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THIS WEEK THE Navy did all it could to silence them - but failed. All the attacks resulted in failure. Now five men were sent to destroy them. The at- tack had to be a decisive one. One thousand two hundred peo- ple were depending on them and to leave the island of Kheros they had to pass in front of them – The Guns of Navarone: the invincibles, the indestructables, whose names terrified the Allies as they meant death and destruction. The Ger- man victory of the island of Kheros meant the loss of all the Greek is- lands for the locals and the Allies. The latter could not allow this hap- pen. But all attemps, however big, failed. How were five people alone go- ing to succeed to even land on the island of Navarone, which was so closely guarded by the Germans and whose cliffs were impossible to scale? It would be nothing less than a suicide mission. Alas the lives of the inhabitants of Kheros was in their hands. A well-known mountan climber, famous for his skills and an explosive expert who both formed part of the party were a ray of hope that the guns could in some way be destroyed, however whether all this would happen in time was another matter entirely... Alistair MacLean, who served in the Navy during the Second World War and who was part of a number of battles in the Atlantic Ocean, among them the attack on Tirpitz, gained great literary success through The Guns of Navarone, Ice Station Zebra and Where Ea- gles Dare, the three of which have been turned into movies which have maintained their popularity over time. The book The Guns of Navarone was first published in 1957. Directed by J. Lee Thomp- son, the film with the same name was screened in cinemas in 1961 and in the main roles we find Gre- gory Peck, David Niven, Anthony Quinn, Stanley Baker, Anthony Quayle and Irene Papas. Most of it was filmed on the island of Rhodes, to which Anthony Quinn became so attached that he bought prop- erty there. To this day you will find bays named after him in these ar- eas. Other books by Alistair MacLean which were also screened in the cinemas include: Force 10 from Navarone, When Eight Bells Toll, Bear Island and Breakheart Pass. maltatoday, SUNDAY, 30 MARCH 2014 37 THIS WEEK YOUR FIRST CLICK OF THE DAY www.maltatoday.com.mt The Guns of Navarone