Biggest peace-time loss of Maltese soldiers remembered

@B Agius, Friend, I believe in letting these who live in Malta to comment on the going on in Malta and us Maltin ta-barra should keep our opinion to our self. I also believe that this is not the place for chitchat, remember the photo at the top. If you like, please be free to ask the Times for my email address and you can contact me. God Bless you all.

Mr.Morana,
Whatever made you think that history written in an unbiased way is pleasing to read. I don't mind as I am sure than a lot of people would agree with me.
The more it reveals dirty, sleazy, horrific facts the more truthful it would be. We don't need a fairytale instead as some so called historians write.
For a Roman Catholic Archbishop to be given the title of a Sir shows the contrary to what the late Dr.Herbert Ganado wrote which would have described the villainous way that the Roman Catholic Church led by the Archbishop Sir Michael Gonzi acted in those years.
But probably he did not venture into that as he was the leader of one of the political parties put under the Roman Catholic Church umbrella to hound the Malta Labour Party in the General Election of 1961 and then discarded together with the other two small parties like used rubbish in the next election.
.
Rumours are just rumours, nothing concrete and I hope that you don't believe in them.


Finally if you know something real and true, I urge you to do your utmost and write it down for all to read.

That helps!

Mr. Pace if or should some one ever really do write a unbiased piece of work about that period, the material which have to be dug out from the British Colonial office - White Hall, I can assure you that it will not be pleasing.
Dom Mintoff's dossiers and Mons. Archbishop Sir Michael Gonzi is still there.

There were rumors that Mons. Gonzi was not liked or trusted by the British, when he became a Bishop of Gozo in 1942. This is also mentioned in the book Rajt Malta Tinbidel by the late Dr. Herbert Ganado. It was the British Military establishment which showed some contempt towards the Bishop as he was later to prove them right when the Integration issue blew in their faces. The rest is History.

To Mrs Carmen Fenech nee Falzon.
There was and there is no thing such as Maltese Church authorites but Roman Catholic Church authorities which were led in Malta by Archbishop Michael Gonzi whose allegiance was with the Pope who is the head of the Roman Catholic Church.
So let us not be that apologetic to the Roman Catholic Church as it's involvement in the 1960s political field in Malta was totally obscene and it is not written in detail in any local history book especially those which are sold to the tourists that come to Malta.
Infact it is not mentioned at all as those who wrote these books would be biting the hand that feed them.
I talked to tourists about this and they always state that it is not mentioned except the 'glorified Independence of 1964' and nothing else on the vile things that were allowed to happen in the name of the Roman Catholic Church.
I am still waiting for someone to write the real history of Malta with a neutral point of view.

Therefore for those who remember the socio-religious-political war of the 1960s do retell this story to your siblings on how things actually happened.

I am pleased that Sapper Cutajar still misses my father and considered him his friend. My father was a wonderful father and husband, and my family is very proud of who he was. But I must repeat that he was not interdicted. No post mortem interdiction was ever issued. I am proud to say that he was a Labour supporter and a practising Catholic (much more than some so called Catholics of that day were). Reading that people still think that he was interdicted and buried in unconsecrated ground has saddened my family. My father was the only one who was refused burial in a local cemetry, in our case Naxxar. Those buried in Pembroke had opted for a Military burial. My mother wanted him buried in Naxxar because three soldiers from Naxxar had died in the same crash and she did not want him to be the only one left out. As things happened he was a persona non grata for some Naxxarin, this because of his political beliefs, and had to be buried in Pembroke Cemetry. As things turned out we are now very pleased of this decision, because he is resting with his men.

@ George Pisani, Good to see that you did comment George - I don't know what you mean by saying you feel you can't comment on a blog because you're a non resident of Malta. I'm glad you did comment. I have an uncle in Brisbane, Sam Micallef, who may have served with you. Do you know him?

This is just one of the many shameful episodes from one of the darkest periods in the Maltese history. My grandfather, Sgt. Emmanuel Falzon, received the Last Rites by a catholic priest, (who later confirmed himself ,and it is also written in my grandfather's death certificate signed by the same priest). My grandfather died as a hero, as he went back in the aeroplane to save another soldier who was trapped inside, as one of the survivors later said in an interview with a local newspaper.
However, the then Archpriest of Naxxar, surrounded by some local 'good-hearted catholics', denied burial at the Naxxar Cemetery to my grandfather. All this because my grandfather was a Labour supporter.
So, there are no other angles to this...my grandfather is buried at the Pembroke Military Cemetery because he was denied burial at the Naxxar Cemetry... simply because he was a Labour supporter...and not because he was interdicted.

