NATIONAL WAR MUSEUM OF MALTA
Situated in Fort Elmo, the same fortifications that played an important roll in the successful defence of Malta in 1565. The British then acquired it and constructed additional batteries and barracks. It is now the main depository for WW2 artefacts, although it claims to cover a great deal more. Here are the photos.
A RAF jeep, I wanted a good look at this for my painting notes.
So young!
Below. Reminded me of the Britains Toy, this one has naval paintwork.
Maltese camouflage!!!!!
Some interesting Brodie paintwork.
And some views of Fort Elmo
The scale is often what hits you.
While solicitors were continuing to struggle with the purchase of my humble cottage, I found some fair priced accommodation for four weeks in the Duchy of Cornwall. I must admit, I had become very nostalgic towards the shades of green found on the British Isles, although the weather turned out to be much the same as it was in Malta. But what really took me back was to discover the local town museum had acquired a rather splendid array of vintage military toys. Arguably, one of the finest collections I have seen for tinplate tanks and armoured cars. I hope you agree.
The scale of the barrels is impressive.
✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠
Maltese Camouflage
The island of Malta was under siege from 1940 to 1942. During WW2 it suffered thousands of air raids by the Italians and Germans with an estimated 15,000 tonnes of explosives being dropped. It has been suggested that per size, it was the most bombed territory during WW2. With such intense daylight bombing British Command authorised the use of a special camouflage pattern.
Applied to armoured vehicles, artillery, motorcycles and even Tommy helmets, it was a light stone colour on original paintwork, giving the appearance of boulders or large stones. The background was typically khaki green although brown is also recorded.
A reenactment group based in Malta, the King's Own Malta Regiment and local collectors have restored some vehicles.
✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠A BRITISH PUB IN MALTA
During my four weeks in Malta I largely restricted my eating to salads, supplemented with Maltese bread, local style Jam and Christmas minced pies, meat pastizzi, and Torta tal-corned beef. (Yep, that's its name, while the Maltese are very similar to Sicilians their language is quite distinct. It is founded on a very archaic form of Arabic, strongly supplemented with Italian words, and a fair number in English.) On occasions, however, I sought English cuisine, and frequented an English style pub, where I discovered many Maltese also sought English breakfasts and Sunday roast dinners. The Maltese owners made me feel most welcome.
THE SALISBURY ARMS
Liskeard Museum
Loved this wooden tank.
A slight touch of envy?
Seeing the above in real life made me realise how technically advanced toys are today, but have they also replaced the artisan creativity that stimulated the imagination of young minds in previous decades? Here is the Museum, well worth visiting.
Graham forwarded a box of figures as a home warming gift. Now I have a fair number of Crescent open-handed naval ratings but I'm always on the lookout for more. This simple, rather petit casting is designed with shorter naval shirts, slightly below the waist, and this style is more in keeping with American and Continental navies, so I use them with my foreign gunboats. Graham not only sent me a spare, but furnished a second from his actual collection to help complete a full crew of four. But he didn't stop there, some railway figures were also included, and a few others. All have excited my return to painting and converting lead figures. Thank you Graham!
(Free entry, but do give a donation, by the way, my good friend in the collectables shop had previously sold some of the items to the former curator!)
A BOX ARRIVED FROM MY FRIEND GRAHAM APPERLEY
Some views of the town.
The Ancient Celtic people of Cornwall made this (mainly) Englishman feel very welcome! But then my great grandmother's maiden name was Penryn.
NEW ADDITIONS TO MY COLLECTIONWith rather little to show from my Malta month, I looked forward to something from my Cornish trip. Well I did find Trinkets and Treasures antique shop in Liskeard. They had a case of old lead farm animals. To be honest, my farm livestock is fairly complete. But two items did catch my eye. The first was a W.Britains Cocker Spaniel for £2, and the second was a Timpo lead zoo attendant for £3. 
I can now confirm the zoo keeper is to be transferred to my French gunboats, a definite promotion from the chimpanzees' tea party! (Please, no comments on my toy gunboats, or the French Navy.)
.jpg)
My next batch of items came from my friend that runs the collectables shop in Honiton. Three items caught my eye here. The first was this Corgi 350 Thunderbird missile and trailer, still with its plastic cone. I thought it would look good with my postWW2 toy soldiers. This diecast model was produced during 1958 to1962. They also produced a three part set which included a Land Rover, but the latter scale would be too distinct. I picked it up for £15. 
I'm still keen to complete my forecourt garage c1910-1950, so this Dinky Essolube bin was a nice find. With original paintwork and transfer, the cost was £5. The third item was a Dinky 341 Land Rover trailer which someone had converted into a WW2 US water tank trailer, borrowing the tank from another diecast vehicle. Now that will fit in perfectly with my US 54mm army jeeps. The paintwork was well done, including emblems, I paid £8. 
