Almost seven decades on, the world at large is still enthralled by events surrounding World War II. While Hollywood has been capitalising on it for ages with pictures such as Pearl Harbour, Saving Private Ryan, and more recently Dunkirk, which focus on grand yet downright terrifying battles, one local documentary focuses on a reality very few films touch upon: starvation.
The documentary in question, featured as part of a local TV series, reintroduces the present-day public to the concept of the Victory Kitchen. It also features intimate footage of wartime Malta and talks about public attempts to salvage the situation through memories of people who actually experienced the time.
The concept of the Victory Kitchen, named so to boost local morale in the face of the hunger and poverty brought on by WWII, was motivated by a Maltese attempt to prevent unnecessary waste. Back then, food and fuel were rationed, and the government opted for a communal system to prevent further shortages.
The Victory Kitchen operated with a ticketing system where people would queue up with their pots and pans and exchange coupons for food. While these tickets didn’t cost real money, they did involve a cut in rations. IT would appear that while on paper, the food on offer was substantial, with the menu involving soups or stews, in reality it was quite different. “To land a piece of meat you’d have to be really lucky,” one woman reveals, adding that the only thing that likened the cooking available at the time to food was its name. “It was just enough to keep your soul from leaving your body!”
The woman recounts how at one point, the government had confiscated all locally grown potatoes and transformed the root vegetable into bread. “Anything they could find they’d try and turn into bread,” she affirms. While rationing was heavily imposed, most food items – from necessities to coveted treats – could be found at the Black Market, at a very hefty price. “Some made their fortune from it while others lost theirs’ there,” the woman continues.
The documentary also includes footage of Operation Pedastal, locally known as Il-Konvoj ta’ Santa Marija, whereby 14 merchant ships were sent from England with much-needed supplies on the island. Having undergone heavy bombing by Axis forces, only five ships secured their berth at the Grand Harbour, one of which sailed in half-submerged. Despite this, the five ships provided enough supplies to keep the starving Maltese population on its feet and survive the war.