@ Carmen Fenech - I spoke to my father (Sapper John Cutajar) about your father. He remembers him well and saw him for the last time in the hospital at El Edem having been placed near the same beds. My father was one of the lucky few who survived. He remembered his last words. My father still misses his friends especially your father who was his senior NCO. It was thanks to the intervention of their Colonel who made it possible to have them buried in the Military Cemetery as the story of interdiction after doing some reseacrh was applied also on these Maltese heroes. May they rest in peace.

This sad episode shames not the Church of Christ but Archbishop Michael Gonzi who ,notwithstanding the tragic circumstances of the case, chose to intimidate by his action all other labour supporters for his ulterior motives. The Curia and rightwing Malta approved by their silence Gonzi`s vindicative action and consequently share with him condemnation.
It is not easy to forget what the families of these brave soldiers went through but that was in Gonzi`s not God`s plans. Yes we must learn to distinguish between God`s plans and the doings of mortals, even when these assume high places in the hierarchy. Nahfru iva, ninsew qatt ! So true!

I feel that I, as daughter of one of the victims, have to clarify certain points mentioned.
Pembroke Cemetry, IS a consecrated military cemetery not definitely not FOREIGN and on fact there are dozens of locals buried there. It is divided into three sections, the main one being for Roman Catholics.
The families have no wish to move their loved ones from there. Four more sappers were later buried with the first ten. Permission have also been granted to the wives to be buried with husbands if they so wish.
Not one single soldier,including my father, Sgt. Emmanuel Falzon, was interdicted. What's more all soldiers were given the Last Rites by a Catholic priest, who later came to Malta to confirm this.
My father was refused burial with the other two sappers from Naxxar, at the Naxxar cemetery, as my mother wished at the time, even though he had the relevant 'bulettin' mentioned by E. Galea. Some Maltese Church Authorities had made a political issue of my father because he supported Labour. So he was buried with his troop at Pembroke Cemetry instead of Naxxar.
We all wish to thank the AFM for their initiative and support throughout the years.

This incident even got a mention in the House of Lords in a question by Earl Winterton .

'Now we come to the deplorable story of events that have recently occurred over the controversy between the Archbishop and Dom Mintoff. I think it would be most improper for me to say who is in the right and who is in the wrong. The probable answer is that both of them have made great mistakes. Mr. Mintoff accuses the Archbishop of trying in every way to interfere with his Party, of carrying out various ecclesiastical sanctions against it. Only the other day I was told that when some Maltese soldiers, who I think had been to Libya or somewhere like that, were killed in an air crash, it was discovered that one of them was a prominent member of the 675 Maltese Labour Party, and in consequence the Maltese priest refused to give him the last rites which are customarily given to a Catholic when he is buried. Fortunately, an English Catholic chaplain stepped into the breach and the man in question received the proper rites.


HL Deb 24 October 1961 vol 234 cc672-85 672 Hansard.

We are mixing up a number of issues in this thread. The attitude and actions of the Church in Malta vis a vis the MLP in the early sixties is one, and the burial of 17 Maltese locally enlisted British Forces servicemen killed on duty is another.

There may well be other angles to this (facts please, not conjecture) but it is most likely that the reason for the burial of the servicemen in Pembroke Military Cemetery is this: the military honours its dead and the families of the dead servicemen will have been offered the option of a military funeral at military expense, or a private burial. There are designated British Forces military cemeteries (Pembroke is one), hence the location. To my knowledge the ground is consecrated and the burial will have been Catholic, with full military honours and conducted by a Catholic Military Chaplain (Priest).

Not as exciting as some of the conjecture in this thread but probably much closer to the truth.
The Maltese servicemen that died were locally enlisted members of the British Armed Forces - as such they would be prohibited from active political involvement.

@ Charles Cagligari

There really is no need to visit the MLP headquarters to glean information regarding that tragic period in Malta's political history. There are enough people in their fifties, sixties, seventies eighties etc who remember it quite well on both sides of the divide. Please understand that a substantial part of the population took an active part in the church's crusade against the Labour party. The church's activities were always very well attended. NO church is a church without its faithful. If you think that most of these people are now deceased think again.
Why do you think we tend to pussyfoot around the topic? It is within living memory therefore very uncomfortable and certainly discordant with the democratic values we all profess to. What is still very evident is the pain and suffering of individuals and their families. Consigning such raw pain to history's dustbin or worse trivialising it ,is morally unacceptable as is pinning the blame solely on the protagonists. Such discrimination, required the support of part of the population; indeed the democratic chorus against it then was absent or at best remained very private.

@.. Charles Caligari... They and many others were interdicted SIMPLY because, they or anybody else in their families, were hard core Labour Supporters.. And Mainly... Because the Malta Labour Party, itself, as a whole, was slammed by the Interdict and so disgraced.

