Lord and Lady Mountbatten holding the hands of a young Princess Anne and Prince Charles.

Sitting at her kitchen table, Patricia Valenzia leafs through hundreds of black and white photographs each capturing moments that helped shape Malta throughout the years.

The collection includes stunning aerial pictures of an unspoilt, nearly unrecognisable island, jovial ones of a young Princess Elizabeth dancing with Prince Philip and photos depicting a heavily bombed Malta, heaving beneath the wreckage left behind by the German Luftwaffe.

All were taken by a man whom Ms Valenzia describes as “a jolly man, an excellent sportsman and a professional photographer” – her late father, Hector Borg Carbott.

Ms Valenzia recently spotted a photograph, depicting Lord and Lady Mountbatten with a very young Prince Charles and Princess Anne, in a Times of Malta 80th anniversary feature and recalled that her father had taken a similar shot from a different angle.

Born in 1911, Mr Borg Carbott travelled to England before the war, where he met and married Beatrice Clough.

When war broke out in September 1939, the couple decided to return to Malta. Mr Borg Carbott then joined the Royal Air Force, where he was posted as an aircraftsman to the RAF’s photographic section.

A jolly man, an excellent sportsman and a professional photographer

For most of 1943, he was attached to an American squadron which was flying Boston bombers. He flew over 50 missions with them, taking photographs to record bombing operations. He also flew on a number of reconnaissance missions, taking photographs of potential targets.

He captured a number of key events in Malta, including the surrender of the Italian fleet and King George VI’s seven-hour visit.

Ms Valenzia still has her father’s old camera. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

He was also part of a team which took aerial photographs of the bomb damage of Malta’s cities, towns and villages in 1944, which were to be used later to plan the island’s reconstruction after the war.

After the war, he worked for the Times of Malta and, later, as a freelance photographer. He opened a photography shop in Sliema and was appointed by the British to photograph all their functions.

He also photographed the Middle Sea Races and was a keen sailor himself. He set up the Vikings Sailing Club in 1984 to keep youngsters safe and involved in sports. He passed away on December 18, 1987.

Ms Valenzia has the negatives of numerous weddings which Mr Borg Carbott shot between 1944 and 1967. Before destroying them, she is appealing to readers who might wish to trace pictures of their parents or grandparents to contact her for more information on 2138 6197.

kim.dalli@timesofmalta.com