The Ancient Celtic people of Cornwall made this (mainly) Englishman feel very welcome! But then my great grandmother's maiden name was Penryn. 
.jpg)
A question for visitors, Graham included this figure, but I'm at a loss to discover what it is meant to represent. It has an open shirt, and a pistol hanging on a lanyard and secured round the leg. Now the peaked cap and puttees would imply WW1. Any information on this W.Britains figure would be most welcome. I mentioned to Graham, a lanyard linked revolver was popular with officers serving in the trenches or mounted. Suddenly, it reminded me of my late grandfather's firearm, his Royal Naval Air Service revolver also had an attachment for a lanyard, must have been about twelve when I last saw it. He started off as a mechanic but ended up on reconnoissance flights taking photographs of German trenches in France during WW1.
Visiting a local Antique Shop
Yes, I well over-paid for these two lead figures, but visiting a local shop I enjoyed a chat with the owner, and I was keen to make a small gesture of support for her business. £5.
EBAY
And finally, spotted this W.Britains French cuirassier officer on Ebay. Not a bad price, I got it delivered for £6.50. Point of interest, the officer was often painted on a white horse, and you do see some contemporary prints showing such. However, while French regulations allowed officers to choose their own horse, the squadrons were expected to stick to one of three colours, bays, browns or blacks. The white or grey horses were always linked to musicians. I'm planning to paint strip this clogged up horse, and I will adopt a dark colour. This gives me eight cuirassiers.
MGB
ps If I may, a few photos of my accommodation in Cornwall at the Rosecraddoc Estate. To be honest, Malta was an adventure, Cornwall was a pleasure. I really did enjoy my four weeks there.
The Coach House
My rear garden view included a waterfall.
The estate Manor House
The fishing lake.
The tennis court.
The private grounds.
fantastic! putting Malta on the must visit list
ReplyDeleteThank you Sir. But I certainly noticed the rise in temperature (and Mosquitos) during April to May. It really does limit any activities. The visit to the Grand Master's Palace was very special, and the capital furnished all the fortifications you would wish to see.
DeleteMichael
Another interesting post Michael, the Maltese camouflage is really different, very interesting. Some great new purchases and all very handy for your various projects, such a lovely gift from Graham too, really good off him.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Donnie. That camouflage is rather unusual for British Empire troops. Indeed, Graham has been a great help on several lead projects and we often exchange emails on a variety of subjects, most of mine tied to moving house, lol. His recent help has completed a crew of four which I feared might take ages to sort out, but they have now completed their establishment and will be joining a German gunboat soon.
DeleteMichael
A most enjoyable post. Thanks for sharing your photos. Finally able to post on your blog.
ReplyDeleteHello Alan. I had the same problem some time back. I couldn't even reply to those who had kindly commented here, it made me look very rude!. But I still feel blogs are the best way to record and consolidate hobby interests. That is why I broke away from Facebook and other social medias. Cheers!
DeleteMichael
Fantastic museum MGB. Thanks for sharing the photos
ReplyDeleteThanks MJT. A friend kindly furnished me with a new mobile phone to use as a camera while in Malta.. This should allow me to take a much larger number of photos, including future wargames!
DeleteMichael
Great photos of your travels Michael, but particularly the tin plate museum collection! There were more than a few pieces there that I would have liked to take home! I agree that the simplicity of the older pieces has such an appeal. If only I had the requisite woodworking skills, I could be tempted to go into simple tank /tankette building!
ReplyDeleteI have now identified the Britains figure after research in the reference books here in the library at Apperley Towers! I am 90% certain he is the Officer figure from set 2031, Australian Infantry in Battledress. The casting was based on the officer from set 1838, British Infantry in Battledress. Both sets were introduced in 1949. I just thought he might go with your missile launcher as he gave me an RAF/1950's vibe. This turned out to not be a total red herring as the same casting (with a different head) was used for the RAF Regiment figures available during the 1950's! The missing arm should have a swagger stick. Mystery solved!
Graham, thank you for that. I would not rest until that figure was sorted. Strangely, I began to wonder if it was some kind of staff officer for WW1 Mesopotamia. Well, it appears the Australians in WW2 readopted puttees as the gaiters failed to stop leeches and other creatures from entering where they shouldn't. So, I will be drafting this figure into by largely Airfix Tropical and Desert WW2 forces, a rather splendid officer...... thank you!
