The true story of the cross of George is that Malta was used as a military base during the war! The Maltese suffered famine and disease. They had their properties bombed and destroyed. As a nation we had our magnificent fortifications built by the knights destroyed because we were a military base. A lot of us lost members of our families!
The Germans and Italians bombarded the British base in Malta due to the fact that the British were sinking supply ships from Europe to North Africa. Many people like me do not see any merit in that medal which was normally given to soldiers for bravery. That was an insult! Bravery? What bravery? We had no say in this! We had no choice! We had to endure simply because we were a military base. That is already bad enough. But no. The British needed to rubber-stamp our flag with an emblem of their king too. We were their subjects after all.
Didn’t Lord Byron say that Malta is a country of yells, smells and bells? That is what the British thought of us. And yet, lurking among us, still roams the servile gene, the weak mind which is content seeing our flag tainted.What we needed was money, medicine and the building of a country. Hardly any Maltese person was present for the ceremony which took place in September of 1942. The Maltese couldn’t care about any medal. They were only concerned with protecting their skin and the skin of their families. They searched for food which was very scarce. Some were content with leftovers by the British. Some had to fill in their stomachs with bread and lard. Malta was devastated, and yet we, as a nation, were rewarded with a piece of metal.
Some contributors try to cloud the minds by making ridiculous statements. This has nothing to do with the medal being British.If King George was Italian or Japanese, we would have said the same thing. The British are welcome here, we appreciate their touristic custom as I am sure the British appreciate the Maltese having their holidays in their country.
The great pity is that, so far, even the powers that be have not realised how insulted many Maltese people feel about this. We spend well-earned taxes paid by the Maltese people to invite foreign princes and members of monarchies, and in senseless ceremonies. We spend money to commemorate an insult.
Yes, let us all rejoice and cherish peace. Wars only bring destruction. But wars happen because of greed and because countries want to control other countries, or because people in power want to control their own people.
Have we forgotten the scramble for Africa? Have we forgotten how many European countries wanted power and land and to fly their flags overseas? Nazism and Fascism were very bad news and thank God they were destroyed thanks to America joining in! But no country is pure. Everyone should have learnt from the last war.
Let us teach our youths by all means that war is never the answer but we can do this by proper education at school and not by portraying some medal given by a past oppressor!
Open your eyes I say, come to your senses and remove the present taint which serves nothing more than a constant reminder of past foreign rule and exploitation.