Dom Mintoff’s dispute with Vivian De Gray brought reactions from among members of the force and the Police Commissioner was given a great ovation when he went to police headquarters after his appointment had been confirmed by the Governor. It was also said that all senior police officers had signed a declaration that none would consent to succeed De Gray as Commissioner.

The Times of Malta also reported that several members of the force signified that they would not march out for duty, except under De Gray’s direction. Moreover, a telephone message was transmitted to all police divisions where the Commissioner said: “I am still your Commissioner.” However, several members of the force remained loyal to Mintoff and the Labour Party in spite of everything.

Meanwhile, answering questions in the House of Commons, the Colonial Secretary said that at the height of the Valletta disturbances the demonstrators threw stones and tried to break police cordons. Mintoff had then ordered the Commissioner of Police to withdraw the mounted police within three minutes and not to authorise baton charges. The Colonial Secretary further said that De Gray quite properly referred these orders to the Governor.

Asked whether he would assure the House that the Commissioner would not suffer victimisation for his actions in future, the Colonial Secretary said he had already authorised the Governor to assure the Commissioner and all members that they had his full support in the exercise of their duties against victimisation.

In fact, in a police circular issued on April 26, 1958, it was said that the Secretary of State for the Colonies had issued directives to the Governor stating: “You will no doubt give De Gray assurance that if Mintoff is returned to power after an election we will see that no policeman doing his duty will be allowed to suffer at Mintoff’s hands.”

On April 24, 1958 a proclamation was issued prohibiting public meetings and demonstrations in Valletta and Floriana between April 24 and May 8, 1958. The meeting called by the General Workers’ Union for April 25 was held in Ħamrun instead of the Floriana granaries. During the meeting the GWU announced a one-day general strike for the following Monday, April 28.

Two days before the strike the Commissioner issued a police circular stating that: “the strike is not a lawful strike in furtherance of a trade dispute as permitted by the Trade Union and Trade Dispute Ordinance”. As far as possible, the police were to encourage the normal life of the community to go on.

The general strike was held as scheduled and a number of incidents were reported. Three police stations, namely Tarxien, Cospicua and Żabbar, were burned. According to official reports the value of government property, including cash and items lost, in the three police stations, was £2,405. Cospicua police station suffered the most damage.

On April 30 the Governor proclaimed a state of emergency under the 1947 Constitution as amended in December 1953. Additional powers were given to the police to prevent the interruption of communications by roadblocks and other means. The police were also given power to control traffic by closing roads and otherwise to prevent the organisation of widespread demonstrations. The penalties for assaults on the police by stoning were also increased.

In spite of the good relations with the Prime Minister, De Gray tendered his resignation twice during the premiership of Borg Olivier

Meanwhile, after the April 28 disturbances, arrests were made, and more than 100 people, mainly youths, were arraigned in court under the new law. The charges were mainly unlawful assembly, causing wilful damage, intimidation, breach of the public peace, obstruction of public roads, and breach of the Trade Union Ordinance and the Emergency Ordinance.

Those arrested were kept at Corradino Military Prison. Twenty-two of the accused were acquitted by the Magistrates’ Court or the Court of Appeal. The others, including two ex-ministers, were fined or received prison sentences ranging from five days to six months.

In a paper submitted at the Conference on Small Islands, held on Canada’s Prince Edward Island on September 17, 1992, Dom Mintoff wrote: “Undeterred, the British government proclaimed martial law, and Whitehall in a succession of despatches, vested him with the legal power to run both fortress and civil Malta. With the imprisonment of several socialist ministers and trade union leaders, George Cross Malta was back to square one, back to the tragic days before the outbreak of World War II when under Mussolini’s threat, Britain suppressed all the civil liberties of the Maltese people.”

After the April 28 strike, things cooled down, but the dispute between Mintoff and the Commissioner of Police continued. During the May Day meeting held in the Empire Stadium, Gżira, Mintoff said the Commissioner of Police, instead of consulting the Governor, should have informed him (Mintoff) and advised the calling of the troops.

Referring to the members of the police as being mostly Labourites, Mintoff said they were told not to worry as the police would remain in British hands. Mintoff, however, said the police should not be blamed because, like soldiers, they had to obey orders and they had to earn a living. During the meeting, Mintoff said De Gray was the greatest traitor of Malta.

In May 1958, Mintoff published the booklet Malta Ittraduta and the proceeds from the sales went to the Victims of the Colonial Rule Fund. The publication included the correspondence between the Commissioner of Police and the Prime Minister regarding the first demonstrations held in Valletta in February 1958.

Mintoff also mentioned the excellent relations he had with De Gray prior to the April 23 incidents and that in 1956 he had asked for the Commissioner’s views when the Colonial Office proposed setting up an independent commission to determine the ultimate responsibility of the police force. The words he used to describe these excellent relations were “Is-Sur De Gray jiġġieled għad-drittijiet ta’ Malta” (Mr De Gray fought for Malta’s rights) and “bl-għajnuna tas-Sur De Gray il-battalja ġiet mirbuħa” (with De Gray’s help the battle was won). Referring to the last conversation he had with De Gray, Mintoff said that the Commissioner wanted to serve the Crown.

In the meantime the political parties continued with public meetings. After one held by the Nationalist Party on January 11, 1959, De Gray proposed that criminal proceedings be instituted against the Nationalist leader, George Borg Olivier. According to the Commissioner, Borg Olivier had used threatening words against the members of the Council of Government when he said: “I make on behalf of you all, I make one recommendation to the Governor, that for those Maltese he intends to have with him in the new council, he should take out a good insurance policy.”

