British author Susan Hudson’s UXB Malta reveals what it was like to work with the bomb disposal unit in Malta during the war. She speaks to Rachel Agius.

The mention of World War II brings with it images of destruction, hunger, suffering and fear. Malta was heavily bombed during this time but I was shocked when Susan Hudson, the author of UXB Malta, described just how badly our island was hit.

“Seven thousand and three hundred bombs hit Malta in two years,” she explains.

The book is a narrative that centres around the work of the Royal Engineers Bomb Disposal, a small group of men whose job it was to make safe the thousands of ordinances that peppered Malta.

Hudson first visited Malta in order to accompany her father, Lt Carroll, who served with the unit.

She had listened to his stories about his experiences before but her interest was intensified when Lt Carroll was interviewed and Hudson realised there was much more to the tale than she’d imagined.

What began as a family history of sorts turned into the first drafts of the book. Hudson used survivor accounts, war diaries and journals to piece together the past and give the reader a sense of what it was like to risk life and limb everyday in the interest of civilian safety. The numbers alone were unbelievable.

“Greater London, roughly the same area as Malta, had a unit of about 100 commissioned officers, each with 30 men under his command. Malta had two commissioned officers, one of whom was my father, and the entire unit consisted of 30 men,” Hudson says.

Day in, day out, in the winter cold or stifling heat, these men faced a variety of bombs and often had to be creative in their techniques.

“The Opera House had been targeted with anti-personnel bombs; they are designed to detonate when moved. My father had to rig up a string and pulley system to relocate them safely,” she says.

Writing the book took its toll on Hudson. While writing about one period in particular, the one between January and April 1942, Hudson found she couldn’t sleep.

The magnitude of the events that were being revealed through civilian accounts and archival data was beginning to sink in and the reality of the situation became even more real to her.

Some men went on to work in bomb disposal units elsewhere once the one in Malta was decommissioned, giving them the opportunity to talk to others in their same situation and helping them deal with the experience.

Others did not have that opportunity. Some of the interviewees had not had the chance to talk about what happened to them, having locked away the memories in order to carry on with their lives.

Hudson recalls talking to the wife of one of the men who served in the unit. “She said he was a changed man; they went on to have a long and happy marriage but he was never quite the same,” she recounts.

The aftermath of the bombings is still evident today; most of the Three Cities had to be rebuilt and the Opera House site is being tackled today. The intensity of the bombings is something which often shocks readers.

“Nowadays, bomb disposal teams in Iraq and Afghanistan make the news when they encounter 10 or 20 explosive devices. During some periods, Malta was hit by about 93 bombs per day,” Hudson says. “Most people cannot believe there is anything left of the islands.”

To give the book a more realistic feel, Hudson visited Malta, taking in the layout of the towns and villages recorded in the notes kept by the unit, along with details such as the type, location and orientation of bomb and fuse.

Facts were combined with the human element, converting army documentation into a story that lets readers feel as if they were standing next to the men as they surveyed the devices they had to deal with.

“I wanted the reader to feel part of the experience of finding, reporting and dealing with a bomb,” Hudson says.

Hudson visits Malta frequently; most often in April to watch the George Cross re-enactments, which help give her a taste of the atmosphere of post-war Malta. Another special occasion was also to be celebrated.

“April 22 is my father’s birthday and it also marks 70 years to the day that he began his work with the Royal Engineers, aged 23,” she smiles.

When one thinks a little about what 23-year-olds consider stress-ful nowadays, it highlights even further the sacrifice and courage of the Royal Engineers in wartime Malta.