Lib Leaving Malta for Gib, A

DESCRIPTION: "They say there's a Lib leaving Malta for Gib, Heavier than ever before, Tight to the turrets with terrified troops." Stories of Ferry Command -- how they bring people out of Malta, deliver the mail, end up in the water
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1967 (Ward-Jackson/Lucas-AirmansSongBook)
KEYWORDS: technology rescue
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ward-Jackson/Lucas-AirmansSongBook, p. 179, "A Lib Leaving Malta for Gib" (1 text, tune referenced)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Bless 'Em All" (tune)
NOTES [289 words]: The "Lib" of this song is the B-24 Liberator, a 4-engined bomber made by the American firm of Consolidated Vultee. For most of World War II, it competed with the B-17 "Flying Fortress" for pride of place in the American bomber fleet. "Conceived five years after the B-17 it did not, in fact, notably improve on the older bomber's performance and in respect of... general stability and control it was inferior, being a handful for the average pilot. It was also by far the most complicated and expensive aircraft the world had seen.... Yet is was built in bigger numbers than any other American aircraft in history, in more versions for more purposes than any other aircraft in history, and served on every front in World War II and with 15 Allied nations" (Gunston, p. 363).
Why? Range. A B-17, according to Gunston, p. 340, had a range of about 1100 miles; the Liberator could go about 1800. So it was possible, as in this song, for a Liberator to take a load to Malta, then return *without* having to refuel. A B-17 couldn't do that -- and, during the long and intense siege of Malta, the island rarely had enough fuel available to resupply the plane. As a result, according to Munson, p. 44, more than 18,000 Liberators were built. It was a tough plane to fly, but it was very useful.
The other plane mentioned in the song, the Albemarle, was a true British plane, the Armstrong Whitworth Albemarle. According to Munson, p. 172, it was a two-engine plane originally intended to be a bomber, but it wasn't particularly good at that (or much of anything else); only about 600 were built, for use as transport planes and glider tugs. Given its general inferiority, it's perhaps no surprise that this song seems to look down on it. - RBW
Bibliography

Gunston: Bill Gunston, The Illustrated Directory of Fighting Aircraft of World War II, Salamander Books, 1988, 2002
Munson: Kenneth Munson, Aircraft of World War II, second edition, Doubleday, 1972

Last updated in version 6.8
File: WJL179

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