The Second Great Siege

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the involvement of the 1^st Cospicua Scouts’ Pipe Band in the Epiphany Procession.  Today I am writing about another event in which the band recently played its part, although this one is far more sombre.

The occasion was the remembrance of the afternoon of 16^th January 1941, when Birgu suffered one of the most devastating air raids of World War Two. Malta’s bombardment is known as the Second Great Siege, and by 1941 Birgu had already suffered prolonged bombing at the hands of the Italian Air Force.  A large proportion of the city’s residents had been evacuated to more rural parts of the island, and of those who stayed, many families were living in shelters dug into the Knights’ defensive fortifications.

Despite the destruction already caused, Birgu had not relinquished its position as the British Royal Navy’s Mediterranean base.  Understanding the fragility of their North African supply lines, not to mention the vulnerability of Sicily from attack from the south, the Axis powers strengthened their offensive against Malta.  January 16^th 1941 saw the first of many bombardments by the German Luftwaffe.  The primary target was the already damaged aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious, which had returned to the Grand Harbour for urgent repairs only a few days earlier, but the impact was felt more widely.

When the air raid siren sounded, many of those families that had stayed in Birgu took shelter in the sacristy of the Church of St. Lawrence. Over seventy Stuka dive-bombers carried out the attack, and such was the intensity of the bombing that there was a large amount of collateral damage.  Over 200 houses in the Cottonera were reduced to rubble and many more were damaged.  The chapter hall and sacristy of the church were both destroyed.  Over thirty people lost their lives.

This tragic day was commemorated on 16^th January this year with a Mass celebrated by the Archpriest, with the participation of the Collegiate Chapter. It was followed by a procession led by the 1^st Cospicua Scouts’ Pipe Band, and involving the Collegiate Chapter, Birgu Local Council and representatives of various local organisations.  Following the procession there was a short ceremony, with the placing of wreaths at the foot of the Monument of Remembrance, and the playing of the Last Post.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn;

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning,

We will remember them.