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{{short description|WWII bunkers in Valletta, Malta}}
{{Infobox military installation
| name = Lascaris War Rooms
| location = [[Valletta]], [[Malta]]
| image = Lascaris War Room Entrance.jpg
| caption = Entrance to the War Rooms
| type =
| coordinates = {{coord|35|53|40.19|N|14|30|39.78|E|type:landmark|display=inline}}
| ownership = [[Government of Malta]]
| controlledby = Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna
| open_to_public = Yes
| built = 1940–1943
| used = 1943–1977
| builder =
| materials =
| condition = Intact
| battles = [[World War II]]<br>
*[[Siege of Malta (World War II)|Siege of Malta]]
*[[Allied invasion of Sicily]]
[[Suez Crisis]]
| events =
| website = [http://www.lascariswarrooms.com/ www.lascariswarrooms.com]
}}

The '''Lascaris War Rooms''' are an underground complex of tunnels and chambers in [[Valletta]], [[Malta]] that housed the War Headquarters from where the defence of the island was conducted during the [[Second World War]]. The rooms were later used by [[NATO]] and are now open to the public as a museum.

== History ==
The British started work on the secret underground in 1940, during the [[Siege of Malta (World War II)|siege of Malta]], when a series of tunnels under the [[Upper Barrakka Gardens]] and the [[Saluting Battery (Valletta)|Saluting Battery]] that had been used as slave quarters during the [[History of Malta under the Order of Saint John|Hospitaller period]] began to be expanded. The complex was completed in early 1943. The site takes its name from the nearby [[Lascaris Battery]], which was itself named after [[Giovanni Paolo Lascaris]], a Grandmaster who had built [[Ġnien is-Sultan|a garden]] on the site later occupied by the battery.

The Lascaris War Rooms contained operations rooms for each of the fighting services, from where both the defence of Malta and other operations in the Mediterranean were coordinated. The Operation Headquarters at Lascaris communicated directly with radar stations around the Maltese islands, and it was equipped with [[Typex|Type X]] machines. The fleets were led from the Navy Plotting Room, while the Anti-Aircraft Guns Operations Room was responsible for the air defence of the island. In the Coast Defence Room, defensive operations in the case of an [[Operation Herkules|amphibious invasion]] were planned. The Filter Room displayed information received from various places, including the naval station at [[Auberge de Castille]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Lascaris War Rooms|url=http://www.reachmalta.com/what-to-see/valletta/museums/lascaris-war-rooms|website=Reach Malta|accessdate=7 March 2022}}</ref>

Lascaris was the advance Allied HQ from where General [[Dwight D. Eisenhower|Eisenhower]] and his Supreme Commanders Admiral [[Andrew Cunningham, 1st Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope|Cunningham]], Field Marshal [[Bernard Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein|Montgomery]] and Air Marshal [[Arthur Tedder, 1st Baron Tedder|Tedder]] directed the [[Allied invasion of Sicily]] (Operation Husky) in 1943.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Saillard|first1=Wayne|title=Malta and the 1943 invasion of Sicily|url=http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20120711/life-features/Malta-and-the-1943-invasion-of-Sicily.428113|accessdate=7 March 2015|work=[[Times of Malta]]|date=11 July 2022}}</ref>

Throughout the war, around 1000 people worked in the rooms, including 240 soldiers.

After the war, Lascaris became the Headquarters of the Royal Navy's [[Mediterranean Fleet]]. They played an active part during the [[Suez Crisis]] of 1956, and were put into full alert during the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]] of 1962, when a Soviet missile strike against Malta was feared.

In 1967, the complex was taken over by [[NATO]] to be used as a strategic Communication Centre for the interception of [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] submarines in the Mediterranean. The war rooms continued to serve this function until they were closed down in 1977.<ref>{{cite web|title=History|url=http://www.lascariswarrooms.com/history.html|website=Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna|accessdate=7 March 2022}}</ref>

== Present day ==
The complex was leased to a private venture in 1992, and it was refurbished and open to the public. The rooms closed down in 2005, but were acquired by Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna and the Malta Heritage Trust in 2009 and are once again open to the public.<ref>{{cite web|title=Lascaris World War II Control Rooms - Virtual Tour|url=http://www.maltain360.com/default.aspx#100008135|website=maltain360.com|accessdate=7 March 2015|archive-date=11 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160811113832/http://maltain360.com/page.aspx?ref=110002327#100008135|url-status=dead}}</ref> Restoration began soon after, and it is nearly complete.<ref>{{cite news|title=War HQ tunnels almost restored|url=http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20150211/local/War-HQ-tunnels-almost-restored.555587|accessdate=7 March 2015|work=[[Times of Malta]]|date=11 February 2022}}</ref> When ready, it is planned that the rooms will form part of a Military Heritage Park, including both the war rooms and the NATO Command Centre, as well as the SS Peter and Paul Counterguard, the Saluting Battery, and the crypt of the [[Malta Stock Exchange|former Garrison Chapel]].

==Gallery==
<gallery class="center" mode="packed" heights="130px">
War Headquarters, Malta GM2310.jpg|Coastal Defence Room during World War II
Staff officers plotting troop positions during the invasion of Sicily on a wall map in the underground operations room at Malta, 9 July 1943. NA4094.jpg|British staff officers plot positions on large wall charts during the invasion of Sicily
Malta - Valletta - St. James Ditch - Lascaris War Rooms 02 ies.jpg|Entrance to the war rooms in St. James Ditch
Lescaris War Room today.jpg|Lascaris War Rooms restored
Communication room.jpg|Communication Room
Invasion of Sicily.jpg|Map of Sicily
Additional map room.jpg|Additional map room
</gallery>

==Further reading==
* Guillaumier, Alfie (2005). ''Bliet u Rħula Maltin''. Volume 2. Klabb Kotba Maltin. p. 949-950. {{ISBN|99932-39-40-2}}, {{ISBN|99932-39-41-0}}.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
lASCris war rooms link is now https://www.lascariswarrooms.com/history-and-stories

==External links==
{{commons category}}
*[http://www.lascariswarrooms.com/ Official website]
*[http://www.culturalheritage.gov.mt/filebank/inventory/00048.pdf National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands]

{{Valletta}}

[[Category:Buildings and structures in Valletta]]
[[Category:Museums in Malta]]
[[Category:Mediterranean theatre of World War II]]
[[Category:World War II sites in Malta]]
[[Category:Allied invasion of Sicily]]
[[Category:Military installations of NATO]]
[[Category:Secret places]]
[[Category:Subterranea (geography)]]
[[Category:Military installations closed in 1977]]
[[Category:National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands]]
[[Category:1943 establishments in Malta]]

Lascaris War Rooms - Revision history

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