valletta, and then moving into the tunnels, the Lascaris tunnels, which have been dug underneath Valletta and she's living in the St. James's Hotel. And I mean, I remember her talking to her about this and she said, you know, it was terrifying. You had to use your willpower to quell the fear which would be trying to burst out from within. Showing your fear, of course, was unthinkable, but sometimes it was hard not to.

[A]

Wow, Jim, as a psych, as a simple psychological portrait of what it's like being under pressure, that's everything in it, isn't it? You had to use your willpower to quell the fear. I think people still think that, don't they, that showing fear is. You don't want to show fear, but sometimes it's hard not to. She's told you everything about herself and how, how it feels in three sentences there. I think it's amazing.

[D]

Well, and one time the raid, you know, the sirens went out and the bombers came over and a bomb hit the St. James's Hotel and they had all gone down into the cellars which they were hoping was safe, but the rubble came down and blocked their entrance so they couldn't get out. And they think, oh my God, you know, we're all going to suffocate. Full of dust and smoke and stuff. You can imagine how choking it was. They haven't got enough water, can't get out. They just think, you know, I mean, she said, you know, we all thought we were going to die, but the rescue people came and managed to clear it away and they did all get out and they were all absolutely okay. But there's also. I mean, what's amazing about this is there is a sing staffel. And for those of you who listen to our Battle of Britain series will remember that a staffel is supposed to be 12 planes, but very rarely is. But it has an establishment of 12 planes. 1 staffle of 109s, E7s of 7 staffel of JG 26 Jagdgeschwader 26 fighter group 26 are based at Jela on southern Sicily and they're led by Oberleutnan Joachim Muncheberg, who is a Battle Britain ace. Good looking chap, absolutely brilliant at it. And they are absolutely slaughtering the Hurricanes. I mean, the Hurricanes. Hurricanes are still struggling to get sort of half their height when Munchenberg and his mob are kind of diving out of the sun, sun behind them, hurtling down, just blasting them out of the.

[A]

Sky, picking their moment.

[D]

It is the woeful climbing rate that is the real problem of the Hurricanes. More than anything else. They just cannot get there in time. They always have the height and the sun advantage. You know, that's the truth of it.

[A]

What would really help on Malta right this minute? And we're gonna say it. This is.

[D]

This is what would really help. I'm not. We're not gonna do too much spitfuzz in this. We're gonna go into spitfuzz of a vengeance in episode three.

[A]

Okay, Spitfires. Things might be. The balance might be slightly different, but there we are.

[D]

And the numbers of Hurricanes on the island as a result are soon getting whittled down. You know, we've got five replacements from North Africa beginning of March and six on the 18th of March. But moments before they arrive, five hurricanes are shot down in a single action. It's not great, is it?

[A]

No.

[D]

The truth is, in those first months of February, March, April into May of 1941, Malta might as well have had no fighter planes whatsoever, because they're not doing any good whatsoever. Can't get into the sky quick enough. The airframes and the engines are all tired and overused. There aren't enough spares and they can't having to be sort of, you know, it's all make do amend. And, you know, Munchberg's men are just holding total mastery, you know, and the truth is there's many Luftwaffe planes left on Sicily, but they don't need it. Bombers are still coming over several times a day, so there's 107 raids in February and 105 in March.

[A]

The Luftwaffe know that they haven't really got to try that hard.

[D]

No point having more than a staffel. You don't need them.

[A]

Is there a final score for that Staafel? Them versus Malta?

[D]

Well, yeah, but I don't want to. I don't want to spell that out just yet. It's shocking.

[A]

We'll come to the final scores later. So those of you. So we haven't got to say, look away now if you don't want to see the result. But it's bad. Now, in the last episode, we introduced Adrian Warburton, who's the ace recce pilot. He's still got a thing about takeoff, though, hasn't he? I think you start, that starts to be the thing that you get every time you get the plane. Oh, God. I can do everything else. Yeah.

[D]

Is it like sort of playing cricket and getting the yips as a bowler, you just suddenly can't do it?

[A]

Exactly. Yeah. You know that. That recipe you can't crack. I always used to Have a problem with risotto. Just can't get it right.

[D]

Anyway, taking off is his big beef. There was a hilarious account of him taking off for a night operation. And, you know, they had flares on the path and he's zigzagging, so you can see, probably because it's a tail dragger. And he just crashes into all these hurricane lamps which are trailing fuel kind of across the airfield. Really funny, you know, he has this reputation for always getting his pictures. And by this time he's become Titch Whiteley, who you remember is the Reconnaissance Flight's commanding officer, the Aussie. And he's become his most trusted pilot. And more and more pilots and planes have been joining the flight. So 431 flight is now given squadron status, becomes more to second squadron, 69 squadron. In January, they're busy photographing Sicilian airfields and Warby is promoted. He's promoted to flying Officer and gets his DFCs. I think we mentioned the last one. And George Burgess, who you may remember is one of the original multifighter flight pilots. He now also joins 69 Squadron. And they also photograph an aqueduct in Puglia. Of course. This is Operation Colossus.

[A]

Wonderful.

[D]

We've talked about before. This is the first commando raid. Well, first sas, isn't it?

[A]

Yes, that's right, yes. Warburton discovers that there are in fact two aqueducts, not one as previously assessed. And he assesses the damage, of course, sees that they've blown the main pipe, but not the struts. But, you know, that's a very. Actually a very important event in the Allied war effort.

[D]

But also the Malta submarine base is also sent to go and pick up the commandos, but they're obviously recalled because it doesn't happen. But anyway. But, you know, throughout, you know, all the way up into May, agent Warburton and 69 Squadron crews are reporting the departure of the Luftwaffe. Yeah. So the last to leave are Munchebergstaffel. I can't stress it enough. It's one Staffel. The same day that the 249 Squadron who've arrived become operation at Tucali. 7JG26 flies over Malta for the last time and in two months they've shot down 42 Hurricanes for not a single loss.

[A]

That is very bad.

[D]

Muncheberg has shot. You know, he's an ex person, obviously. He's shot down 20 himself, done half of them. Can you think of a single example that better underlines the need for an improved aircraft to the Hurricane than that statistic? This is May 1941, by the way, this is a very, very early indication that Hurricanes are not suitable for Malta because of their low climbing speed. That is the problem. It's not that they're not as fast as modern planes, as we all know, they're wonderful gun platform, but they can't climb fast enough. And that is a major, major problem when you are defending Malta, which is 60 miles away from Sicily, which is a 15 minute flight. So if you can't reach 25,000ft in 15 minutes, you are useless. You can't do what you need to.

