History of the memorial

I refer to the article Eternal Flame Will Honour The War Dead In Floriana (January 4).

I am pleased that the War Memorial in Floriana will be given more prominence. It was slowly being obscured by surrounding trees, enforcing the feeling that its origin and history were slowly fading into oblivion.

It would be opportune, I feel, to give readers a more accurate history of the Floriana Memorial, lest we forget! It was not, as reported in The Times, originally intended to commemorate the fallen of World War II. This memorial was intended to commemorate the 592 Maltese heroes who lost their lives during the Great War of 1914-1918. It was commissioned by Malta’s Governor Sir Charles Bonham Carter who launched a design competition. This was won by Louis Naudi, an artist from Sliema who had shortly before returned to Malta after a four-year art scholarship in Rome. The unveiling of the Floriana War Memorial took place on Armistice Day, November 11, 1938 and was described as “an unforgettable event for Malta” by The Times of Malta.

“Barely 19 months later Malta’s air raid siren would ring at 7 a.m. on 11th June 1940, plunging the island headlong into the Second World War.” I am quoting from an article written by Greta Borg Carbott in First, a monthly magazine issued by The Malta Independent (November 2008). It gives an informative, well-researched and enjoyably interesting background to this prestigious legacy.

It also recalls when, on December 8, 1949, the monument was officially declared to be a memorial to both World War I and II. This article was written to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Floriana War Memorial in November 2008, an event that, regrettably, went virtually unrecorded.