During World War II the contribution of women in Malta played an important and vital role. Recruitment of female civilians within the British services commence as early as 1935, when the colonial authorities anticipated a possible war conflict, which would bring about a shortage of work force.
The building in Valletta known as Lascaris became an operations centre,better known as "The Lascaris War Rooms". The structure consists of an underground complex of tunnels and chambers located 150 feet beneath the Valletta Upper Barracca Gardens and Saluting Battery. These tunnels were among the best-kept secrets of the Second World War as they were Great Britain's Mediterranean war headquarters. The complex also served as an operations lair for the Royal Air Force from where air and sea engagements were observed and controlled. Sworn to secrecy, women were recruited and trained for specific war jobs, such as; telephonists, secretarial support, and air traffic monitoring.
In June 1942, over 50 female civilians worked as map plotters at the Lascaris War Rooms some were as young as 14 years of age. Radar stations sent information about any passing aircraft to a filter room in Lascaris. This data was then forwarded to plotters in the Operations Room where each plotter was responsible to track and identify aircraft movements within a particular sector and changed plots accordingly. Once an enemy aircraft was identified any nearby fighter squadron would be immediately alerted. A large map of the Mediterranean with Malta in the middle was used to keep track of aircraft movements, with counters being placed and moved continuously by the plotters as they received new data. One plotter that stood out was an English girl, Christina Ratcliffe who had been travelling in Europe pursuing her career as a dancer and singer. However when Italy declared war on Great Britain, she found herself stranded in Malta. She started serving as a telephonist but soon after she moved to become a map plotter in the War Rooms . Women's reliability , dedication and sense of duty during the War brought a social shift in Malta, as women were eventually given equal rights including the right to vote in 1947.