[A]

Do because the problem is the same problem that you had the previous summer during the Battle of Britain. It's the same problem, it's the same issue. So the solution you would imagine is the same. Yet Spitfires are being required for the RAF's fighter offensive over the northern coast of France, where they're being used in an offensive rather than a defensive role. And they're having a terrible time too. Is the truth that you take a.

[D]

Thib away and you'll send over Hurricanes? Here's an idea. Don't do rhubarbs. But my point is this, that there is ample evidence at this point in this comparatively early stage in the siege that the Hurricane is not cutting it. This is not some kind of post war revelation by historians studying this in intimate detail. This is something which is appreciated and understood by every single Hurricane pilot on Malta.

[A]

The ones are still alive, right?

[D]

And the RAF have a plane which can climb considerably faster than a Hurricane. Why are you sending any Hurricanes at all? What's the point? Because they're just going to get shot down. They're not achieving anything, so why bother? Why go to all this effort, this logistical effort of sending Hurricanes to Malta when they can't do anything? Why not? Why not think actually, what we really need here is something that could climb a bit faster. Oh, I know. Maybe some Spitfires would be a good idea. Anyway, Maynard is replaced and there's a new Air Officer commanding Air Commodore Hugh Pugh Lloyd, who then is almost immediately promoted to Air Vice Marshal. He is ex Bomber Command, he's not a fighter pilot and he is briefed to continue the offensive. Those of you who were listening to the Battle of Britain again, 249 Squadron, based first at Boscombe down, then at North Weald. We had the memories of Tom Neild that we included. Well, Tom Neild is still part of 249 Squadron. They joined 46 Squadron. There's also 261 Squadron, of course, so there's now three fighter squadrons on the, on the island. The numbers are growing and, and now the Luftwaffe is gone. I suppose the Hurricanes have got some chance.

[A]

Well, yeah, they got some chance because there's no threat.

[D]

But they still got, you know, they're still not able to climb quick enough to get to intercept even Italian bombers. So, you know, they're still the wrong aircraft for, for the scenario anyway. Starting to get really riled by this already. So annoying. It's so bad. Anyway, we should touch on what it, you know, what, what, what life is like on Malta at this time. I mean, you know, they've had their first dose of Luftwaffe medicine. ABC is frantically demanding reinforcements, but this is largely falling on deaf ears. It's the time of the blitz, of course, and you know, battle in North Africa and German invasions of the Balkans in March. And you know, Malta is one part of the Mediterranean theater. I would argue it's a very important one and I'm totally with ABC that this should be the priority of reinforcement and building up. But be that as it may, a three ship convoy does reach Malta in March with 24,000 tons. So that's all good. Rationing has begun on the island. There are food reserves on the island but no one has, you know, of course, you know, when you've got reserves that's great but you, you don't know how long you've got to reserve them for. So you know, you got to be careful. The biggest problem of course is kerosene because there isn't much electricity on Malta. There is electricity, but, but it's not universal across the board. So people are using oil lamps, which is kerosene. They're also using kerosene for cooking. And food obviously is really important. You know, this is a key thing. So kerosene has to be rationed and originally they, they ration it to half a gallon per person per purchase. But by May that is down to half a gallon per week per family, which is not very much actually.

[A]

No.

[D]

General conscription also introduced on 3 March in Malta, which hadn't been there until then, which I think is quite interesting.

[A]

That is very interesting, isn't it? Seems quite late in the day, doesn't it? But Jim, that must be the politics of it being. It's an imperial outpost. So actually whether you can conscript is quite difficult. But obviously once the place is being bombed regularly, it's a different decision, isn't it? A different situation. Things keep going though, don't they? The Times of Malta, which is owned by Mabel Strickland is reduced to four pages a day, but they get an edition out every single day.

[D]

Yes, and when I was doing that, they've got original copies. They've got original copies in the. In the central library in what is now Republic Square. It's fantastic building. You've got this huge sort of marble staircase and it's got this one big, long sort of rectangular room with a sort of mezzanine going around the edge of it. It's absolutely fantastic. Sort of old fashioned, you know, wooden desk with reading lamps and stuff. Anyway, I went through every single edition of the Times of Malta because it was only four pages long and it was absolutely tremendous. You know, that's where we got the interview with David Wanklen. But they have news, you know, and they also have news from the Rediffusion system, which is an island sort of intranet, I suppose you could call it a primitive intranet, is an island radio network. Some people have their own sets, but. But mainly they're, you know, on public places, you know, in squares and, you know, cinemas and all the rest of it. They have two switches, A and B, which is offering English and Maltese. And these are used for sort of delivering news, but also for air raid warnings, of course. And there's also a flag which goes as flags that go up. They have a series of flags on high positions over all the major towns, you know, in Sliema and Valletta and three cities and wherever. But clearly oil is the biggest shortage and that's the biggest problem. So civilian cars are ordered off the road, bus services curtailed, then taxis and motorbikes are also banned. And this is a problem because, you know, people have got to get from A to B. And it's also about delivering food and things like this. You know, there's only so many meals and so many bakeries and all the rest of it. So air raid shelters are already built, private cellars are requisitioned. So at the foot, down at the harbour wall, you know, down at the harbour quayside, underneath Valletta, for example, there's loads and loads of tunnels which originally used as sort of naval stores and shipping stores and warehouses and all the rest of it, they're now expanded into tunnels as air raid shelters. The great thing is, is the rock is the limestone is really soft underneath the surface. It only goes really, really hard once it's sort of baked by air and the sun. And so actually it's quite easy to chisel away and. But of course, nearly all of this is done by hand and you'll be pleased to know there was also an ENSA style concert party.

[A]

And they are a concert party in the sort of ENSA mold, led by a musical comedian, comedy act and also an English dancer called Christina Ratcliffe Warby. Despite his wife at home, I know she's long gone. Okay, well, that's all right then. Didn't want anyone's heart getting broken. And they're doing gags and songs and sketches.

[D]

Yeah, there's a great. There's a great line they have. You know, one of them comes on and goes, there's a lady without. And he goes, without what? She goes, well, without. Without food and clothing. Well, give her some food and bring her in.

