The yearly debate about our national day or days rumbles on.

However, fact if nothing else, should surely dictate that September 8 is out of the running. This date marks the lifting of the Turkish Siege in 1565. A very sore day remembered in Turkey even now, but more importantly it marks the day when the Italian fleet, part of which was moored in St Paul's Bay, was surrendered by Ammivaglio Alberto Da Zora. He received the salute of a Royal Navy Guard of Honour before meeting with Admiral Cunningham to complete the formal proceedings.

Feelings still run deep on either side of the Malta/Sicily channel and with the bickering going on between Malta and Italy today I would most certainly not rub salt in some very deep wounds.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.