The importance of defending AHQ Malta, the lone Allied bastion in the Mediterranean theater in 1942, is emphasized by this map of the Italian Mare Nostrum.
Active
28 December 1941 – 30 June 1968
Country
United Kingdom
Branch
Royal Air Force
Type
Command
Part of
RAF Middle East Command (1939)
Headquarters
Valletta (1945)
Motto(s)
Accidet Nemo Impune
Military unit
Air Headquarters Malta (AHQ Malta or Air H.Q. Malta) was an overseas command of the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War. It was established on 28 December 1941 by renaming RAF Mediterranean under Air Vice Marshal Hugh Lloyd.[1] Lloyd was named Air Officer Commanding in Malta on 1 June 1941.[2]
AHQ Malta played a key defensive role during the war when Malta was under siege by Axis forces between 11 June 1940 to 20 November 1942. In 1943 it then became a major sub-command centre for the Allies under the Mediterranean Air Command (MAC) when the Allies began their attack on Sicily, Italy.
AHQ Malta remained in operation under British command until 1968 when it was disbanded. The British withdrew from Malta in 1979.
^"CMD O2". Archived from the original on 10 September 2014. Retrieved 2 September 2014. RAF Web Mediterranean Commands
^Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organisation - Air Chf Marshal Sir Hugh Lloyd
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