[A]

I love it.

[D]

Yeah, I love it.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

And a very traditional clairvoyant, say, Madame Moya.

[A]

Yeah, she'd go into a trance and then she'd slap the volunteer and say, oh, so that's what you were thinking.

[D]

But he does this at one point to an Italian prisoner who's been allowed to go and watch. He doesn't know what the hell they're talking about, so he just slaps him and he bursts into tears on stage. Funny but sad.

[A]

At the end of the last episode, we promised submarine action in this episode as part of Malta's. Because a lot of what we've been talking about here is Malta on the receiving end. But actually, you know, although the Air Force are having a really, really bad time, the Royal Navy are getting themselves properly organized and it's submarines that take up the mantle of attack. Nelsonian attack in the Med, isn't it?

[D]

Yes, it is. But, you know, these are all new boys. That's the point. You know, they're new boys. They're actually comparatively inexperienced. While these guys arriving and they're operating in. Yes, okay. They've had a long journey from England in their U class submarine, but these U class submarines have not been tested in combat yet. So it's all new ground. Or new water, I suppose would be a better way of putting it. And, you know, the challenge is. Is a stiff one, I think it's fair to say.

[A]

Yeah. The thing to remember as well is these submarines. We've talked about this with U boats in episodes before. Are they submarines or are they really they submersible? Because they can't spend a long time underwater. It's batteries. When they're. Which will last 60 hours at a kind of walking place, the maximum speed underwater is 8 to 10 knots. But actually, you know, if they're gonna. If they're gonna go full pace the batteries don't last anything like that. They're spending their time always considering how far they can go, what they can do, how you know, when they can dive. Compare this to other ships. You know, most merchant vessels are doing between 8 and 10, 8 and 15 knots. But naval vessels are quicker. You know, Illustrious, the aircraft carrier we talked about in the last episode, could do 24 knots. Destroyers are meant to be quick. They could do 30 knots. Upholder on the surface. So as a, for instance, as a sub, you know, as a U class sub can do 11 knots on the surface, they're not compromised. But it's a diff, it's a different ball game to being a surface vessel.

[D]

It is, it's really challenging. It's really, really challenging. I mean, obviously the best way to do it is to catch an enemy. You know, best way to catch an enemy ship is lie and wait and see them coming because you're not going to catch them. That's the bottom line, you know, so the problem is at the beginning of 1941, you know, Bletchley, the government code and cipher school hasn't decoded the Italian naval codes at this particular point. So they don't know it, they're coming. So they've just got to go out on patrol and hope they bump into some Axis shipping, you know, but that's easier said than done. You know, Mediterranean is a big old place. I mean, you know, I was in Malta last week, as you know, and you know, you look out from Dingley Cliffs and all you can just see is blue forever. So one of the boats that's come over is HMS Upholder, which has literally just arrived a day ahead of the Illustrious and actually is in Frenchman's Creek, having its post trip to Malta, kind of refitting, getting ready for combat operations and is on the other side of Frenchman's Creek when Illustrious pulls in. So also miraculously doesn't get hit. I mean, it's just incredible. You know, it's quite, it's quite the wake up call. They're sent out on patrol for the first, their first combat patrol. And it is the first combat patrol of this crew. You know, David Wankling is a new submarine commander. He's been second in command actually previously to Shrimp Simpson, you know, the commander of the Malta submarine base when Simpson had been commander of HMS Porpoise. So they knew each other very, very well. You know, Simpson wants him to come over, but, but he's new to command. That's, that's the important thing to, to understand and you know, there's a huge number of considerations which come into play with any attack in a submarine, particularly in a U class submarine, which is smaller and slower than a, than a larger one, you know, so calculations need to be made, you know, take into account speed, range and course of the enemy ship you're trying to attack, as well as the speed, course and course of the submarine you're actually operating and the torpedo you're firing. So, you know, you've got a lot of things, a lot of moving pieces in this. And the captain has to make a number of visual calculations through the periscope. You know, the range is calculated by reading the angle between the water line of the target and the bridge of the masthead. But one of the problems that you have in a UCOS is it's got a really delicate trim. And what that means is if you're, if you're near the surface and the water is a bit rough because it's so small, it's lighter, so it gets buffeted around a lot more. So you need to keep it steady because you can't be wobbling all over the place. You're trying to make calculations about the size and scale of an enemy ship you're about to attack. And that's the problem. They do have some various bits of kit, so they've got the Aztec, of course, which we have mentioned many times, but I'm not sure that we've ever mentioned what ASDIC stands for, have we?

[A]

Well, well, it's a First World War innovation and I mean, this is the most fantastic acronym. It has literally nothing to do with the device because radar's radio detection and ranging right there. Asdic, however, is the Allied Submarine Detection Investigation Committee.

[D]

How can it be a committee when it's a piece of equipment on a U class submarine?

[A]

Every single time we say asdic, we're crediting a committee with important war work. I think it's the Allied way, right?

[D]

Say you're in your U class boat, you're wobbling around, you're desperately trying to keep your trim. So your number one, who is your first lieutenant, he would be in charge of controlling the submarine while the captain is glued to the periscope and having to make a series of calculations. So captain would call out estimates of dist distance and size of the enemy ship you're about to hit. Oh, I think that's an 8,000 tonner or whatever, and I think it's probably, you know, 5,000 yards away. You know, easier said than done. I mean, when you're looking through a periscope and again, you know, you're moving around all over the place. So these estimates would then be passed to the navigating officer, so he could then start to plot a course for a suitable interception between the boat and the torpedo and the enemy vessel. And the crucial factor is working out the director angle, the da, which is effectively, you know, in layman's terms, the aim off, firing it so that when the torpedo, the torpedo and the ship can converge, because the torpedo is effectively a mini submarine in itself. And it's most effective when hitting a target at 90 degrees, you know, actually dead straight into the side of it. Captain's continually refining his estimates and different information is being programmed into a kind of primitive kind of computer known as a fruit machine. And this would help produce the da, the director angle, the amoff. And when the captain is happy, then he'd give the order to fire. But I hope people are appreciating that. Having described, described all this, it is extremely difficult for accurate shooting. You know, it's really, really hard. And this is one of the reason that 20% of submarines account for 80% of the scores. It's a bit like being a fighter race. You know, there's very, very few. Most people just never quite master it.

