[Fiji Hill]

Because if there was just one ship on whom the island’s survival depended even now, it was the Ohio, the sole tanker in the convoy, carrying fuel for the island’s vehicles, generators and vital defensive equipment, as well as the planes and warships.

More importantly, the fuel was to be used by the civilians to cook their food. They had supplies of grain, but it was inedible raw, and Malta was completely out of fuel. At one point the island's commanding officer Lord Gort to considered surrendering in order to save the civilian population from starving. And Gort was no sissy--he had won the Victoria Cross in WWI, an award that is often earned posthumously.

[Oatka]

And Gort was no sissy--he had won the Victoria Cross in WWI, an award that is often earned posthumously.

As late as 1900, official policy was not to award the VC posthumously. There are some articles that state "he would have won the VC had he survived".