Due to the number of anniversaries that will be celebrated during the current year, I fear that there could be the possibility of ignoring an anniversary of world importance.
I refer to the centenary from the onset of World War I which saw its raison d’être with the assassination in Sarajevo providing the excuse for Austria to declare war on Serbia. The Austrian-Hungarian Empire declared war on July 28, 1914 and the first shots were fired the next day.
Very few in Malta are aware that apart from logistical support and providing medical assistance to wounded soldiers, Maltese soldiers had actually taken part in the fighting and that some 600 men lost their lives.
The War Memorial in Floriana, inaugurated on November 11, 1938, also commemorates those Maltese that had lost their lives during the war.
Therefore, I would like to make a public appeal to the government in general and to all the media in particular, not to forget this important anniversary. Nearly 40 million soldiers died or were lost during 54 months of terrible fighting. Such an important and tragic event must not be ignored or be eclipsed, due to all the other activities being planned.