[A]

Yeah, some people crack it and others don't. You do need to be daring and decisive. But you can be daring, decisive and miss as well, is the truth. It's really hard. I mean, I think what's interesting about this is the U class only has four. Four firing tubes and only eight torp.

[D]

Yeah, they're super cramped. They're so cramped. They're small. They're small, these things.

[A]

You can shoot your bolt quite quickly is the thing.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

You know, on, on a sortie, you can have a go miss and that's that, basically. And Shrimp has told the captains to fire at 2,000 yards or closer to get in nice and close to sort of, you know, reduce these probabilities in your favor.

[D]

Yes, and hold that thought. 2,000 yards is the prescribed distance from which to attack. 2,000 yards or close to.

[A]

Yeah, exactly. On the 26th of January, Upholder sees three merchant vessels, but they're two and a half thousand yards away with no hope of gaining distance. They fire twice at two, 2,500 yards a miss, and then two more at 3,000 yards and also miss. And as we said, they've only got eight torpedoes. That's half gone. But two nights later, at 900 yards, they hit a ship. You know, this is Nervous of steel stuff. They hit another one at two nights later, again from 4,000 yards.

[D]

They double the prescribed distance.

[A]

Yeah, which is good. That's good shooting though.

[D]

So they're off the mark. You know, they've got their score started.

[A]

But this just shows how constrained you are. You know, eight torpedoes, that makes a Hurricane or Spitfire sound luxuriantly armed with 303 rounds, doesn't it?

[D]

But the trouble is is none of them are doing very well because they're all new to this, they're new to the Mediterranean, they're new to operating, you know, they haven't trained on these submarines as fighting vessels. They're struggling with the trim, they're struggling with the shortage of torpedoes. It's incredibly difficult. And by the middle of February, upholder is only submarine at Malta submarine base just scored a single hit. It's just really, really difficult. And on top of that, Malta is now completely surrounded by enemy minefields and there's insufficient minesweepers to clear them. So every time they're leaving and coming back into harbour, they've got this problem as well. I mean, I cannot stress enough how difficult and challenging it is for these new crews operating out of Malta. I mean, really, to make matters worse, the Royal Navy in the Mediterranean at this time is still operating under pre war rules of engagement. This means there's restrictions against attacking merchant vessels without warning them first. I mean really unrestricted attacks are only allowed within 30 miles of Italy or Italian held territory such as Libya. So you can, you know, the ones he hits are within 30 miles of the Italian coast, which is obviously more.

[A]

Dangerous because there's air cover and all that for the Italians and it's bonkers. Yeah. And this means it's too late to stop the Afrika Korps getting to Libya who have come by sea. There's clear passage for the Africa Korps at this point point which they can't do anything about for this reason. I mean, this is where it's going to be a lot of this kind of gnashing of teeth. You did a bit of it earlier, Jim, about hurricanes that, you know, there are golden opportunities in the siege of Malta for Britain's war leaders and the people on Malta running the show and they miss them. There's never enough of anything on Malta. We need to take a quick break where we shall return with hopefully some good news from Malta. Jim Lap Holder finds its mojo. We'll see you in a second.

[E]

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[A]

Welcome back to we have ways to make you talk with me, Al Murray and James Holland. We're dealing with the siege of Malta right now and got to be honest, Jim, that last section was all a bit of a down.

[D]

Yeah, it's going to get better. Don't worry. Don't worry, it's going to get better. I think we should do a little bit of context so you know, Malta is completely married to the rest of the Mediterranean strategy, the rest of the Mediterranean campaign. What's going on in North Africa, what's going on in Greece and elsewhere. It's just absolutely part and parcel of the whole thing. So it's important to understand what's going on. So 23rd of February, that's the greatest British advance they have with the Western Desert Force under Dick o'.

[A]

Connor.

[D]

They get to El Agala, which is round the kind of bulge of Cyrenaica heading westwards towards Tripoli. But then in March the Western Desert forces stripped down of troops to go and help Greece. Britain's got old promises to Greece to support them on the 24th of March. That enables Rommel to then who's now over with his Deutsche Afrika Korps having got over completely untouched in February because of lack of strength on Malta, ridiculous pre war naval stuff and engagement rules and all the rest of it and the newness of the submarines. And so he gets her across intact. He starts his offensive and you know, between the 31st of March and 8th of April, the British are pushed all the way back across Iron Acre to Tobruk, and Generals Dick o' Connor and Neame, they're both captured. Then there's a bit of good news for ABC again. There's the battle of the night, Battle of Cape Matapan, which is a great victory for ABC in the Mediterranean Fleet. They absolutely trounced the Italians. So three Italian heavy cruisers sunk, two destroyers are sunk, 2,300 Italian sailors are killed for not a single loss to the Royal Navy. Then, on the 6th of April, Germany, with its new ally Bulgaria, invade Greece. 10th of April is the start of the siege of Tobruk in North Africa. 30th of April is the final evacuation of Greece. And then, of course, on the 20th of May is the German invasion of Crete. So while this is going on, it does mean, of course, that Malta is getting a bit of a respite because Hitler's decided to go for Crete rather than Malta. But, you know, the British are in a. Are in a bad way, really.

[A]

Yeah, when you put it all like that, this is a very, very, very bad start to the year.

[D]

Yeah. And, you know, and it's difficult for ABC trying to evacuate these evacuations, you know, and ABC reckons he's fighting on two fronts, you know, one at sea and one with the war chiefs back in London, you know, endlessly sending in missives demanding more from the Mediterranean fleet without much terms of material help. And while all this is going on, Axis supply lines are just cruising across the Mediterranean to North Africa. So there's sort of huge opportunities being missed all round. I. I mean, I think the Germans have missed a trick not coming in harder on Malta, and Malta are missing a trick by not coming harder against Axis shipping, is the truth of it.

[A]

Central to this is Cunningham's belief that Malta is the best place to launch offensive operations against Axis shipping. He doesn't just want submarines, he wants cruisers, destroyers. But the central issue is the lack of air cover. He could do this, but he'd have to do it at night for maximum speed. But fuel, I mean, everything's working against him, really. Fuel's running out, out. And he sends four destroyers to Malta under Captain Philip Mack of the Jarvis, which immediately sink five Axis merchant vessels in one one action. On 16 April, one of those destroyers is lost in action. But. So there is good news, particularly when Cunningham gets to do what he wants to do. It works and shows the potential of Malta as a base. However, the submarines still aren't quite delivering on their possible promise. Are they upholders? Not. Not doing very well. Well, they've hit nothing since sinking those two merchant vessels on their first patrol. They fire eight torpedoes on a patrol for the 13th to 14th of April and hit nothing. Not a thing.

