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Charles Bezzina: Wartime Gozo 1940-1943. Self-published, 2014. pp 75.

In this outstanding publication, it is evidently clear that Charles Bezzina, poet-historian of wartime Gozo, has in-herited his late father Frank’s undoubted erudition and literary flair.

The documentary material he possessed of the Gozitans’ ordeal in the war years was also supplemented with unpublished material which he masterly compiled in a graphic account augmented with an array of photographs.

At the heart of the book is the social revolution caused by the war that disturbed the peace and serenity of enchanting rural Gozo.

Since his first book in the war series we have come to know about secret meetings at the highest level even before the clouds of war were looming over Gozo.

It has to be established that the author and myself are worlds apart when it comes to direct wartime experience: in fact we could be described as the yin and yang of World War II.

Bezzina relates to wartime Gozo as hardly touched by war until 1942, a haven for many Maltese refugees who sought the relative safety of our sister island.

I, on the other hand, was a precocious teenager living in the squalour and misery of a major target-zone in the Vittoriosa ditch, where the spectre of starvation and death was too painful to be divulged. It was kept under wraps in order not to demoralise the rest of the island.

As I was reviewing the book I could not help noticing historical parallels – how history repeats itself. On July 5, 1565, a few days after the fall of St Elmo, with the Christian forces greatly depleted and on the verge of surrender, a small force known as Il Piccolo Soccorso (The Small Relief)) managed to enter the besieged city of Vittoriosa.

By sheer coincidence, the author reveals that on July 5, 1942 a very urgent and secret war cabinet meeting was summoned at the palace by the Governor of Malta Lord Gort.

At the heart of the book is the social revolution caused by the war

The officials present included Mgr Michael Gonzi, Bishop of Gozo who, after hearing the governor’s impassioned account about the dire need for flour and other foodstuffs and that Malta was threateningly inch-ing towards surrender, Gonzi promptly offered all possible help from his diocese.

Gonzi was highly respected by the Gozitan community and his appeal to the Gozitan farmers resulted in stemming the threat of surrender for six weeks, until the Santa Maria convoy arrived on August 15, 1942 as immortalised by the tanker Ohio limping defiantly into the Grand Harbour, supported by tug-boats, to the wild cheers from the surrounding bastions.

In the meantime, Piccolo Soccorso gave us some relief, a welcome breathing space that saved Malta and, subsequently, prevented the central Mediterranean from falling to the Axis Forces .

Bezzina underlines Gozo’s long-standing maritime traditions, as hundreds found a watery grave in the service of the realm, both on merchantships and the Royal Navy .

The photographs and brief biographies of some of these intrepid mariners offer a gripping account of what they had to endure and accomplish.

But pride of place goes to the Gozo boats that daily crossed the Comino channel or ventured out to sea to Valletta.

In spite of their vulnerability, being a sitting target to the Luftwaffe, these boats ferried vital food supplies to beleaguered Malta, risking their lives, as they were continually targeted by gunfire or bombed, as the enemy planes hurriedly ditched their bombs at sea.

As there is renewed fascination with this turbulent period of our checkered history, Bezzina’s book will be a most welcome addition to our war Melitensia.

I have no doubt that, like his previous publications, especially Meta Karbet is-Sirena (When the Siren Wailed), this little gem will soon be out of print.

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