Obviously, this disgraceful decision was implied by the church of the sixties, under Archbishop Mons. Mikiel Gonzi a few months before the 1960 general elections, under the UNBELieVABLE excuse, that the M.L.P. was `L-Ghadu tal-Knisja`.....!!!!!!!!

Charles, and all of those interested in this ugly part of the Maltese (..Political/Religious..) History, i suggest that if you need detailed information, you may easily go to the MLP Headquarters in Hamrun, and i am sure that they will tell you what books to read on this subject..

When I first saw this article, at 1am Brisbane time, I didn't want to write anything about it, because I believe that, as I live in another place, I have lost the right to comment, but now, I have to write. I. Galea you are so right, I am one of the exiled/emigrates to Australia. In 1961 the PP of Gzira refused to give my brother his 1st Holy Communion. My father was a very strong Labour supporter, and after 22 years in the RMA, he pulled the pin, and dredged us to this, what seem to be a God forsaking place. Two years later I joined the Army because I could not take the racial discrimination any more. While in the 37 years I spend in Army, I got to like this place, but never forgot my MOTHER MALTA. It was only about 8 years ago that my father reminded me why we left home and come here. Please, forget what has happened, it is now history, work together as Maltin should, for the betterment of Malta and not any political party or individual. May our Lord God keep protecting and defending our island home as He has done.

@Iris Azzopardi
It is not a question of a foreign or protestant cemetery.

Indeed, the British Government gave a decent honorable burial with military honors to these soldiers when they were denied burial in Catholic Malta's own cemeteries.

As for direct political activity, there was no need to be politically active yourself, but it applied even if your family was involved in political activity.

At the time, we had what was known as the "bullettin," which was a card which the parish priest used to sign that you had received holy communion and done your Christian duty every year. If you supported Labour you would never get the signature.

Moreover, people were marked with a red mark next to their name if they were Labour supporters or their family supported Labour, so that they were refused jobs when they went for interviews etc., but were the first to be exiled as emigrants from Malta to Australia and other countries that wanted immigrants.

However hard to believe Iris, this is what we had in the fifties and sixties in Catholic Malta which some people do whatever they can to hide.

I do not know where this story came from...but to let you know there are no 17 burials at Pembroke. Some were buried in their home town. If not mistaken there are 9 buried there and there is also buried the son of one of the victims who died in the early 70's. All it takes is to see the cuttings of the 1961 Times of Malta and Il-berqa and you would see one picture of a procession held in Naxxar for one of the victims.

Even if Pembroke is an exclusively Protestant cemetery (which I doubt, since military cemeteries by their very nature have to cater for all denominations), that does not make it 'foreign'.
I cannot understand how these men just happened to be all interdicted political activists.
Isn't it just too much of a coincidence that an army unit should be entirely or almost entirely composed of such persons?
And weren't serving soldiers precluded from direct political activity?

Does anybody know the reason why they were interdicted ?

Let them rest in peace with those who gave them shelter when a Catholic burial was denied them, and let their burial remind us forever of those dark times.

I am proud to say I have not forgotten that period in Malta's history and the part played in it by those who were supposed to teach us the way to goodness and understanding . Nor have I forgiven.To my dying day I will remember,no matter how many apologies and excuses have been or will be made. It is etched in my mind and in my heart.

@Mr Fenech

Are you of the opinion that only your brand of Christianity is the only valid one,and what exactly do u mean by 'not consecrated'?

Iris Azzopardi
Gerald is saying the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

@iris
Yes the story is true iris. It was the intervention of an English chaplain of the services who arranged the burial of these interdicted men. If I am not mistaken one of them was a certain Galea from Birkirkara. Some of our darkest pages in history is deeply buried from future generations because the people of power feel uncomfortable with the truth.

@Iris Azzopardi
Gerald Fenech is right I rememer the incident quite clearly.

I happened to interview one of the relatives of these men some years ago on the radio and he showed me all documentation in relation to the incident. The Pembroke Cemetery is a Protestant site and is not consecrated.

@Gerald Fenech
Can you substantiate your story? It is so highly improbable!
And since when is Pembroke 'foreign'?

What this article doesn't say is that these brave men were buried in a foreign cemetery due to the fact that they were interdicted by the Church. Isn't it high time that they were buried in their forefather's cemetery where their loved ones undoubtedly would want them to rest in peace?

This is a sad story indeed, for a generation was lost in seconds. Thankfully my father who was on board that aircraft survived the crash with minor injuries. Those who were in front of the Hastings were the first to die. My father wanted to go home earlier (he had been in the desert for 6 months) and managed to get this flight from hell. May they rest in peace.