Paul McDonald - Ladies of Lascaris

LADIES OF LASCARIS

Christina Ratcliffe and The Forgotten Heroes of Maltas War

This book is dedicated to all the girls and ladies who worked in the RAF Headquarters in Valletta, Malta, during the Second World War and especially those within No 8 Sector Operations Room, Lascaris.

Christina Ratcliffe and The Forgotten Heroes of Maltas War

Paul McDonald

First published in Great Britain in 2018 by

PEN AND SWORD HISTORY

an imprint of

Pen & Sword Books Ltd

Yorkshire - Philadelphia

Copyright Paul McDonald, 2018

ISBN 978 1 52674 546 0

eISBN 978 1 52674 548 4

Mobi ISBN 978 1 52674 547 7

The right of Paul McDonald to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

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People across three continents have offered help in writing this book, from Europe, North America and Australia, as well as New Zealand. But the story could not have been told without the earlier writings of a girl from Cheshire and another from Yugoslavia. Christina Ratcliffe and Tamara Marks individual tales reflect something quite rare: female perspectives at the heart of military conflict. It is unusual to come across such narratives, let alone two, especially when the lives of both ladies, eye-witnesses to trauma and tragedy, were not just connected but interwoven for a critically important period at the height of the siege of Malta in the Second World War. Neither lady would have described themselves as heroic, certainly not Tamara, but they both were; two very genuine heroes among many who found themselves at the centre of what fell from the skies upon Malta. And rarely have such personal accounts been so well-written, both ladies having a gift for descriptive writing.

There is immediacy about Tamaras words, written within months of the events she endured. She is open and honest to the point of sharing her pain and anguish, her inner-most feelings. Christinas colourful narratives were written later, but she has a rare knack of being able to create vivid and vibrant atmosphere. Her words instantly transport a reader back to join the Whizz-Bangs; then on to a hectic underground operations room to stand adjacent the chaps-in-the-gods looking down on the ladies of Lascaris with their wooden cues moving tracks and blocks on the plotting table depicting the close-run air battle being fought out high above.

Tamara was evacuated to Egypt in 1942. She told her story in A Woman in Malta, published in Cairo in November 1943. We know nothing else of her, which is a great shame. Christina began writing after the Second World War. She never finished her story. Some gaps have now been filled, including the touching but ultimately tragic story of her and Warby.

Neither Christina nor Tamara could ever have imagined their experiences and the very words they used would be of interest to others some seventy-five years after the events in which they were involved. That we are able to share their world at war is down to Frederick Galea who unearthed their writings and reproduced them in Carve Malta on my heart and other wartime stories (2004), and Women of Malta (2006).

Frederick is a Second World War historian and writer. For many years he was Honorary Secretary of the National War Museum Association of Malta, to which Christina donated her British Empire Medal as well as scrapbooks, notes, photographs and other memorabilia. Frederick is also a founder member of the Malta Aviation Museum at Ta Qali where he remains active. I am most grateful for Fredericks support with my books, for his permission to quote from his, and for making so many photographs available. Interestingly, Frederick and his wife Valerie have long had a connection with Christina and are important characters in any story about her. It is thanks to them that she rests in a manner appropriate to her contribution to Maltas victory.

Very few girls who worked within the RAF headquarters in Valletta left accounts of their experiences. I was privileged to meet and talk often with one of that gallant band: Marion Childs, ne Gould. Now 92-years-old and living on her own, Marions is an adventure story in its own right. I am particularly grateful to my friend and former RAF colleague Richard Kimberley for introducing me to Marion. Thanks also to Marions daughter Margaret Biggs in New Zealand for her help.

Marion is from one of three extraordinary families in this story. The others are the Longyears and the Cuells. Michael Longyear is the youngest son and last survivor of his wartime family. At 86 years of age, he has been a key contributor to this book and a great help. I owe him sincere thanks for allowing me to quote from his writings and for telling me so much about his family and his sister Pauline, perhaps the youngest girl ever to serve at Lascaris at only 14 years of age. Michael also did me a great kindness in reading through an early draft and offering valuable advice.

Jane Passmore is the daughter of Betty Cuell, the oldest of three sisters from Casalpaola who were all aircraft plotters - Betty, Helen and Joan. Jane and her husband John put me in touch with the one surviving son, Eddie, of the wartime Cuell family living in Australia. Eddie is also 86-years-old and he and his daughter Kathleen Williams could not have been more helpful in adding details to their family history and in providing photographs. Janes husband, John, also contacted Adrian Hide, son of the youngest of the Cuell sisters, Mona, whose husband Gordon worked for the RAF and GCHQ at Lascaris. The information Adrian offered was timely and very useful.

At the end of April 2018, I was contacted by Cara Egerton, daughter of the late Wing Commander Bill Farnes, OBE. Bill was the RAF senior controller on D Watch at Lascaris (Christinas Watch) for the most critical part of Maltas air war. I spent a fascinating afternoon with Cara, and her brother Nick Farnes, and they provided an invaluable insight into their father. I am very grateful for their time, and for the wealth of material Nick had painstakingly copied and made available. Included were the original gallantry certificates for their fathers Mention in Dispatches and OBE, both earned for his service at Lascaris.

On 11 June 2018 I was contacted by Elle Duddell who recognised her grandmother Gladys Duddell, ne Aitken, on the books jacket. Elle put me in touch with her Aunt, Sandra Patterson, Gladys eldest daughter. Sandra has provided a great deal of information and material about her late mother and her late Aunt Mary, Gladys younger sister, both ladies of Lascaris. I am very grateful for the help Sandra so willingly offered.