AHQ Malta and other aircraft reached the island during the summer of 1942, the defensive and offensive capabilities of AHQ Malta rose. On 1 July 1942, AHQ Malta had approximately 200 aircraft, about half of which were Spitfires. Air Vice Marshal Sir Keith Park took over command of AHQ Malta On 15 July 1942. At this time, the island provided critical operational air bases for the Allies with proximity to Axis shipping lanes and the battlefields of Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Pantelleria, Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, and mainland Italy during World War II. There were three main airfields on Malta known as RAF Hal
Malta, Montana 1890. Its name is said to have been determined by a spin of the globe by a Great Northern official whose finger came to rest on the island of Malta in the Mediterranean Sea. On July 3, 1901, Kid Curry (Harvey Logan), as part of Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch, robbed a train just west of Malta, near Wagner, Montana, making off with about $40,000. One of the best preserved dinosaurs ever discovered and one of only four that were mummified is a 77-million-year-old "Brachylophosaurus" nicknamed Leonardo, unearthed north of Malta in 2000. Leonardo, together with brachylophosaurs Elvis (1994), Roberta (2003)