Linda tells her Mum's remarkable wartime story.
Alumna Linda Peek (BA English & Comp. Lit.1991) has authored her debut book, driven by the desire to share her late mother’s story. Her mother, Margaret Staples, was just nine years old when her family relocated to Malta in January 1939. Their peaceful Mediterranean life was shattered nine months later with the outbreak of war. The British colony endured years of continuous aerial bombardments by the Luftwaffe and the Italian Air Force. Both the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force struggled to defend the island and maintain its supply lines. When the bombing proved ineffective, the Axis powers targeted supply ships, aiming to force the island into submission through starvation by sinking vessels carrying essential supplies. In ‘Malta - a ‘Childhood under Siege’ Linda has drawn on family memories, historical accounts and her grandfather’s diary to document her mother’s family experiences in Malta from 1939 to 1945. Linda’s grandfather, Sam Staples, was posted to Malta with the Royal Engineers in 1939, accompanied by his wife Hilda Mary and their five children, aged between seven and 11.
When the Staples went back to England six years later, Margaret was aged 15. Following her passing in 2018 at the age of 89, Linda decided she would be the one to tell her mother’s childhood story. Last month Linda visited Malta, launching her book in the Lascaris War Rooms, which her grandfather designed for use as Allied HQ in Malta during WW2. We caught up with Linda upon her return to find out more...
Did your mum talk to you much about her experiences in Malta growing up or did she wait until you reached adulthood?
Yes, my mother told us all the stories when we were growing up and we would ask her to tell the ones we liked best again and again. Usually, the most horrific ones which of course children love. Interestingly, I never asked my grandmother, who lived until she was 86, about Malta. She was a great storyteller and told us all about growing up in Limerick, so I don’t know if she would’ve been forthcoming or not. Her experience, trying to feed and clothe a large family and keep them safe was probably not as rosy as my mother’s memories. Despite what she went through my mother always loved Malta.
Did she carry a lot of trauma – there must have been some graphic scenes with the constant bombing etc?
She was always a happy, fun-loving person, but she obviously had PTSD from some of the experiences such as visiting a morgue as a child, finding a loaded gun in the linen cupboard and almost being killed by a diving plane. When I was quite young, I remember she would take us to hide in the cupboard under the stairs when there was a thunderstorm which she said sounded like bombing. But then we moved to another house and she stopped doing that. She was a terrible hoarder of food and had enough to last through World War 3. We used to make fun of her about this, but she said you don’t know what it’s like not to have enough food.
How did it affect your mum for the remainder of her life?
Outwardly not at all, although she often used to say Hitler stole my childhood. She loved Maltese people and if she heard anyone speaking Maltese at mass or anywhere, she would rush up to say hello. She was very gregarious and became a semi-professional singer after the war.
I see with your husband’s diplomatic postings you have lived in many countries. Where do you call home?
Canberra is definitely home, and we had home postings there in between all of our overseas postings. Our three kids were born in Canberra and although they travelled with us and all spent time living and working overseas, they are all now in Australia.
My favourite posting was Chile because I did sub majors towards my degree in Spanish and French so when we arrived in Santiago, which was my husband‘s first posting as ambassador, I was fluent in the language and this enabled me to get a job as a food editor on the local English newspaper. I became a food judge and got invited to anything culinary that was taking place in the city. A fabulous four years.
Please tell me more about the recent event in Malta with all the descendants.
I have to admit that I had a lump in my throat as we landed, even though I had been to Malta before. This visit was special. My mother always wanted to write a book about her experiences in Malta, but she never did. When she died, I realised it was my job . The Lascaris War Rooms, which my grandfather as Garrison Engineer designed are quite small, so we had a maximum capacity of 40 which soon filled up. So, I did a second presentation the following day at the Chamber of Commerce organised by a heritage group called FAA. About half the guests at the first one were descendants of people who are mentioned in the book, including Emvin Cremona’s son and three daughters and partners, Tony Cefai, my Grandfather’s Batman’s daughter and family, Dora Clarke’s granddaughter, a rep from the Boy Scouts, the current Principal of my mum’s school and so on.
How did you fill in the gaps that weren’t covered in your grandfather’s diary?
My mother‘s stories were all in my head. I live in Canberra and sometimes I rang my sister in England or my brother in Vancouver to make sure we all remembered the same version of the stories. Apart from that, I did a lot of research on the war and spent many hours trying to track down some of the descendants. Emvin Cremona went on to become the most famous Maltese artist of the 20th century, so it was easy to find his descendants. Others were harder to find. You wouldn’t think there were two Major Nobby Clarkes in Malta during the war both with a wife called Dora, but there were, and I spent many months trying to track down the grandchildren of the wrong couple!
Photo courtesy of The Boy Scouts of Malta
Was it written in a ‘formal English Officer in the 1940s’ kind of way or did it reveal his personality ?
As a military man, my grandfather, Major Sam Staples, was quite strict but a loving father and he always had a soft spot for my mother who was I think was his favourite. He died when I was 11, so I remember him, but I can’t say I really knew him well. I feel I’ve got to know him through writing this book. His diary was written in a fairly natural style, and it gave me an insight into who he was before he became my grandfather. He was born in a poor family to a single mum in Hull in the north of England, left school at 13, trained as a painter and decorator for five years and then joined up after the World War 1 ended in 1919. He studied at night to gain the equivalent of O-levels and A-levels. He quickly realised that his accent gave away his humble beginnings, so he worked on losing it. His motto was knowledge is power and he was a great believer in education. He paid for his assistant in Malta, Tony Cefai, to go to night school to improve his status. He was Sam’s Batman (soldier or airman assigned to a commissioned officer as a personal servant).
I saw in an interview you make a determined effort to do the book in a year. Did you have a routine e.g. 300 words a day?
No, I started on 1st January 2023 and became almost entirely consumed by it for seven months. My husband was very supportive, and my eldest son designed the cover and does all of my IT stuff. Sometimes I woke up with a whole chapter in my head that I had to type quickly before it disappeared. Sometimes my husband would come in at 7 o’clock and say are we getting any dinner tonight? I finished it in seven months and then spent about three months finalising the manuscript and getting published.
Linda's book is published by Woodlands Publishing and is available through most online retailers.
