War-related accidents involving armed vehicles
In June 1940, there were no armored vehicles on the island except for Universal carriers, or as they are better known, Bren Gun Carriers. The Maltese landscape, with its narrow country lanes, countless rubble walls and rocky ground, was hardly ideal for these tracked vehicles.
There was also the fact that their Ford VIII engines were picking up what scarce petrol supplies were available. Their soft skins were vulnerable to anything but small arms. Despite this, troops were involved in what was available, and Bren Gun Carriers were used by infantry units to carry ammunition, for training and during maneuvers.
The war was barely a month old when Bartolomeo Sammut, 36, of Naxxar complained that soldiers from an unknown regiment had occupied his field, Turba, Mosta, and Bren Gun Carriers. their locusts were damaged. trees, demolished rubble walls and then built walls in different parts of his fields. He wanted compensation of £ 10.
In August 1940, Paul Vella, 41, from Mellieħa, reported that the 2nd Royal Irish Fusiliers Battalion entered his field in Ramla tal-Bir with Universal carriers. Their tracks shattered the rural lanes, crumbling walls and flattened vines that were filled with ripe grapes.
There were also road accidents. On October 20, 1940, a member of the Royal Irish Fusiliers was changing Bren Gun Carrier No. 7099 when he struck and pulled down a small portion of the Jubilee Esplanade’s parapet wall, Mgarr, and caused damage of 10 / -.
Another incident that could have had much more serious consequences took place three days later in Sliema. Corporal C. Whitlock of the 2nd Battalion Royal West Kent Regiment was driving Bren Gun Carrier No. 7078 through Sliema Wharf and when he turned onto Tower Road, the tracks lost control of the road. The carrier skidded, climbed onto the pavement and hit a pram carrying an eight-month-old baby, Charlie Mifsud. The unbridled mother, Josephine, grabbed her son from the street. A doctor certified that the boy was suffering only from bruises on his head. Father of the child, Felix Mifsud, of No. 141, Rue D’Argens, Island, asked the police not to take any action against the driver of the armored vehicle.
In May 1941, a Bren Gun Carrier HMH 317, driven by Staff Sergeant George Everidge of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps, also skidded in Sliema, colliding with a motor vehicle parked on the side of the road. The van was taken to the ROAC workshop for repair.
Carts, omnibuses and cabs have sometimes come face to face with these steel monsters. In July 1941, Anthony Borg, 58, from Sliema, was driving his cart from Triq il-Wied, Birkirkara, to Balzan, when three “armed cars” passed in the opposite direction. His horse bounced back and ended up on a bicycle driven by Edward Galea, 39, from Lija. Galea was not injured but his bike was badly damaged.
On October 1, 1941, Sergeant Lance Ronald Francis Scott of the 1st Battalion Hampshire Regiment was driving Universal Carrier No. 7717 from High Street, Gudja, when he struck 24-year-old Josephine Abela, who at the time she was talking to Censa Zammit and her daughter. Catherine. Assistant District Medical Officer Dr. L. Buttigieg stated that Abela was only suffering from minor injuries. It turned out that Lance Sergeant Scott was still learning to drive the Bren Gun Carrier and had passed too close to the side of the road.
The next day, Rita Baldacchino, 25, from Żejtun and John Maria Galdes, 54, from Gudja, reported that Bren Gun Carriers had damaged their doorstep and sidewalks. Investigations by the police concluded that the Galdes pavement was being crushed by Private Percival Blake in Vehicle No. 7713. On October 8, Pvt. George Carter of the 4th Battalion Royal East Kent Regiment was driving a Carrier 7992 when he hit the cart of 42-year-old Gaetano Deguara from Milky Way and damaged two bicycle spokes.
The carrier skidded, climbed the sidewalk and hit a pram carrying an eight-month-old baby, Charlie Mifsud.
Two days later, apprentice driver W. Nesbitt of the 2nd Royal Irish Fusiliers Battalion was maneuvering Bren Gun Carrier No. 7075 from Eucharistic Congress Street, Mosta, when he crashed into a parked Andrew Camilleri bus, and crashed the rear bumper. Nesbitt promised to make good the damages.
