History of Malta Ancient Egyptians and ancient Greeks have also inhabited the Maltese islands. In 533, Byzantine general Belisarius briefly landed at Malta while on his way from Sicily to North Africa, and by 535, the island was integrated into the Byzantine province of Sicily. During the Byzantine period, the main settlements remained the city of Melite on mainland Malta and the Citadel on Gozo, while Marsaxlokk, Marsaskala, Marsa and Xlendi are believed to have served as harbours. The relatively high quantity of Byzantine ceramics found in Malta suggests that the island might have had an important strategic role within the empire from
AHQ Malta force had been built up from "Faith," "Hope", and "Charity," the three famous Sea Gladiators of the Hal Far Fighter Flight. Initially during the early stage of the Siege of Malta (World War II), Malta was not much of an offensive threat early in the North African Campaign. However it was considered an essential Allied stronghold as exemplified by Operation Pedestal and the other, often very costly, efforts to resupply the island. On 20 April 1942, the USS Wasp delivered 47 Spitfires to Malta and the German Luftwaffe promptly destroyed 30 of them on the same day. Nonetheless, as these