Ladies of Lascaris: Christina Ratcliffe and The Forgotten Heroes of Malta's War

Paul McDonald brings to life the incredible story of WWII in Malta through the lives and loves of some amazing people. The book is very thoroughly researched though sometimes the story loses its pace with too much detail and the occasional unnecessary list. Despite this, it is worth persisting to get a glimpse of the bravery and stoicism of the service men and women and the civilian population. My mother was in her late teens on the island during the siege where she met my father who was a young Welsh soldier. This book has helped me understand their experiences just a little bit better. Thank you Paul.

As a stand-alone work, this is worthy of four or five stars; it is interesting, informative and well-written. But, having read the author's previous title 'Malta's Greater Seize & Adrian Warburton', I was disappointed to find how much had been repeated almost word-for-word. It is, of course, the same story but from a different perspective and with a different supporting cast. Unfortunately, the author seems to have been unable to move on from the story of Adrian Warburton, repeating some content from the previous volume that is less relevant here. As for the Ladies of Lascaris, the central character is Christina Ratcliffe, whose story has already been well-told by the author; the other characters are little more than a supporting cast. There are brief and fascinating insights into the workings of the Lascaris war rooms but no plan and very few photographs of the complex. There seemed to be an element of padding towards the end of the book, with a long account of the 2017 Star of Strait Street musical and various reviews of that production and the author's works. Overall, a good read but one that frequently induced a sense of deja vu.

Having lived in Malta from 1937 to 1942 I found Paul McDonald's 'ladies of Lascaris' an interesting story of that difficult time with the thread of the full life of Christine Ratclffe binding it together. It is a factual record of those times, such that I was made aware of facts about my sister who was a 'lady of Lascaris' at the age of 14. There are the odd errors, which may be expected after over 70 years, but do not detract from interesting, readable story. It certainly brought back very vivid memories of my experiences at the time of the siegeMy relatives have purchased the hard back and are pleased to place this well produced and printed book of an interesting story on a handy bookshelf to re-read.MLPRS

This is a detailed account of life in Malta in the most frightening and difficult of times. The intricacy of the story, involving young women, their dedication to duty and their bravery makes for fascinating reading.It is all the more meaningful for me, as my Mother and my Aunt were two of those very plotters, who spent their working days and many nights underground, dodging the bombs as they made their way home. At the age of nearly 94 years old, Mother clearly remembers many of the incidents detailed in the book, which she witnessed at first hand. Indeed, the heroine of the story, Christina Ratcliffe, was the Supervisor on their watch and became a good friend. This book has helped her recall memories and relive all the happy times, despite the dangers they faced on a daily basis.Val Roberts.

I've long been an avid reader of histories but this one is quite different. It brings to life a group of girls, some very young, who displayed terrific courage and determination in Malta in the 2nd World War. The author clearly knows Malta well, and has really done his homework. He portrays the lives and the spirit of the key characters with understanding and warmth, bringing all to life. He has called upon a wide range of other sources, as well as many personal interviews, to weave together a fascinating narrative from his own perspective. How these girls lived, worked, played and died is an emotional roller-coaster. The result is an exciting and very human story, one that is both poignant and touching. This book should appeal to a wide readership I most highly recommend it.

This is a compilation the author Paul McDonald or his team have extracted from various books, newspaper articles etc written by Ian Hay in 1943 "The un-conquered Isle",Tamara Marks "A Woman in Malta" 1943,Roy Nash "The Unknown Air Ace" The Star 1958,Christina Ratcliffe herself "One Woman goes to War"1958,Tony Spooner "Warburton's War"1980's,Frederick Galea "Carve Malta on my heart"2004,also various extracts from the "Times of Malta"etc etc.Also photographs most of which I personally have the original negatives which my Aunt Christina took personally in the 1930's.He also claims title to a photograph from Christina's Head stone, which I had transferred to porcelain.Whilst the book is nicely printed it can be somewhat disappointing that McDonald has copied much verbatim, and the reader will find much that they have read before, little new!There are statements which are not correct, for example Christina wasn't tall with brown eyes, but medium height with Blue Eyes.Additionally he miss spells the German language in part of the text.Nevertheless it is a nice book to add to anybody collecting the narratives about Christina & Wing Commander Adrian Warburton.No doubt we are due another film about these two WW2 heroes in the near future, it is remarkable .

Book arrived in excellent condition.

i personally know one of the ladies in this story made it more interesting