“Air raid warning, air raid warning. Shut your doors and windows.”
The Rediffusion blared out in English and then in Maltese, at 6:55am on the morning of 11 June 1940.
This was the first of many times we would hear that warning. The day our lives changed.
Margaret Staples was nine years old at the beginning of 1939 when her father was posted to the British colony of Malta with the Royal Engineers. Swimming every day, with blue skies and balmy weather; Margaret and her siblings thought they were in paradise.
Everything changed when the Second World War 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 going to the island and force capitulation through starvation.
This is Margaret’s story of survival, told by her daughter Linda.
Gripping, endearing, moving, enlightening, this is a story that should be read by anyone with an interest in Malta, or indeed in the pieces of the mosaic of the Second World War.
Take this lovely, haunting story of war and family as a nudge to preserve the story of your own family, before it disappears into the ether.
I have just finished reading your book Malta A Childhood Under Siege. Loved every minute and what a story. I was born in Malta and emigrated to Australia with my family when I was 14 years old, arriving in Sydney in 1964. I remember my grandparents and parents telling stories about the hardships the Maltese population suffered during WWII. The one about the convoy arriving on the Holy Day of 15th of August 1942 was my favourite as a young boy and you wrote about in the book. Thank for telling the world what that little rock and its people endured because of one single madman.
I have just finished reading Linda Peek's extraordinary book. I couldn't put it down. Not only is it written in an immensely readable way, but she had such a story to tell. And it all meant so much more to me, since every single place in Malta she mentioned is vividly familiar and dear. That, together with my own parents' stories and the historical events which I already knew, made 'A Childhood Under Siege' as fascinating as watching an old black and white film slowly being transformed into full colour.
Paperback
Book stores
- Australia
- Malta
- South Africa
Bookshops and other businesses can order directly from Ingram Content Independent Bookstore Services at the wholesale price.
Publisher: Woodlands Publishing (29 August 2023)
Paperback: 258 pages
ISBN-10: 0645876100
ISBN-13: 978-0645876109
Dimensions: 15.24 x 1.47 x 22.86cm
For media enquiries please contact linda@peek.net.au
Upcoming events
- Malta Launch
Lascaris War Rooms, Lascaris Ditch, Valletta
6.30pm Wednesday 29 May 2024
RSVP: linda@peek.net.au - Meet the Author and book signing at Bowral Library
10am-12pm Tuesday 18 June 2024
Book via the library - Spiral
Woden Uniting Church, 40 Gillies St, Curtin, ACT
10am-12pm Thursday 27 June 2024
No need to book, just turn up, bring gold coin as donation towards morning tea - Meet the Author and book signing at Goulburn Library
1pm Wednesday 31 July 2024
184/194 Bourke St, Goulburn, NSW
Media
About the author
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.