HERSTORYTHE WOMEN OF GEORGE CROSS ISLAND

‘THE WOMEN OF GEORGE CROSS ISLAND', AN 8-PART DOCUDRAMA, ATTEMPTS TO LEAVEN DEVASTATION WITH HOPE AND DESPAIR WITH COURAGE, AS IT CHRONICLES THE PERSONAL EXPERIENCES OF HOW INDIVIDUAL WOMEN LAUGHED, SUFFERED, GRIEVED, DARED AND LOVED THROUGH WWII.

There is an extreme dearth of literature that explores World War II and Malta from a female perspective – surprisingly so, given that women made up half the population! Barring a dedicated Master's dissertation by Simon Cusens, Paul MacDonald's book Ladies of Lascaris and a couple of chapters spread across a limited number of books covering wider areas, the academic landscape on the topic was a relatively barren one.

This, however, provided me with ample fertile ground to unearth fascinating and untold stories that celebrate Malta’s unsung heroines and offer a uniquely female perspective at the heart of military conflict.

During World War II, the fate of the Mediterranean depended on the beleaguered island of Malta, famously having earned itself the epithet of the “most bombed place on earth”. Featuring brave seamen, soldiers and gunners against the dramatic backdrop of sea and air battles around the island, the period is commonly thought of as a man’s war.

Yet in conditions of “total war”, and especially when Malta’s men were conscripted into service in 1941, the country’s women had to play a new part in the affairs of their community, state and country and take over practical, civic, educational and welfare work.

The exigencies of war brought Maltese women into every department, with over 50 trades and professions that women were actively involved in by 1943. Women were effectively the engine keeping the country running during this most trying of times.

The docudrama aims to celebrate Malta’s unsung heroines, bringing them to the fore and to public knowledge for the first time. The eight-part series seeks to stand as a work of social history, delving into the personal lives and stories of a 12-strong cast of young Maltese or Malta-based women, and offering a uniquely female perspective at the heart of military conflict.

Drawing from memoirs, autobiographies, interviews, archival documents and unique access to private collections, the docudrama charts the work, lives, relationships and emotions of plotters, performers, air raid wardens, nurses, doctors, journalists and housewives. It is made in part with interviews and footage of the words and memories of the very last, living female survivors of the war, now in their nineties.

Possibly the most dramatic story belongs to Henrietta Chevalier, a Maltese w idow and mother to 8 children, who was stuck in Nazi-occupied Rome. She put her life on the line after joining Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty's "Rome Escape Line" - a network operating from the Vatican, which is credited with directly offering assistance to over 3,000 escaped prisoners of war. Her third-floor apartment on Via Imperia was used as a depot for supplies, and to lodge several prisoners of war on the run from the

Nazis. She had several close shaves with the Gestapo, who raided her apartment several tim es. In 1945, she was awarded a British Empire Med al for her extraordinary efforts to offer sanctuary to those in need. She sadly paid a hig h price for her gallant work, suffering from PTSD for th e rest of her life.

The wealth of testimonies, letters and material available differed widely from woman to woman. Since the project takes the form of a docudrama, we aimed to breathe life into the women through a series of historically accurate re-enactments.

Most importantly, “The Women of George Cross Island” strives to act as a tribute to a generation of brave, determined and uncomplaining women who stood shoulder to shoulder with the men of

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Malta in the defence of their country and of freedom.

In 1944, the ‘Women of Malta Association’ president, Josephine Burns De Bono, wrote that the right of wom en to vote and stand as parliamentary candidates was legally recognised in the UK and in the US as a result of the excellence of w omen’s war work during the First World War (1914-1918).

She wrote: “Today, after nearly four and a half years of war, women in Malta are becoming conscious that they have earned the same civic recognition”.

Maltese women owe the voting rights we enjoy today to the intrepid, tireless work of our foremothers. They must not be forgotten.