[D]

They've lost it. Captain Roar, who is so. So the Malta submarine base is under the command of the first Submarine Flotilla, which is based in Alexandria and that is commanded by Captain Roar. And Captain Roar signals to Shrimp Simpson in Malta and he says eight torpedoes were fired without scoring a single hit. Hit. A result which can only be described as extremely disappointing. I mean, that's old school phraseology for Neil Poir, isn't it? I mean, you know, that's a really bad rap over the knuckles. And Toby Crawford, who was the number one chap I knew very well and he was just amazing guy, so he's his second in command, effectively, and he says, you know, there's absolutely no doubt about it that Simpson was getting really worried about this and he said, you know, he had absolutely no doubt that Shrimp had had a quiet word with, with Wanklin and basically the next patrol he gets sent down. It's kind of last, last chance, saloon time. He's got to come back with some scores or else he's being relieved of command. I mean, can you imagine it? Anyway, they're out at Sea on the 24th of April when they. They spot a ship. It's a heavily laden merchant vessel between the little island of Lampedusa and Tunisia and it's immediately assessed as enemy. And Wanklin gives a signal to start the attack.

[A]

So all crews are now at their stations. Wanklin's at the centre of the control room. Toby Crawford is number one. He's commanding control of the submarine. He needs very, very steady trim, but it's quite rough, so this requires absolute, total concentration. Next, the upright torpedo calculator was the torpedo officer. The navigation officers buy the fruit machine. You know, you look at pictures of the interiors of submarines, there are a billion dials all doing their own thing and you have to know exactly which one's which. And you need command of all of this information all at once. They have got to sink this ship. They have to do this. Wankman's staying calm. It gives the order to fire at 700 yards. So well within the prescribed distance. Two torpedoes. They can all feel the pressure on their ears as the torpedoes shoot from the boat's bow. BOAT LURCHES everyone's holding their breath. Seconds pass. 20 seconds, 25 seconds. Finally, there's an explosion. Upholders shaken by the blast. The lights on the boat flicker. A couple of bulbs are smashed. I mean, this is all straight from the movies, isn't it? There's a faint flicker of a smile on Wakeland's face. They've done it. Bingo. Almost immediately they have. They have new orders. They're to head to the Caerkina bank of Tunisia and finish off a destroyer on a supply ship that have run aground. Now, this sounds simple because obviously they've run aground, they've not got to chase them down. But the problem is he's very, very shallow. An Upholder will be vulnerable because difficult waters to navigate and difficult waters to hide in. Crawford says it was a kind of situation no sub mariner relishes. Again, the language of understatement. Here you reminded, you know, Suzanne Polby saying, showing your fears unthinkable. That's what's going on here. They get there the next day, they're submerged. It gets dark. They approach in the darkness. Both ships have been abandoned and it's actually too shallow for torpedoes. So they move alongside the supply ship. Wanklin sends in a boarding party. They pick up papers, they lay demolitions, the destroyers at even shallow waters and can't reach it. So it's into May, a few days later. Remember, this is 1941. The weather's rough as they run into a convoy of five Axis ships. Crawford's doing everything he can to keep Upholder steady. The periscope observations are really, really difficult. So now, Anne Wanklin, here he goes, right? He decides, despite the bad weather, obviously makes laying onto a target much more difficult. He fires four torpedoes at the enemy in just under a minute later there's three explosions. Two torpedoes have struck a German ship of 7,000 tons, which sinks immediately. A third one hits a smaller merchant vessel. The destroyers counterattack, but Upholder gets away. And in the First World War, there had been the tradition of submarines based in Malta to fly the Jolly Roger in the event of a successful attack. With a white bar for every fresh sinking. And shrimp. Simpson sees Upholder sneak back into the harbour flying the Jolly Roger with four bars stitched on and the crew on the bridge wearing their looted German helmets. I mean, come on.

[D]

Hooray. It's just brilliant.

[A]

Why watch Das Boot when you can.

[D]

When you can watch Upholder.

[A]

Exactly.

[D]

It's just. It's just terrific stuff, isn't it?

[A]

I mean, that, that's a Guy Ritchie film, them coming back in in their German helmets, isn't it? Well, he's missing a trick there. Come on.

[D]

Absolutely amazing.

[A]

So is there more good news, Jim?

[D]

