April 1942 was the worst month in the Siege of Malta in the second world war, bringing unprecedented death and destruction to the island and robbing it of some important historic buildings.   

In that month alone, enemy planes flew some 9,500 sorties over the island and 282 air raid alerts were crammed into the month. Over 6,000 tons of bombs were dropped which left 11,450 buildings destroyed or damaged.

The destruction left by the German bombs dropped on the Capuchin church and friary in Floriana, 75 years ago today.The destruction left by the German bombs dropped on the Capuchin church and friary in Floriana, 75 years ago today.

75 years ago today - Easter Sunday - saw the destruction of Floriana’s historic Capuchin church and friary, built in 1588.

The statue of St Francis of Assisi, produced by Salvatore Dimech in 1838, which embellished the square in front of the church as well as the old clock on the friary facade, were not spared.

Designed in 1788 by Maestro G.B. Tanti of Tarxien, the clock stopped ticking half an hour after the friary was hit, at 2.33pm. This event was captured in one of the classic photos taken at the time.

This was not the only time that the Floriana Capuchin friary had been targeted. On February 6, 1942, at 12.30am one of its main corridors together with the refectory and part of the kitchen collapsed into the underlying water reservoir. A second attack was unleashed on April 4, at 11.30am, resulting in further destruction.

Also destroyed was the crypt, where friars used to be buried.

The crypt and church were rebuilt between 1953 and 1955 but most of the funerary remains in the crypt were lost. 

OTHER BUILDINGS LOST

April 1942 saw devastation all over Malta.

Notable buildings which were destroyed in April 1942 included the Opera House and the Auberge de France in Valletta and St Publius Church and King George V (Boffa) Hospital in Floriana. 19 people died as they sheltered in the crypt of St Publius church.

Also hit and damaged in Valletta were the Palace, the Auberge de Castille, Auberge d'Aragaon and the Auberge d'Italie, St Augustine Church, the offices of the Times of Malta and many houses, particularly in Old Bakery Street. 

The Cottonera continued to be pounded, with bombs hitting the historic Clock Tower and St Lawrence Church in Vittoriosa.

16 died when the Corradino tunnel was hit. 

In Sliema, 22 died when the Franciscan friary and Sacro Cuor church were it. A further 18 people died trapped in a shelter in Tarxien.

In Luqa 32 died when the parish church and surrounding buildings were hit, including 23 trapped in a shelter. 

Many also died when Villa Rosa, in St George's Bay, was hit but scores of people were spared when a bomb which hit Mosta dome failed to explode.

Mqabba Church, however, was severely damaged.

There were many casualties in other towns and villages. Among them were 12 were killed when a row of houses was hit in Hamrun.

Floriana parish church bombed.Floriana parish church bombed.

Bombs also hit Zurrieq, Safi, Kirkop, Balzan,  Naxxar, Nigret, Rabat, Marsa, Zabbar and the military hospital in what is now Sandhurst School (Pembroke).

Pinto Stores (now Valletta Waterfront), forts St Angelo and St Elmo, Manoel Island, the old railway tunnel and St Vincent de Paule Home were also hit.

Malta was awarded the George Cross on April 15, 1942, at the height of the April blitz, but all was almost lost a few days later when Spitfires flown to Malta from the American aircraft carrier Wasp were destroyed on the ground.

A few days later, in May, the Wasp made another ferry trip, and this time the Spitfires were turned around and put back in the air within a few minutes to face the oncoming enemy bombers in what - along with the Sta Marija convoy in August 1942 - proved to be the turning points of the Battle for Malta. 

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