Names of fallen on War Memorial
On September 6, 1949, The Times of Malta wrote as follows: "A few short years before the outbreak of World War II a monument was erected in Floriana in memory of the Maltese who laid down their lives in World War I. It was the work of the Maltese...
On September 6, 1949, The Times of Malta wrote as follows:
"A few short years before the outbreak of World War II a monument was erected in Floriana in memory of the Maltese who laid down their lives in World War I. It was the work of the Maltese artist Mr L. Naudi and was inscribed with the citation from HM King George V with the names of the Fallen.
"It was badly blasted during World War II and a large proportion of the lettering was blown off by bombs and lost.
"When, a short time ago, the Memorial was moved a few yards to the left to comply with the new Harrison-Hubbard town plan for the Valletta-Floriana area, the remaining lettering was removed and never replaced.
"There is a general feeling that it is now time for the names to be replaced because, as it now stands, the Memorial is incomplete".
Simple question: How nearer are we now, after another 60 years from when the above was written, towards actually completing the presently existing Malta cenotaph?
Why should it be that the names of several Maltese who died in World War I feature conspicuously on war memorials in other lands (say, the one on Plymouth Hoe in the UK) and not on a memorial in our own beloved country?
John Consiglio, Birkirkara