I refer to the feature by Alfred Conti Borda entitled ‘Fr Maurice Naudi – Jesuit, teacher, prefect and photographer’ (The Sunday Times of Malta, August 16). I would like to add a little known fact about the difficult life we few boarders at St Aloysius’ College experienced during the terrible years of the war.

When the rock shelter in the basement was completed, all students, teaching staff, Jesuits and those patients from the hospital wards who were mobile took cover there during air raids. At night, we boarders and the Jesuits had the shelter all to ourselves and, at first, we used to spend the night asleep on deckchairs.

Then somebody had the bright idea of introducing a system of hammocks in a branch of the shelter. So our parents had them made from sail canvas with a metal ring at each corner which we would attach to hooks purposely fixed in the walls.

It all seemed to go well for a couple of nights, but what had not been foreseen was the disastrous consequences of bladder leakages which could not be restrained especially by those boys at the top level and those at the inner end of the corridor.

There were no toilet facilities, of course, and no electricity was yet provided. It was then very humiliating to see all the dampened bedding laid out to dry, during the morning under the gaze of all the students, in the sunny playground and on the terraces.

I hardly need to say that the practice was mercifully shortlived.