Hi Craig
David Spiteri worked in a bank from recollection. His dad (whose first name I didn't ask) had a British car collection to die for.
Pappa - I think you might be confusing the Rock of Gibraltar with Malta. Gib, or the Rock as it's known to brits, is situated in the Straits of Gibraltar at the tip of southern Spain.
My earlier description of the function of Malta was in error as Gib covered the entrance to the Med and Malta was a defensive strategic jump off point controlling the southern approach to Sicily and the coast of north Africa - Libya in particular. Malta received and forwarded convoys to both destinations following the defeat of Rommel by joint forces commanded by Montgomery at El-Alamein.
Axis forces bombed the island for many months without respite decimating the Maltese population and forcing starvation upon the long suffering inhabitants.
And Pappa - as far as knowing about the wider world, how can it be otherwise when 90% of Californians haven't a passport or have crossed the state line in their lives!
(Apart from serving their country, of course!) HA!
The Maltese Falcon was, of course, a golden statuette of said bird. The Maltese connection was another part of the history of the island as, from memory, it was conquered by the Knights Templar, otherwise known a the Crusaders led by King Richard the Lionheart on his many wars with the Moors and Arabs in the name of Christianity. They used the christian cross with wide flared ends - similar to WW1 German crosses - called the Maltese Cross which is now the symbol of the island state.
I think someone will probably tell me that some of that last info was bogus - perhaps I should have stayed awake in Harrop's history class after all!
The ownership of Gibraltar has been a thorn of anger and discontent to the Spanish for around three hundred years but remains essentially British by the common consent of the inhabitants of the island, despite the odd escalation of hostilities making access from the Spanish mainland impossible on occasion.
Nice to make your acquaintance Chris! You'll soon bed in .........we're all nuts here!:wacko: