Due to its strategic location in the center of the Mediterranean Sea, the island of Malta became the scene of intense fighting. Malta gained particular importance during the Second World War, serving as a crucial base for the British Royal Navy. Winston Churchill would later state, “Never was so much owed to so few… Malta’s strategic value had never been greater than during the last war.”
As early as June 1940, Italian aircraft began bombing the island. Fierce aerial combat took place over Malta, involving, among others, Italian Fiat CR.42 Falco (“Falcon”) fighters and British Sea Gladiator Mk.II biplanes. The Fiat CR.42 was the main fighter aircraft of the Regia Aeronautica during the early period of WWII. Produced at the Fiat plant in Turin from February 1939 to June 1944, a total of 1,782 aircraft were built.
The Gloster Gladiator, in turn, was the last British biplane fighter. It was operated by the RAF, the Royal Navy (from both carriers and land bases), and the air forces of several other countries. The defenders of Malta used the Sea Gladiator Mk.II variant, which featured a three-bladed propeller, lifeboat housing, and an arrestor hook for carrier landings (the hook was removed on land-based aircraft).