‘War has broken out with Germany’ was the simple message that first informed Malta of the onset of the World War I.

The telegram, dated August 5, 1914, was sent from British Secretary for Colonies Lewis Harcourt, and informed the Governor of Malta at around 11pm that the bloodiest of wars had begun.

The recently restored document was unveiled at the National Archives yesterday as part of a set of 12 commemorative postcards, entitled Malta Memories  World War I.

More than 31,000 Maltese were involved in the war with some 500 losing their lives in the line of duty.

Documents seen by this newspaper show that some 778 Maltese were enlisted in the Royal Air Force and in the Royal Naval Reserve, 1,000 Maltese labourers (Maltese labour battalion) were sent to the Dardanelles, while the Royal Malta Artillery and the Maltese militia officers were sent to the battle of Salonika.

National Archivist Charles Farrugia told Times of Malta that Malta’s greatest contribution to the Allied war effort came in the form of medical aid. Dubbed the ‘Nurse of the Mediterranean’ by London-based Daily News, Malta treated nearly 60,000 wounded Allied service men during the four-year war.

There are 1,500 British servicemen buried in Malta, as well as French, Indians and Egyptians, together with 26 Turkish prisoners who were laid to rest in the Turkish cemetery in Marsa.

The collection of commemorative postcards is available from all leading bookshops and costs €15.