Yeah, there is. It's not just the submarines which are finding their mojo, you know. The Fleet Air Arm is now operating from Malta, has been since January 830 Fleet Air Arm squadron operating from how far? Flying Fairey Swordfish. They're carrying out a series of night operations. So this is mine laying and torpedo strikes on the Libyan coast. So they've got to fly across the Mediterranean at night. And Nat Gold is a guy I got to know and he was at the time he was a 19 year old tag, a telegraphist air gunner who we mentioned in the last episode. And he arrived on multiple by ship the long way around. He got to Egypt, then transferred to a destroyer, HMS diamond, so part of the Illustrious fleet, you know, the Mediterranean fleet. When the Illustrious action reaches Malta the same day as illustrious, 10 January, he's starting to really mount up his operations. And you don't have as a tag, you didn't have a fixed pilot, you would sort of move around. On the 5th of May, he's sent to Tripoli with a mine strapped underneath. And these mines were known as cucumbers because they're sort of long and narrow. Just taking off from the airfield is fraught enough because there's so much sort of debris about. And actually earlier in February, eight men had been killed when one of the cue compasses accidentally exploded as they were taking off. So every time you're taking off from one of these, you're just sort of thinking, but try and not show your fear, of course. And they set off at 6:45pm there's clear weather over Malta, but it's cloudy over the Libyan coast. So they only managed to spot Tripoli when they could see the thin beam of searchlights waving around through the cloud. And the problem they have is that they worry that as they're approaching switching, the sparks from the exhaust have been seen. But on the Swordfish the exhaust is on the right hand side, on the starboard side. So they would always descend with the coast on the port or the left side so that people couldn't see it. So check this out, you descend to 4,000ft and then you cut the engine and then you glide down into the harbor with no engine going and you do this in silence so that you hope searchlight would take longer to spot them and, you know, less threat from flak. So you're descending into an enemy port with lots of flak searchlights without an engine, in an open cockpit at night, having flown across the sea. And then you drop the magnetic mine. Check this out. At a hundred foot off the deck. Yep. And then you hope that the engine will start again. There's always a cough and a splutter. And Nat Gold said to me, he said the old Pegasus engine never let us down. Although we always maintain that even if it did, the wings would start to a flap. Anyway, it did start again and you know, as soon as the engine started the flax, you know, the searchlights dig them out, the flak starts going off darts of tracer from the port and from a destroyer in the harbor and they make it back. But you know, goodness me, it's just incredible. Anyway, a few nights later they attack an Italian cruiser trailed by a Malta based Wellington. And they're attacking with torpedoes. And Nat and his pilot are the last in line to attack. And he's a new pilot and he's also only 19 years old. And by the time they get in to attack this ship, all the searchlights are on, all the flaks going every which way. They manage to drop their torpedo, fine. Don't hang around to see whether it hit, don't think it hits. And then they're given a kind of recognition flare on the water, which is their marker to where to turn north to Malta. But as they approach it, it goes out. So he then sees another one, he aims for that, and as they reach it, that one also goes out. So he's just thinking, you know, it's this new pilot, first mission, it's night time, they're in the middle of the Mediterranean, no idea where to go. They can't get back to Malta. They're just thinking, what the heck, what are we gonna do? So Nat remembers seeing a lighthouse on the coast which he spotted before. He says, let's use that as a marker. So they eventually find it, but then they see another one and another one and another one. They're thinking, oh my God, you know, I have no idea where they are. Having complete panic on so. So Nat then sends a coded message on his radio, but gets no answer, then sends an sos, gets no answer, then sends another SOS and gets a reply from Bombay telling him to keep off the net. I mean, all the way from Bombay in India. Absolutely incredible. And then just in the nick of time when they're really starting to panic, they get a faint signal from Malta. And on that they get their, you know, they're able to kind of navigate their way back home and they land back down and the new pilot gets out and hugs Nat and says he's so happy he's going to ask the CEO if he could always have him as his tag. Nat's thinking, yeah, thanks a lot. Amazing. I mean just amazing, isn't it? I mean those guys, I mean talk about nerves of steel.

[A]

Jeepers, yeah, everything all adds up in that, doesn't it? You know, he's a new pilot, it's at night, they don't know where they are.

[D]

They're 19. It's an open cockpit.

[A]

It, well it's the ocean to ditch into either. It's not like you're going to put down and hopefully some sympathetic peasants will put you on an escape line. I mean you're. That's it, isn't it? You go down, you're done, aren't you? There's no rescue boat coming for you. Towards the end of April on the 27th, we get more fighters. Jim, good news, there's some new fighters. 27 new fighter planes have arrived on Malta. But. There's a but, isn't there James? They're all hurricanes. We don't want to set him off again listeners, do we?

[D]

This is, this is 249 Squadron and 46 Squadron and yeah, I mean, you know one of those flying is aforementioned Tom Neil. He gets into a bit of a stew because just as soon as he gets he takes off from the Art Royal, he's still got his cockpit open, you know, the canopy open and all his maps just go, Christ, where am I going? Anyway, they managed to get it says it's like a little. Finely spots it like a leaf floating on the, on the sea which a lot of people say that. And anyway he makes it amazing that spring, you know, the planning section L section of the okay with the Oberkommando de Wehrmacht, the combined general staff is given the job of making plans either to invade Crete or Malta. And everyone within the AKW is unanimously agreed it should be Malta. But Hitler overrules this and recommends an OPS Crete reason because he wants to protect the oil fields in Romania. So that's that, that decision made. So they attack CRETE on the 20th of May, Duke forces beaten back again. As we know, ABC has to orchestrate his second evacuation as many months. In the process of these two evacuations he loses three cruisers, six destroyers, seven damaged including water, and loses 1800 men. You know, this is not good. And ABC says once again it has been borne in upon us that the navy and army could not make up for the lack of air forces. In my opinion, three squadrons of long range fighters And a few heavy bombing squadrons would have saved Crete. Well, yeah, probably right.

[A]

Yep.

[D]

But Upholder is on a roll. And while Crete is going on, Upholder is sent back out to sea. Trouble's brewing on Upholder because there's one torpedo has developed a leak, so that's out of action. So we've only got seven. They've got to maneuver it around. Then their asdic goes on the blink on day three, so they've got no asdic whatsoever, but they continue to patrol anyway. And on the evening of the 20th of May, they spot an Axis convoy. And it's quite a long way off, But Wanklin ordered three torpedoes fired at 7,000 yards, so that's more than three times the prescribed distance. It's a hell of a long way. And one of them hits and sinks a tanker. Three days later, they sink another MV. So he's now only got three left because one of them has ditched. So on the 24th of May, they're preparing to head back to base. This is amazing action. So Tubby Crawford is in the control room.

[A]

Jim, he's using the Force or something here. I mean, how is he doing this?

[D]

He's suddenly got the knack.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