The British decided to re-enforce the island with tanks. Four Mark II Matildas and two Vickers Light Tanks Mark VI arrived in Malta on November 28, 1940, aboard two fast merchant ships, the Fraser Clan and the Forbes Clan. Independent Tank Troop No.1, later called the Malta Tank Troop, was entered into an unused ice cream factory in Birkirkara.
During the first few months on the island, tanks were driven around to raise the morale of the population but the lack of fuel quickly put an end to this. In January 1942, three A13 and four A9 Cruiser tanks, together with another Light Tank Mark VI, arrived in Malta. They were deployed in the woods near Verdala Palace and merged with the Malta Tank Troop to form the Malta Tanks.
There are several police reports of damage caused by these tanks. In January 1941, Greece Azzopardi 33, Triq Ħas-Sajjied, Birkirkara, complained that a tank of the Royal Tank Corps stationed in Triq Fleur de Lys, Birkirkara, broke the mosaic door in front of his residence and caused him to be surrounded. 15 /. – in damages. When questioned, Captain Drury, the officer in charge of the Tank Corps, stated that several tanks had passed through that road at that time and asked the police to send him a written report to resolve the matter. investigated and compensation is issued.
On July 10, 1941, Luigi Zammit, 42, saw Matilda Mark II hit a corner of his house in Triq San Pawl, Ħal Safi. The driver kept going but Zammit managed to see the name that was painted on the side of the tank: ‘Griffin’. The offender was identified as Lance Corporal Hings of the Malta Tank Troop, stationed in San Franġisk Ravelin, Floriana. That same day, Joseph Farrugia of Zurrieq found his stable damaged. Investigations have again revealed that Evil was the driver of another armored tank.
Armored vehicle drivers were not always to blame for accidents. Sergeant F. David, driver of light tank No. 5869, was driving in Triq in-Notar Zarb, Attard, when he found himself on a collision course with a bicycle driven by unknown civilians. In order to prevent an accident, he turned and crashed into two trees and two stone pillars, causing £ 3 in damages. The cyclist did not stop and was never identified.
In February 1942, a strange accident occurred when a man was caught trying to enter the Verdala compound where the tanks were stationed. When asked, he claimed to be a member of the CID, which immediately caught his eye as he was in fact an employee of the Department of Water Works. He was taken into custody in Victoria on suspicion of being a spy. Background check showed that he was in favor of the English, although he came from a family that before the war had supported the Nationalist Party in favor of the Italian.
It turned out that the man was about to be recruited and to avoid being united in the Army, the Police Corps, as soon as he was trying to explain.[aqadmal-armatakienidde/iedalijing[aqadmal-Korptal-PulizijaminflokJidherliwaqtlikienqedjipprovajispjegadanlis-servizzikienmifhumħażinuħasbulikienqedisostnilikiendiġàmembrutal-forzaIr-residenzatiegħumbagħadġietmimxutaiżdamanstabxejninkriminantiFl-aħħarinħelesmill-pulizijatar-Rabatwara24siegħafl-istazzjon
There was also theft from armored vehicles. In May 1941, Captain Drury reported that four magazines containing 20 rounds of machine gun ammunition each were stolen from the Malta Tank Troop Center in Birkirkara. Two boys from Birkirkara, aged 12 and 14, were charged with theft and fined 10 / – each.
Universal carriers parked in the fields have also been a temptation for some. On May 8, 1942, Sgt Haywood of the Devonshire HQ Company noted that a gray tarpaulin covering a carrier in a field in Għaxaq had disappeared. Just 10 days later, a black canvas cover was also stolen. Then, on May 30, Pvt. Harrell saw a boy take two blankets from one of the carriers and put them in a sack. When challenged, the thief dropped everything and fled. The thefts from the carriers of the 2nd Battalion Devonshire Regiment then stopped.
Acknowledgments
The author would like to thank Ruben Vella and the staff of the National Archives, without whose help this article would not have been possible.
This is the second in a series of articles that will be published in the coming months The Sunday Times of Malta. They are adapted from the book Malta War Occurrences – The Police Logbooks 1940-1942written by Jeffrey Sammut and will soon be published by BDL books.
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