Two researchers have appealed for information on fellow Maltese-Australians killed in action 100 years ago, as Australia today commemorates the passage of one century since the Anzac landing in Gallipoli, Turkey.

In 1915, soldiers from Australia and New Zealand formed part of the mission to capture the Turkish peninsula and open the way to the Black Sea for the Allied navies.

Around 40 of those who enlisted to serve in Gallipoli and the Western Front were Maltese, and seven were killed in battle.

Around 40 of those who enlisted to serve in Gallipoli and the Western Front were Maltese, and seven were killed in battle

Friends and researchers Mark Caruana and Carmen Baxter, both born in Malta and living in Sydney, kicked off a research project to learn more about those Maltese who arrived in Australia as migrants and answered the call to join the Australian Imperial Forces in the conflict.

Ms Baxter is the daughter of former Malta High Commissioner Nicholas Bonello, who raised funds to build the Anzac Monument in Floriana.

The main sources of research, which began in 2009, were War Memorial records at Canberra and online.

So far, Mr Caruana and Ms Baxter have identified seven Maltese-Australians who “made the supreme sacrifice and are today buried on foreign soil, namely one at Gallipoli and six in one of the several cemeteries in France and Belgium”.

Six were migrants from Malta, and one was a second-generation Maltese-Australian from Melbourne.

Left and right: Two of the seven Maltese-Australian soldiers who served with the British forces, Waldemar Beck and Frank Brown, respectively.

Meanwhile, another 30 were engaged in combat in Gallipoli and the Western Front. They were fortunate enough to survive and return to Australia.

In his research, Mr Caruana has also come across Louis Cremona, who is probably the only Maltese migrant in New Zealand to have joined NZ Expeditionary Forces.

Born in Victoria in 1886, Mr Cremona disembarked at Wel-lington in March 1906 as a single man. He survived the war and was discharged in 1919 on termination of his period of engagement with the NZ Rifle Brigade.

People with additional information or photographs that could contribute to this tribute research may contact Mr Caruana on caruanamark@optusnet.com.au.

Lest we forget: the Maltese-Australian Anzacs killed in action

• Francesco Bartolo, born in Mellieħa, was wounded in action twice and was killed in action in the second battle of the Somme on August 9, 1918

• Waldemar Beck, born in Msida, died of gunshot wounds aged 29 in the Battle of Hammel on July 6, 1918

• Francis Bellia, born in Valletta, was killed, aged 28, on April 17, 1918

• Charles Emanuel Bonavia, born in Sliema, was one of the first soldiers to be killed in action at Gallipoli on Anzac Day

• Frank Alfred Brown, born in Valletta, enlisted at age 30 as a gunner and was killed on September 5, 1917

• Andrew Camilleri, from Mqabba, was reported missing, but was later confirmed killed in action on October 12, 1917

• Thomas Rizzo, born in Melbourne, was killed in action, aged 28, on May 19, 1918