Malta Spitfire Pilot: A Personal Account of Ten Weeks of War, April-June 1942

‘The Germans had watched our arrival on radar and that afternoon all Hell broke loose over the Maltese airfields. In spite of strenuous efforts by the fighters and antiaircraft gun defenses, the Ju 87 and Ju 88 dive-bombers and strafing Messerschmitts managed to damage and destroy several of the newly delivered aircraft on the ground.’

Malta Spitfire Pilot is the journal of Flight Lieutenant Denis Barnham, who arrived on Malta as an inexperienced pilot, but grew into a battle-hardened Spitfire ace over his grueling two hundred operational hours between 13 April and 21 June 1942.

Malta was of great strategic importance to the Allies, and was pivotal to their success in North Africa as it provided the perfect launching pad for aircraft to attack Axis supply ships in the Mediterranean. the island in turn suffered intensive bombing by the German and Italian air forces as a direct result.

This memoir was written by the author as he and his fellow pilots battled against terrible odds and under constant attack. His words reflect honestly the sheer terror of flying from Malta.

Denis Barnham specializes in the history of military aviation.