Malta GC commemorative medal

I refer to the letter by Fr Emmanuel Agius 'Official let down' (June 1), in connection with the Malta GC commemorative medal where it is stated that Squadron Leader Bamberger's application was handed in time to the Malta High Commission in London "as attested by Mr Stellini, the then High Commissioner."

The attestation of applications for this medal was not carried out by the Maltese side, whether in the UK or Malta, but by the George Cross Island Association. The medal was awarded to ex-service personnel from the armed forces of various countries involved in the Malta campaign but, in so far as the UK was concerned, the procedures were as follows:

Written enquiries were received at the High Commission; no fewer than 17,525 letters were handled in this way. Each enquiry was acknowledged in a letter which explained what steps the applicant should take and to which was also attached a numbered application form. The applicant had to fill in and return the application form, supported by documentary evidence of service connected with the Malta campaign during the period specified.

Appropriate ministry of defence addresses were also provided in case service records, for some reason or other, were no longer at hand. The filled application form and supporting documentary evidence were then sent to the honorary secretary-general of the GCIA who would examine the papers and, if deemed correct, would certify on the application form itself the eligibility of the applicant. This would then be returned to the High Commission for onward transmission to Malta.

The applicant would then be officially informed directly from Malta that the "President of Malta has been pleased to approve the prime minister's recommendation that the Malta George Cross 50th anniversary medal be awarded to you."

A blue card was also enclosed, to be filled and returned to the High Commission, requesting the successful applicant to indicate whether the medal was to be mailed or received in person, in Malta or London. By the end of the exercise, the Malta High Commission in London had either sent by registered mail or organised medal presentation ceremonies at the High Commission involving 11,444 successful applicants.

All the application forms and supporting evidence were sent to the GCIA by registered mail, followed by telephone confirmation of receipt; the certified forms were brought to the High Commission from the GCIA office in Yorkshire by hand and then sent to Malta by diplomatic bag. There, of course, can be no guarantee that, in view of the thousands of applications involved, the odd one would not go astray; but this could be righted by checking the records.

Occasionally, the High Commission was asked: "What happened to my application?" Invariably it transpired that the applicant had either not followed the required procedures or had misunderstood the procedures and no trace existed of such an application; but again, if this happened within the stipulated time limit, i.e. by April 15, 1994, the situation could be corrected.

Fr Agius's letter does not provide details regarding the application from Sq. Leader Bamberger and, therefore, I cannot comment on the assertion that he was "officially let down". But I would be happy to receive what information might be available to see whether anything could be done.