my-malta.com is fortunate enough to carry this exciting, first-hand WW2 account; one that reflects RAF Sgt. Barker's deepest emotions, related to tragic events being experienced at the time and to the frustration of being away from home while hell rained from the sky as the enemy dealt its toughest blows on the Island Fortress of Malta.
This is not a hindsight recollection of the past ... many years later. This is a living record that requires maturity and understanding in the right context in order to be fully appreciated.
Valletta; the Royal Opera House receives a direct hit.
What Sgt. Barker wrote in his diary at the time was not intended for publication, it is not a 'pearl necklace' of eloquent literature, but a genuine testimony of the cruelty of war. Sometimes, entries are hard to stomach, sometimes they are light and casual.
His son, Lawrence M. Barker, transcribed this diary but it was my-malta.com's decision to reproduce it without any textual editing, whislt respecting Mr. Barker's wish to retain the anonymity of certain persons who may still be alive, thereby averting unnecessary embarrassment. To have left out anything else, however, would have been a violation of material, historical evidence.
