Band of brothers in the thick of war

As the world pauses to remember those who sacrificed their lives during world wars, Patrick Cooke tells the story of two courageous Maltese ­brothers who were in the thick of the action.

He may laugh like a schoolboy when recounting tales of his daring wartime exploits in an affected American accent, but 90-year-old Joseph Borda saw enough bloodshed and tragedy while serving in three wars to make men weep.

As a proud member of the US Navy, Malta-born Mr Borda served in World War II, Korea and Vietnam, receiving 22 medals along the way.

During World War II, he served mainly in the South Pacific. “We had a lot of problems there because of the Japanese suicide (kamikaze) planes,” he recalled via telephone from his home in Pomona, California.

He was wounded twice, once in the upper thigh and once under fire when a good friend had his arm shot off.

Mr Borda’s ship later went to Sicily and Normandy to transport equipment and men for the D-Day invasion.

After the Normandy landings, he and the rest of the crew were given the haunting task of collecting the dead bodies of allied soldiers from the beach.

“That was very, very bad – here were all these young boys, and they were all dead,” he recalled.

As his ship left the Normandy coast, on board were the bloodied bodies of slain soldiers making their final journey.

Although devastated by the carnage he witnessed at Normandy, Mr Borda felt he had come a long way from his early years, growing up in Vittoriosa with 11 brothers and two sisters. He had always been attracted to adventure and had stowed away on a ship to Liverpool in England aged 15, only to be caught and sent back home three months later.

Not one to be deterred, he joined the Royal Navy aged 17 and served the early part of the war under the Union Flag, always eager to see combat rather than undertake the menial duties to which he was assigned.

His yearning for adventure led him to desert the Royal Navy and he changed his surname – from Camilleri.

He eventually caught a ship bound for America in 1940, where he managed to join the US Navy despite speaking only broken English.

His personal experiences of the Korea and Vietnam wars were less dramatic than World War II, and when his ship was in port in Vietnam he would spend 45 minutes a day voluntarily teaching local children about American culture.

The service was the only job Mr Borda ever knew and he is now long retired in the US, where he married and had three children, 11 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren.

Despite his love for his adopted country, Mr Borda still feels proudly Maltese. “You bet I’m Maltese, I love Malta and all the people there,” he said.

Among his treasured possessions are letters of gratitude from the White House, the former president of South Korea and the army chief of staff, as well as certificates honouring his service from the US secretary of defence and from France.

As a US Forces veteran, when the sprightly old warrior passes on he will be interred at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

His elder brother, Tony Camilleri, passed away several years ago, but he is remembered for his heroic bravery when saving many lives after the British aircraft carrier HMS Courageous was torpedoed by a German U-Boat in the middle of the North Sea in 1940.

Mr Camilleri – a keen oarsmen who always took part in the Grand Harbour regatta – was serving as merchant sailor on the ship Dido, which was in view of HMS Courageous when it was struck and listed heavily to one side, with many of its sailors jumping overboard into the rough sea.

The Dido only had two lifeboats and Mr Camilleri took charge of one of them, rowing it through the huge waves to take about 50 stricken sailors on board and deliver them safely to his ship.

Joined by other Dido crew members, he made the trip twice more, rescuing another 40 men from certain death.

Not only that, but despite being exhausted from rowing he twice jumped into the treacherous sea to save two men from drowning and drag them aboard the lifeboat.

Just a few days later, Mr Camilleri was given the sad news by his captain that his father had passed away at his residence in Vittoriosa, and he was granted immediate discharge.

When he returned to Malta, his story was published in Il-Berqa, a daily Maltese language newspaper published by Allied Newspapers.

Sliema resident Dorothy Azzopardi, daughter of the late Dgħajsa tal-pass owner Carmelo Camilleri and niece of the brothers, said: “These heroes fought all these battles so that they can protect us and save democracy. We should all be very grateful to them and others and we should never forget what they have done. They are part of our history and I feel very proud that these heroes are part of my family.”