Maltese migrants honoured

Two Australian-Maltese, Joseph S. Attard and Joseph Edward Montebello, have been invested with the Maltese National Order of Merit by the High Commissioner for Malta in Australia, Francis Tabone, at a ceremony at the Maltese Consulate-General office in Melbourne. A number of other persons were presented with the centenary medal of the Scout Association of Malta.

Angele Azzopardi, the Consul-General, welcomed recipients and guests and called on the High Commissioner to invest Joseph S. Attard and Joseph Edward Montebello with the Order which had been awarded them on Republic Day 2007 by the Government of Malta for their exceptional voluntary service to the Maltese community in the state of Victoria.

Mr Tabone paid tribute to the two men who had helped fellow Maltese and Gozitans to settle in a new land, "to a new culture, a new language, a new environment and with no family to help out." Mr Montebello is a well-known cameraman and photographer.

Mr Tabone was then presented with the Scout commemorative medal by Julie Gunn,the International Scout Commissioner for Victoria. The High Commissioner recalled that the Scout Association of Malta was celebrating its centenary, the first association after the British Association to be formed in 1908.

He recalled his scouting days as a member of the St Aloysius College group, remembering other fellow scouts during his years in the Group whom he had met in Australia and who would be receiving the medal at a later ceremony, Stephen Gatt and Paul Farrugia of Sydney and John Farrugia of Adelaide. The commemorative medal was presented to Chevalier Attard who had joined the Nadur Group in 1944 and served as a senior scout before emigrating.

Mr Montebello had joined Hamrun Group as Wolf Cub in 1943 and had taken part in the ceremony of the presentation of the Bronze Cross for gallantry for the wartime exploits of the Scouts of Malta in Valletta. He was eventually District Cub Instructor.

Frank Bugeja was initially a member of the Valletta Group and later served at Island Headquarters in Floriana. During the war he served as a volunteer scout at the General Post Office before joining the Royal Air Force.

Vincent Calleja was a member of the Valletta Group and served as assistant scoutmaster.

Nicholas D. Chircop joined the Maltese Scout group in Alexandria, Egypt, in 1938 and remained a member when this was incorporated in the British Association in 1940 and during the war helped at military hospitals. In 1952 he attended the first Indaba for world Scout leaders held at Gilwell Park, in England.

Paul Mifsud first joined Sliema Group as a wolf cub in 1943 and later transferred to Lascaris Group, later serving as scoutmaster. He was a member of the Malta Contingent to the 50th Anniversary Jamboree in the UK in 1957.

Emmanuel Spiteri joined Ħamrun Group as a wolf cub before the last war and after voluntary service in the mail censors office, he joined "C" Company of the King's Own Malta Regiment, serving for five years until he was discharged in 1945.

Mr Tabone concluded with a note of nostalgia: "We all have personal stories to tell - of camp fires, songs, hikes, friendships..."