The crash of a Spitfire in Lija was featured in an article paying tribute to an Australian pilot officer who defended Malta during World War II (April 24). From the flimsy details presented, but much more from what I experienced as an eye-witness standing on our rooftop – which I can clearly recollect as if it is happening right now – I conclude that the pilot, with his plane in trouble almost skimming the roof tops in order to save lives and property, was manoeuvring his aircraft to crash land either on the tiny square in front of the chapel of the Saviour or else in the nearby garden owned by my grandfather, known as Ta’ Fattu.

The fact that the plane was returning to base at Ta’ Qali, undoubtedly with empty fuel tanks to refill, was indeed miraculous because if it had caught fire in the narrow, restricted space where it crashed, the consequences would have been high and costly, especially in terms of life and limb.