On the same day of the meeting, the Commissioner wrote to the legal secretary with a proposal to charge Borg Olivier with incitement to commit murder. The Commissioner felt that Borg Olivier was declaring that people who wished to remain alive and in good health must not join the nominated council that was to be set up under the new constitution.

However, the legal secretary, Denis Stephens, was not satisfied that Borg Olivier had acted against Section 262 of the Criminal Code and advised against the institution of proceedings. However, the legal secretary made it clear that this was just an opinion as the decision to prosecute was his (De Gray’s). It seems that the Commissioner accepted this advice as no further action was taken.

De Gray was frequently criticised by the Labour Party Press. In a two-page article published in the Voice of Malta on March 20, 1960, under the heading ‘De Gray – boot him out’, J.A. Farr recalled that De Gray “was raised from a police officer by the Malta Labour government to the high office of a Police Commissioner”. The writer also said that the Commissioner had betrayed Malta in its hour of trial, and that in his burning desire to serve the Crown, De Gray not only disobeyed the orders of his minister, but applied to the Governor to countermand these orders.

When Mintoff became Prime Minister in June 1971, De Gray was given two options – face an inquiry or resign. He opted for the second

De Gray’s dispute with Mintoff also brought a number of transfers of members of the force who supported Mintoff. Some transfers inflicted hardships because the postings were quite a distance away from the residences of the members of the force concerned. Moreover, work with less fatigue was not given to Labourites because of their political beliefs.

According to the 1961 Constitution the Governor retained the control of the police department. Meanwhile, with the setting up of the Public Service Commission, De Gray lost the power to appoint inspectors within the force if not after a competitive examination. However, he retained the power to promote sergeants-major and sergeants.

In a general order issued by the Commissioner on July 24, 1961, it was said that: “All members of the force are to adopt at all times a policy of strict non-interference and non-partisanship, where politics are concerned, subject to the enforcement of the law”. However, in 1962, the dismissal of a police sergeant for making disparaging remarks about the Prime Minister shocked the police force.

There was a time before the 1962 general elections when De Gray was going to retire on pension. Apparently the Council of Government was going to legislate on something that De Gray could not accept, and being a man of principle, he was going to resign. He changed his mind when a compromise was somehow reached.

The Mintoff-De Gray antagonism continued during the general election campaign of February 1962, one of the most heavily contested elections. Tempers ran high during the campaign and on the three polling days. The police had to cope with a great number of outdoor and indoor political meetings and demonstrations all over the islands, necessitating the deployment of heavy police reinforcements from place to place.

The elections were won by the Nationalist Party, and George Borg Olivier was invited by the Governor to form a government. He, however, made certain reservations regarding responsibility for the police and sought immediate discussions with the Secretary of State. It was after receiving assurance that London was ready to discuss these constitutional matters with him at an early stage that he accepted to form a government. Eventually constitutional amendments gave back responsibility for the police to the Maltese government. Meanwhile De Gray was retained as head of police and he had excellent relations with the Prime Minister.

De Gray had also good relations with Archbishop Michael Gonzi. After the 1961 interdiction of the Malta Labour Party executive, several rallies were held by the Diocesan Junta and De Gray gave his assurance that the police would protect the safety of those attending such rallies. Police protection was also given to those who blew whistles and rung church bells during MLP meetings.

The Mintoff-De Gray friction continued during the May 1964 independence referendum campaign when tempers ran high, with a great number of public meetings and demonstrations. Even in the independence celebrations the police were again stretched to the limit to maintain security and public order and to control the huge crowds that had never before assembled in such numbers in Valletta and Floriana.

Prior to the start of these celebrations, a proclamation was issued in terms of the Public Meetings Ordinance, prohibiting the holding of all demonstrations and public meetings in any place open to the public between September 16 and 24, 1964, other than those that formed part of the official independence celebrations. A number of unauthorised counter-demonstrations were attempted, principally in Valletta and Floriana, but these were eventually dispersed by the police. In one incident, Police Superintendent Frank Tonna was stabbed in the abdomen by an unknown demonstrator and had to be hospitalised for an emergency operation. He later returned to duty.

In spite of the good relations with the Prime Minister, De Gray tendered his resignation twice during the premiership of Borg Olivier. The first time was in 1967 when De Gray had a personality clash with then administrative secretary Edgar Cuschieri. In fact, after this date, De Gray rarely addressed correspondence to the administrative secretary, but directly to the Prime Minister.

In 1970, De Gray again wrote to the Prime Minister informing him that he intended to relinquish his post as Police Commissioner as from August 1, 1970. In the same letter De Gray opted to retire on full pension and he even recommended his deputy, Alfred Lanzon, to succeed him. However, once again, De Gray withdrew the resignation as he was given what he had requested.

When Mintoff became Prime Minister in June 1971, De Gray was given two options – face an inquiry or resign. He opted for the second and retired on pension. He had served as Police Commissioner for 15 years.

On May 18, 1972, De Gray was arrested and a search was conducted in his residence in Gwardamanġa. However, when the Prime Minister heard of De Gray’s arrest he ordered his immediate release. These orders were conveyed to Commissioner Alfred Bencini by Inspector Paul Mamo, who at that time was an attaché at the Office of the Prime Minister.

Vivian de Gray died on January 7, 1993, at the age of 83.

(Concluded)