DeleteIsn't that true, those simple vehicles in their bold colours are superb. Would love to have some of them to operate with my traditional lead toy soldiers. I do understand the striving for accuracy and realism in miniature, but archaic toys have a distinct magic of their own, and a heritage too.
Thanks again for your strong support.
Michael
Michael, unfortunately the accuracy of Britains figures did sometimes leave something to be desired, but I agree, he will make a splendid officer in your ww2 forces (a period I have so far avoided but who knows!).
DeleteWell, Graham, I can definitely confirm, that figure is what my British Empire Far East troops required. Most of them are Airfix, and converted Airfix. This metal officer will enhance the collection.with a distinct character figure..
DeleteThank you for sharing this excellent report and photos from the museums. The 'Malta styled' camouflage looks really interesting. I've seen it before, but didn't realize that it was created for the surroundings at Malta. Was that Gloster Gladiator undergoing restoration?
ReplyDeleteNice acquisitions by the way. Good value for money.
Roger, I was hoping the museum would have something more on the Italians, but the museum restricts its collection to actual Maltese items, so the Royal Airforce and Royal Navy dominate the cabinets. I know it seems daft, but I was slow to realise how much effort was made to embellish a simple Brodie helmet during WW2. So I'm rather keen now to recruit some auxiliary units to represent this in my gaming collection.
DeleteI suspect that Gloster Gladiator will remain as it is. Only two surviving examples are considered to be air worthy, or fully intact, most museum pieces are not quite there.
Cheers,
Michael
In Norway it's actually a project to restore one of the Norwegian Gloster Gladiators to get it into flying condition again:
Deletehttps://www.423.no/
https://www.facebook.com/GlosterGladiator423
I do wish them luck on that, Roger, as far as I know there are only two actually able to fly. It really is a product of the 1930s. Is there a particular reason Norwegians should be interested in such an aircraft? After all, over one hundred of your countrymen flew Spitfires, and had a good reputation as pilots. I will view your link.
DeleteOh, I see, so a squadron was purchased by Norway before WW2. Very interesting.
DeleteThey was not the favourite choice of aircraft, but just before the outbreak of WW2 that was the aircrafts available for purchase. Norway bought 12, which 7 was operational on the 9th of April 1940. They manage to shoot down 5 German aircrafts during the invasion.
DeleteLater on, pilots were trained in UK amongst those who was able to escape Norway and was fitted and those eventually operated Spitfires. I posted some photos of a 1:72 scale diorama of a Norwegian Airfield on the Continent (while flying Spitfires) in this blogpost:
https://modelrailsandwargames.blogspot.com/2024/09/the-model-military-or-railway-tour-of.html?m=1
I was surprised to find the Germans captured some Latvian Glosters and used them to ferry gliders. And there was even a dog fight between a RAF Gloster and an Iraqi Gloster, the latter was shot down. Being the most developed biplane, it still had a measure of success against early monoplanes, and the quality of the pilots also helped. I also noted the Finnish used theirs against the Soviets.
DeleteThere was also some Gladiators used by Sweden. The pre war Norwegian Army Airforce wanted monoplanes. They were difficult to get as many other nations were arming and the potential seller was needing the best planes for them self. Norway bought the Gladiators and American Curtiss Hawk 75A. The latter was not delivered before the outbreak of the war and was used to train Norwegian fighter pilots in Canada.
DeleteSome few Curtiss Hawks were delivered to Norway, but they was captured by the Germans and sold to Finland.
DeleteThere were three Gladiators on Malta all given individual names... one is currently under restoration having been raised from the sea. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihyuP6fRH3U
DeleteThank you Michael for another very interesting report! The museum toys are beautiful, and I agree with Graham, I too would like to have them in my collection!
ReplyDeleteBrad, it was a real surprise to find Liskeard had such a collection. The museum was a pure chance discovery, and they make no particular effort to promote it! Most of these vehicles I have photos of on file, but to see them in real life, often with their boxes. I began to realise why a handful of fervent collectors.will pay very high amounts to gain a new piece. So much magic behind a glass case.
DeleteMichael
Love the submarine . . . timplate or wood?
ReplyDeleteH
Hello Hugh, when I first saw it I thought it was lead, as I've seen one before in this material. But a further view led me to think it was a home-made wooden toy.
DeleteMichael
Great post Mike - the figure you questioned the identity of I would suspect is an early Second World War British infantry officer - you can see the outline of the battle dress uniform with covered pockets and the respirator being worn on his front. Nice figure!
ReplyDeleteThank you, George, Chatting with Graham, he believes it was issued by W. Britains as a WW2 Australian officer. It was the puttees that caught me out, as they were actually still used in the Far East during WW2 to combat leeches,
DeleteMichael