When World War II started, the islands of Malta in the center of the Mediterranean Sea were not immediately targeted by the Axis powers, even though the islands were a British colony and the British military maintained a major presence on the islands. Then, on June 10, 1940, Italy formally declared war on the Allies, and Axis planes immediately began to bomb Malta. The attacks would continue for three years until Allied forces were able to launch invasions of Sicily and the Italian mainland. The civilians in Malta were initially…
