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Malta: A Childhood Under Siege

Wed 12 Mar, 10:30 am - 2:30 pm

Zoom Presentation,

Overview:

Margaret Staples was nine years old at the beginning of 1939 when her father, Major Sam Staples, was posted to the British colony of Malta with the Royal Engineers. With swimming every day, blue skies and balmy weather, Margaret and her four siblings thought they were in paradise.

Everything changed when WWII broke out. Hitler wanted to take control of Malta for its strategic position, right in the middle of the Mediterranean. To this end, the Axis powers dropped more bombs on this tiny island than anywhere else on the planet. When that didn’t work, they decided to sink all the supply ships and force capitulation through starvation.As Garrison Engineer, Sam was in charge of all building works on the island. When war broke out he was asked to turn some tunnels under Valletta into a large bunker from which the Allies could safely run the war. Every military installation on the surface was being flattened by enemy bombs. This challenging, top secret assignment took nearly three years to complete.Linda’s book Malta: A Childhood Under Siege is the story of one family of seven surviving in a war zone, through the eyes of her mother Margaret

Presenter:

Linda Peek is a writer, blogger and businesswoman. Born in the United Kingdom, she has been involved in international diplomacy through her husband’s work as an Australian diplomat. Linda has lived in Switzerland, Israel, Malaysia, South Africa, Chile, France and Denmark, with postings in Canberra, Australia in between.

While living in Chile, she was Food Editor for an English newspaper, writing a popular weekly column called “The Good Life.” She was a member of the Circle of Gastronomic Writers of Chile and a food judge. She runs her own business, which handles imports and exports of food ingredients. Since 2011 she has been writing about food in her weekly blog Café Cat.

She currently lives in Canberra, Australia

Detail:

Date and Time:1100, Wednesday 12th. March 2025 (Sydney time).

Please Join Us

Details

Date:
Wed 12 Mar
Time:
10:30 am - 2:30 pm

Organiser

Naval Historical Society of Australia
Phone
02 9537 0035
Email
office@navyhistory.au
View Organiser Website

Venue

Zoom Presentation