Stranded in Malta by Ron O'Keefe
Special to the GEORGIAN

I was one of the "First 200" Newfoundlanders to enlist in November 1939, at just 20 years old. Churchill said "send me Newfoundlanders", because we were known as small boats men and that's what he needed.
We never had any training or anything, but when we landed in England on December 15, we were the first troops from the entire Empire to set foot there.
I came home from the British Navy with nine medals, but the one that tells the best story is my Maltese Star.
After a while, I got fed up with boarding boats in Greenock, just outside of Glasgow, so I put in for a course and went to torpedo school - became a Leading Torpedo Operator. I was put aboard the Manxman, the only Newfoundlander on her. She was a mine-laying cruiser, one of the fastest in the fleet.
We sank a few boats in the Mediterranean and then were sent to Gilbraltar to pick up some troops and once we had them safely down below, we ran on to Malta. It only took us 11 hours. And then we did it again, three or four times, before we arrived back in Malta and got our first shore leave in five or six weeks.
I was among the first group to go ashore and, while we were there, the Italians came with a big air raid and the ship had to haul out and leave us. Malta was being crucified because Italy was so close, and they flew over dropping bombs all the time.
There was nothing on the island, no food, nothing. We were given a tin of corn beef to do us a week. I couldn't sleep, never really got a chance to sleep. We stayed in little huts on the hills and manned the anti-aircraft guns. Three months I was there and let me tell you, it wasn't easy.
To see the people, how they were suffering on Malta, was pitiful. The whole island only had about 15 or 20 sailors, and a few army guys, and we hardly had any ammunition. The Italians just came in hordes, dropping bombs everywhere, all because Malta has a dry dock where the Mediterranean fleet would bring their ships for repairs.
I was frightened all the time. The siege of Malta was the worst I've ever seen and all we could do for the people was to help bury their dead. They never had anything, not even a chance.
Finally the British got a convoy into Malta, three battleships - and they managed to break up the siege. I was put aboard one of those battleships and made my way to Alexandria, in Egypt.
By the time the war ended, I was off the coast of Norway. We went ashore and found about 60 German U-Boats on the docks, just waiting to be put out to sea. We hauled them out and destroyed them; by the time we were done, the war was two weeks over and - with my wife Barbara, from London - I finally came home.