So Tubby Crawford's in the control room, he's on the periscope, fading dusk light, suddenly spots something on the horizon. Realizes that after some time he's looking up at an enormous troop heading to North Africa. In fact, it's four troop ships and they're zigzagging to the west of Upholder. They're silhouetted against the glow of the setting sun. It's quite a swell. The trim is extremely tricky. They've only got two torpedoes left, not three, and the Asdic is still dis, so there's little chance of success. Toby Crawford thinks he's going to abandon it, but Wanks is a changed man and he goes, nope, we're going to go for it. It. So it's getting dark. He reckons it'll be harder for the destroyer screen to spot them. And he says the key is going to be getting as really close as possible and they're coming towards him, so he's got a chance to get really, really close. But it's extremely risky because even if they manage to hit something, they've then got to escape with this screen of destroyers. So they manage to maneuver into position as the convoy is coming towards them. They get so close they're in danger of being rammed. And actually they nearly are, because Tubby Crawford is frantically trying to keep the sub going and steady in this, in this SW&Wanklin's on the periscope and suddenly right in front of him, one of the destroyers looms in front of him. They have to rapidly dive and they're missed by a hair's breadth. And now they're inside the destroyer screen so they're literally point blank range. So they prepare to attack again quickly. Fire. TORPEDO streams and is and is spotted, but not before it hits the troop ship. There's a massive explosion and it starts to sink immediately. But now they need to escape and you know, the wrath of the destroyers is up. So getting out of there is entirely Wanklin's responsibility and he's constantly changing course and depth, occasionally stroking his beard, exuding calm. They hear the swish of the destroyers propellers going above them, you know, and I said, I remember saying to Tubby, God, you must have been absolutely terrified at this moment. He goes, well, we always sort of felt that they've got to get us on three different levels. You know, we're moving forward, moving sideways and up and down, so, you know, it's quite hard to actually hit us. Yeah, maybe, but you know, they're depth charged again and again and again and there's, you know, the submarines rocking, the corking is falling off, light bulbs are breaking, you know, needles on the gauges are jumping wildly, you know, an attack follows attack and eventually 37 depth charges explode around them between 8:05pm and 9:05pm One man goes mad, he gets demented, he loses his nerve, tries to escape up the conning tower, has to be forcibly restrained. You know, everyone's nerves are completely taught and then they hear this awful creaking and grinding sound and of course it's the sound of the troop ship breaking up and sinking. And eventually they surface at 11pm and all is quiet and all is calm, but all they can smell on the air is a sort of oily smell. They don't know it yet, but they've just sunk the Conti Rosso, an 18,000 ton troop ship and 1300 access troops.

[A]

Goodness. And you think if they'd been able to do this when the Afrika Korps was setting itself up, you know, earlier in the year. Wow.

[D]

But what an action. I mean, that is, that's incredible. That's proper. And you know, to get out of that, you need skill and luck.

[A]

Yes, you need luck and skill. But the Luftwaffe have gone for now, so there is a respite on Malta itself. You've got Italian bombers still coming Over. But it's mainly at night and they're not really hitting anything much, you know. There is a qualitative difference between the Italian and the Luftwaffe effort when it comes to Malta. Life is difficult though. It's very, very hot. Supplies are running short. There's disease, jaundice, sandfly fever. Medical supplies are running short. Life is hard, but people are manag, aren't they? And the summer and autumn of 1941 are really a chance because of reduced Luftwaffe effort to make the Axis really like feel it. So you've got more planes reaching Malta. You've got Blenheim's, you've got Wellington's, you've got the Malta Night Fighter Unit the end of July, which is eight Hurricanes painted black. They look great in a black color scheme, Hurricanes. By the way, it's not just the Defiant that looks great now. Very strong, very strong. And they're harrying Italian airfields on a nightly basis. And then Shrimp Simpson receives a message from abc. Kesselring has established HQ at Miramar Hotel, Taormina. Eliminate him, Kill him.

[D]

No messing about.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. But yes, this is a mark of ABC's style, his aggression, funnily enough. I mean, Wanklin had honeymooned Taamida before the war. Yeah.

[D]

So he's gonna go. He's gonna go. He's earmarked for this.

[A]

Yeah. The plan is he's gonna take some commandos there. Then they hear that Kessering's moved to the assassination plan is ditched.

[D]

It's a great story though, isn't it?

[A]

It's a great story. Eliminate him. At the end of June, a combination of 830 Fleet Air Arms, Squadron, Malta, Blenheim's, some Marylands from 69 Squadron and the Malta submarines are all coordinating an attack on a fast Axis troop convoy. Submarines can't get there because we said they're slow, but they hit two troop ships.

[D]

But it shows the coordination, I think. I think it's quite impressive, isn't it?

[A]

Well, it's ambition, isn't it? It's an ambition to turn things around and combine operations. I think that is really interesting. ABC also decides that he can use his larger submarines supplies from alex. So on 12 June, HMS Rorqual, which is a Grampus class mine laying submarine, which is 89 meters in length, so a big, much bigger boat delivers 2 tons of medical supplies, 62 tons of 100 octane fuel, 45 tons of kerosene, 24 passengers and 147 bags of mail. So that's quite the tally. Isn't it Three days of flying time in terms of aviation fuel so you can carry on with offensive operations.

[D]

Can I just tell you a story about that baby? HMS Rorkle. So HMS Rorkall was commanded by, by Lieutenant Commander Lennox Napier and Lennox Napier, when I was younger, used to play cricket for Fovent. Fovent's a village on the other side of the hill from where I live. And because he was so old, he always used to field at slip and bat at number 11. And we all, we all sort of go, oh well, batted Lennox, you know, and pat him on the back in a slightly patronizing way. Had no idea until I read his obituary of what he'd done.

[A]

Amazing.

[D]

And he was the commander of HMS R.A. rorkel on Malta. Can you believe it?

[A]

Incredible. So in June, 143 hurricanes arrive. Jim, but the Luftwaffe are absent anyway and they're Hurricanes so they do achieve air superiority for the first time since June 1940. You've got 249 squadron, 261, 185 and 126 all present. So four, four squadrons. A new convoy of six merchant vessels arrives Malta on the 24th of July. The island now has 94 heavy anti aircraft guns and 96 light anti aircraft guns. So gradually the defences are being sort of plucked, bumped up. Right, Here we go, 26 July, the Italians try to actually bring the attack to Malta. E boats come at the Grand Harbor.

[D]

Yeah, they're not Chanel Boot. I just want to say these are not Chanel Booter, these are Italian E boats. So they're, they're little, small, very fast torpedo boats and they become absolute hash of it. I mean it's just a disaster.

[A]

They're noisy, they're unsubtle, harbor defenses are too strong and they blow up a bridge connecting the breakwater. But it's all done in six minutes and every single one of them is destroyed. Destroyed.

