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Operation Pedestal

The Fleet That Battled to Malta, 1942

ebook
2 of 2 copies available
2 of 2 copies available

Renowned historian Max Hastings recreates one of the most thrilling events of World War II: Operation Pedestal, the British action to save its troops from starvation on Malta—an action-packed tale of courage, fortitude, loss, and triumph against all odds.
In 1940, Hitler had two choices when it came to the Mediterranean region: stay out, or commit sufficient forces to expel the British from the Middle East. Against his generals' advice, the Fuhrer committed a major strategic blunder. He ordered the Wehrmacht to seize Crete, allowing the longtime British bastion of Malta to remain in Allied hands. Over the fall of 1941, the Royal Navy and RAF, aided by British intelligence, used the island to launch a punishing campaign against the Germans, sinking more than 75 percent of their supply ships destined for North Africa.

But by spring 1942, the British lost their advantage. In April and May, the Luftwaffe dropped more bombs on Malta than London received in the blitz. A succession of British attempts to supply and reinforce the island by convoy during the spring and summer of 1942 failed. British submarines and surface warships were withdrawn, and the remaining forces were on the brink of starvation.

Operation Pedestal chronicles the ensuing British mission to save those troops. Over twelve days in August, German and Italian forces faced off against British air and naval fleets in one of the fiercest battles of the war, while ships packed with supplies were painstakingly divided and dispersed. In the end only a handful of the Allied ships made it, most important among them the SS Ohio, carrying the much-needed fuel to the men on Malta.

As Hastings makes clear, while the Germans claimed victory, it was the British who ultimately prevailed, for Malta remained a crucial asset that helped lead to the Nazis' eventual defeat. While the Royal Navy never again attempted an operation on such scale, Hasting argues that without that August convoy the British on Malta would not have survived. In the cruel accountancy of war, the price was worth paying.


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    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from April 19, 2021
      Military historian Hastings (Operation Chastise) delivers a sterling account of the August 1942 mission to bring food, oil, and other supplies to the besieged island of Malta. By December 1941, when the Luftwaffe launched a months-long bombing campaign against the island, Malta was the sole “haven” for British naval and air forces in the Mediterranean between Gibraltar and Alexandria, Egypt. After numerous failed attempts to bring relief to the islanders, 14 merchant vessels set sail from Scotland and met up with 50 warships to make the journey across the Mediterranean. The convoy was bombed, torpedoed, and even rammed by German and Italian planes, submarines, and motorboats. Some heavily damaged vessels returned to Gibraltar, overloaded with survivors from sunken ships, while the rest of the fleet surged ahead in “two vague and straggled columns.” Hasting details heated disagreements between commanders on both sides of the conflict, and pays close attention to chaotic events, including a near-mutiny and the looting of food and rum, aboard the USS Ohio, an oil tanker that eventually limped into port at Malta “with the wrecks of two enemy aircraft protruding from her deck piping and derricks.“ Buoyed by prodigious research and vivid prose, this is a brilliant illumination of one of WWII’s most dramatic episodes. Agent: Andrew Wylie, the Wylie Agency.

    • Library Journal

      April 23, 2021

      During April-May 1942, the Luftwaffe dropped more bombs on Malta, where the British had a bastion, than landed on London during the entire Blitz. Launched in August to deliver supplies to the stranded troops, Operation Pedestal managed to get through only a few ships, but Malta remained in Allied hands. With a 75,000-copy first printing.

      Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Kirkus

      Starred review from April 1, 2021
      Veteran military historian Hastings' first full-length narrative of war at sea measures up to his usual high standards. The author reminds readers that summer 1942 marked the low point of the war for Britain. "The British people were weary," writes Hastings, "especially of the defeats that seemed to be all that their bellicose prime minister could contrive." Particularly humiliating were the surrenders of Singapore and Tobruk to inferior forces. Britain's 8th Army remained on the defensive in Egypt, menaced by Rommel's Afrika Korps, whose major difficulty was obtaining enough supplies from Europe. As Britain's sole military possession between Gibraltar and Alexandria, Malta was vital, and its planes and submarines wreaked havoc on Axis merchant ships. Efforts to neutralize the island accelerated in 1942 when the Luftwaffe arrived to join Italy's air force, dropping more bombs than it had on London during the Blitz. By summer, the island was devastated. British leaders debated whether or not Malta was worth defending, but Churchill had no doubts. As a result, on Aug. 10, 1942, 20,000 men and "the largest fleet the Royal Navy had committed to action since Jutland in 1916 entered the Mediterranean to fight an epic four-day battle." Named Operation Pedestal, the mission aimed to protect 14 merchant vessels carrying desperately needed food and fuel. Vividly chronicling the sinking of the aircraft carrier Eagle, Hastings initiates 250 pages of gripping fireworks and insights that continue well past Aug. 15, when five battered merchantmen limped into Malta's harbor. Real-world war is sloppier than the Hollywood version, even more so under the author's gimlet eye. Heroism was in abundant supply but not universal. Through Hastings' keen analysis we see how commanders on both sides showed as much bad judgment as intelligence. Belying Italy's reputation for incompetence, its naval fleet inflicted more damage than Germany's. Two months later, El Alamein and America's North Africa landing took the pressure off Malta, again calling Pedestal's sacrifices into question. Another enthralling Hastings must-read.

      COPYRIGHT(2021) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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