One of the three that defended the island.
John Haslam โ CC BY 2.0 ยท U.S. Secretary of Defense โ CC BY 2.0 ยท U.S. Secretary of Defense โ CC BY 2.0 ยท Hnapel โ CC BY-SA 4.0
Its position between Sicily and North Africa made it a British base cutting Axis supply lines to the desert; Germany and Italy tried for two years to break it by bombing and starvation.
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The fort that held a month and changed history: St Elmo stands at the tip of the Valletta peninsula between the two harbours, and in the siege of 1565 its small garrison held the Ottoman army for thirty-one days and died almost to the last man โ but the delay exhausted the attackers and saved Malta, and Valletta was built around the fort after the victory. Today it holds the National War Museum: from Bronze Age arrows and knights' armour to the fort's cannon, its heart the Second World War when Malta became the most bombed place on earth (three thousand raids in two years) โ with the George Cross awarded by Britain's king to the entire Maltese people in 1942, still on the national flag, and the famous Faith, one of the biplanes that defended the island. The bastions and courtyards are walked with views over both harbours, and the costumed In Guardia historical display runs on set days.
One of the three that defended the island.
Views over both harbours at once.
Triq il-Mediterran, Valletta