Many military experts believed that Malta should have been surrendered at the beginning of the war, yet this small island was to provide the allies with a valuable base from which they were able to disrupt vital supplies to the Axis forces in North Africa. By helping to prevent Rommel from reaching the Suez Canal, the RAAF pilots made a contribution to the allied victory. This is not simply a military history, but one that also tells the human story of the men who had to overcome starvation diets and frequent ill-health to mount attacks against forces always much larger than their own. Thus it is also the story of the men who fought and flew against all the odds.