In January 1941, Malta crossed an invisible threshold. The island had been at war since September 1939, but until then conflict had felt abstract, distant, filtered through radio bulletins and distant fronts. Even after Italy entered the war in June 1940 and air raid sirens sounded for the first time, the sense persisted that Malta was suffering harassment rather than existential threat. The events that became known as the Illustrious Blitz ended that illusion. By late 1940,