Carmelo Brown, London, UK.
War victims
After reading an article about the sinking of HMS Louvian (January 20) and the 70 Maltese seamen that went down with her, may I ask why it is that in Malta there is nothing to commemorate the hundreds of Maltese seamen, Royal Navy and Merchant Navy, who perished in the two world wars and also those who died on HMS Suamarez when the destroyer hit a mine off Corfu in 1947?
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Denis A. Darmanin
Feb 21st 2008, 19:21
A monument commemorating all those Maltese who served (and died) while in the Royal Navy was erected by the Malta Branch of the Royal Naval Association at the Former Torpedo Depot at Pieta'/Msida.
The King George V Seamen's Memorial Hospital, now Sir Paul Boffa Hospital, was opened in 1921 to commemorate all British and Commonwealth seamen, while the building till recently occupied by the Malta Maritime Authority on the Valletta marina was also erected for a similar purpose. The foundation stone is probably still buried on the corner beneath the extended veranda.
There are also a number of other smaller monuments/commemorations and one that comes to mind is that at the Upper Barracca commemorating the Mooring Vessel MOOR, sunk in 1942 and possibly others that I'm not aware of.
My late father had served in the Royal Navy and spent most of the war on active service. One particular ship that he served on, HMS Protector, was hit by Italian torpedoes and lives were lost. If he was one of those who had died, I would surely want to have him commemorated. At a time when a ship's company consisted of hundreds of men, Maltese included, the loss of any ship meant the loss of many lives. I’m sure that everyone would want them to be commemorated but can we erect a monument for every ship and its losses?
During the late 1930’s a set of plaques baring the names of those who had perished during the First World War were intended to be placed on the War Memorial at Floriana. They are all listed in an edition of the Government Gazette No. 8501, dated November 19, 1938. The Floriana memorial now commemorates all the Maltese fallen, whether in uniform or civilians, of the First or Second World Wars. Lest we forget.