[D]

Boom. Just like that. And everyone hears it. It's amazing. Literally everyone I spoke to heard, heard that attack. You know, it was sort of your searchlights going crazy, you know, and basically there was either side of, you know, there's guns now either side of the, of the harbour entrance at grand harbor and they just get absolutely pummeled. But I think the thing is this is, we're entering the kind of sort of golden moment of the, of the siege. This is the point where Malta is really becoming a thorn in the side of Hitler's plans in the Mediterranean because, because for the first time they got Air superiority over the island. No Germans on Sicily. Italians are kind of half hearted, not really doing very well. Strength of Malta has grown quite substantially and there's a clear pattern emerging that when Malta is being hammered, you know, the Allied forces in North Africa is not doing very well, rather. And when Malta is on the offensive, 8th army in Libya is also successful. You know, the success of Operation Crusader in November, December 1941 is a direct correlation with the huge offensive successes that happened in Malta that autumn. So the submarines are to the forefront of that. And on the 1st of September, the Malta Submarine base gets flotilla status and becomes the 10th submarine flotilla. And Shrimp Simpson is promoted to captain and Wankton's given a DSO and Tubby is given a dsc, a Distinguished Service Cross. And in mid September, this is just amazing, this episode. So mid September, intelligence arrives of an Axis troopship convoy heading from Italy to Tripoli. Upholder, Upright, Ursula and Unbeaten, four of them are all sent off to intercept. Operating as a wolf pack, Upholder is struggling with some kit again. Its subsonic transmission is on the blink this time, which is the means of rapid communications with the other boats. The seas are rough again as well, but Tubby Crawford spots the convoy first. And in the ensuing attack, arpholder sinks two troopships, the Neptunia and the Oceana, each of 19 and a half thousand tons. And this time, Wanklin keeps Upholder on the surface to watch. And they actually hit three chips. One is successfully towed away, one sinks quickly, and the third was dead in the water and is finished off by Upholder early the following morning with the sun behind her. And it goes down in eight minutes. Wow. I mean, that is something else, eh? Yeah. And this is why it becomes the most successful submarine the Allies ever have, because they're hitting these, you know, that's the Conti Rosso of 18 and a half thousand tons, and then two of these at 19 and a half thousand tons. Those are big boxes. You know, I remember Toby saying to me, I was saying, so, you know, ever sort of worry you a bit that you're kind of sending all these troops to their. To their graves? And he said, well, you know, our job was to stop reinforcements reaching North Africa. And by sinking these ships, this was achieved. But of course, you know, later, one does always think of the appalling loss of life. But, you know, war is awful. Can't really argue that, can you?

[A]

No.

[D]

As you can imagine, there's, you know, everyone's ecstatic back on Malta. And Captain Roar, do you remember he Was sort of, you know one can only be considered extremely disappointing. He's now signaling Simpson and going. Lieutenant Commander Wanker's devastating accuracy at 5,000 yards range in poor light and his ship yawing badly was almost unbelievable. And shows the highest skill. Not altogether unexpected from this most able officer. Something else, isn't it?

[A]

It's not almost unbelievable, it's totally unbelievable.

[D]

I mean totally unbelievable. But he did it.

[A]

Yeah, it's incredible. He's further reinforced though ABC in October he's given a sort of Coastal Command sort of equivalent 201 Naval Corporation Group Recce planes and 2 engine mediums bombers as well as force carrier at last which is a four ships fast naval force of light cruisers Penelope, Aurora and the destroyers Lance and Lively. Their job is to create mayhem. Based in Malta on the 8th of November. And one of the interesting things here is Ultra starts to kick in that there is some success attacking Axis codes. So. And a recce aircraft, although you know which order these things happen, the Ultra or the recce aircraft spots an Axis convoy off the tow of Italy the early hours of the 9th of November. It's a ten ship convoy with six escorts ABC the result was a holocaust for the Italians. Nine out of ten of the merchant vessels are sunk. The tenth is left ablaze. Three destroyers also sunk. This is amazing. Force K then becomes known as the Saturday Night Club.

[D]

I mean that is a total wipeout, isn't it? Can you imagine that?

[A]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so much of this is to do with how difficult it is to run a combination convoy to keep it all. And once you're attacked what do you do?

[D]

It's also really superior seamanship. I mean and gunnery. I mean these guys are just, they.

[A]

Don'T have the radar gunnery that the Royal Navy do. They can't answer it in the same way. Later that month Force Case sinks another convoy of a German ammunition ship and a tanker. And Count Ciano, who's the Italian foreign Minister and his mussolist's son in law, isn't he? He admits these attacks would have profound repercussions in Italy, Germany and above all in Libya. So them it's making, making the enemy sweat all of this stuff coming out of Malta. Tubby Crawford is then posted home in December to be sent on the perish of course. And then news arrives that Wanklin has been awarded the Victoria Cross.

[D]

Yeah, and this is for his action on the Conte Rosso back in May, the 24th of May. So while he's coming back into port from a combat Patrol and Shrimp has had the ribbon sewn onto Wanklin's jacket. You know, it's all supposed to be the big reveal, but he doesn't notice, doesn't notice till lunch. And then everyone sort of goes, you know, everyone goes, surprise. You know, you've won the vc, Huge celebrations, all the rest of it, which is just fantastic. And, you know, the truth is, by the end of the year, by the end of December 1941, then Malta is really, really hurting the access effort in, in Libya. And In November alone, 70% of all access supply sunk. And just. I just want to put this back in some context. At no point do the wolf packs in the Atlantic sink anything like that amount of shipping. I mean, you know, this is really on a big, big scale scale. And obviously the Germans aren't going to put up with it. You know, retribution is coming. Things are slowed down on the Eastern Front. You know, Hitler can afford to sort of shuffle his troops and his forces around a little bit more and send the Luftwaffe, which can't do much operating in on the Eastern Front in the middle of winter. And Luftwaffe too, arrived a single aim, which is to crush Malta. So having had this sort of comparative, relatively decent time of things for the past six months, it is just about to get a whole load worse.

[A]

Yeah. You know, there are now four squadrons of fighters on Malta. They've used the respite to reinforce, but probably with the wrong aircraft, as we'll see in the next episode. Thanks very much for listening, everyone. If you want to listen to all of these Siege of Malta episodes. Oh, it's a roller coaster, this, Jim. We go up, we go back down again, and the sort of iron law of war is that the enemy has a vote. And while they Luftwaffe have been absent, when they return, things are going to get a lot more serious again. But if you wanted listen to all these in one go, then join our Patreon, why not? And become a member in the next episode. Well, what have we got for everyone, Jim? We have got finally some Spitfires.

[D]

Right? Yeah, it is. It's Spitfire time. But it's another epic story. So looking forward to that.

[A]

An epic story. Thanks, everyone, for listening. We'll see you again very soon.

[D]

Cheerio, cheerio.

[G]

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