Hello, and thank you for listening to The History of World War II podcast, Episode

375, Starvation, and Petriot.

Last time, on May 10, 1942, Field Marshal Kesselring had told Berlin in regards to Malta,

there was nothing left to bomb, which was true enough, but the island and its inhabitants

were still defiant, just starving, and though Kesselring still wanted to invade, he was

waiting for Debrook on North Africa's coast to fall back into the hands of the Axis,

which was about to happen.

For now though, he would let Starvation do his work for him.

Not that those on Malta knew this, to their thinking the invasion was coming any day now.

Yes, the Ayrotax had decreased as had the Nightbommings, but Kesselring had been right.

There was little left to bomb.

And yet, each day the invasion did not come, but the depravations continued, there was

a chance that the Maltees people would rise up and say, all right, that's enough.

We want to surrender for surely there will be food given to us by the Italians, to Lord

Gort, the new governor, and to hue pew the air officer commanding.

This was a real possibility.

The question was how to counter this.

No one in uniform wanted to attempt to force loyalty from the locals, so the only other

option was to make sure there was enough food, at least to survive on, for the moment.

Which would mean, ironically, more restrictions, a delicate balance indeed.

Given Malta's proximity to Italy, there was a strong connection and long history between

the two, but overall the Maltees were currently pro-British and endured this suffering with

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