It was a hot and still night on the small Mediterranean island of Malta on the evening of June 23rd, 1565.

A Christian century patrolling at the foot of a fort on the Grand Harbor had spotted something drifting in the water and

raised the alarm.

For days this century had seen the fires of the battle raging only a thousand yards across

the water at Fort St. Elmo and he could smell the stink of death coming across the water

The sounds of battle had died out meaning the tiny garrison at St. Elmo had been overrun, but the fires still lit the sky.

Death was surely headed their way now.

The alarm was raised.

More of these strange objects drifted into view, and now men waited into the shallows to drag them to the shore.

What they found horrified even these battle-scarred veterans,

the headless bodies of their Christian comrades who had

died defending Fort St. Elmo. Their bodies were crucified on wooden

crosses which had been pushed out by the enemy to float in the harbor.

The intent of this terrible act was obvious.

To demoralize and terrify the Christian warriors,

the Turks and the Christians had been at war for years in and around the Mediterranean Sea,

with the Turks having destroyed half the Christian fleet at Jirba,

and having raised Malta and from the Turkish armies. But these new forts were now falling under the onslaught of 40,000 crazed Turks and their conscripts

thirsty for revenge.

And now the target was the one remaining fort on the harbor front where the beleaguered,

outnumbered and overwhelmed Christians were still holding out, the Fort St Angelo.

The Turkish commander wished its defenders to know that they would be next, that a horrible death was the only outcome of continued resistance.

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