At the start of World War II, the Allied forces immediately recognized that the islands of Malta would be strategically important. Located in the center of the Mediterranean Sea just south of Italy, the islands could be used both to control shipping and to command landing forces in Southern Europe. Hence, in 1940, the U.K. military secretly excavated a set of tunnels 150 feet under Valletta, which are now called the Lascaris War Rooms. This complex housed the British military’s headquarters and was initially used to coordinate the military defense…
