A group of veteran Royal Navy seamen who served in Malta on board HMS Diana about half a century ago are here for a reunion. The group of 40 which includes the matelots' better halves are staying at the Santana Hotel in Qawra.

Last Saturday, they met at 11.50 a.m. at Diana's Pub opposite the hotel to pipe up spirits. This is a re-enactment of a then Royal Navy custom when the lads on board ships used to stop at noon to be served their tot of rum which was meant to strengthen their regard against adversaries.

The ceremony was quite authentic with a whistle blown to tell the men - and the women in this case - to prepare themselves for their drink. The men at the re-union served on the HMS Diana either during 1954-1955 or 1957-58. A Daring Class destroyer built at Yarrow & Co, HMS Diana was passed on to the Royal Navy on March 9, 1954. She was sold to the Peruvian navy 40 years ago.

One of the veterans from the HMS Diana Association, Bob Pinfield from Birmingham said all the boys love Malta and they all have special memoires of the island and the hospitality of the Maltese.

"On board HM ships we used to have a Maltese crew with whom we got on extremely well," Mr Pinfield said.

The group of seamen, most of whom will be holidaying here for a week, come from all over Britain and Ireland. The HM ships that they served in collectively are Wizard, St James, Hough, Woodcock, Ulysses, Eastbourne, Indefatigable, Bermuda, Apollo, Mohawk, Arethusa, Cumberland, Implacable, Sursay and the submarine Tally Ho.

Most of the group have visited the island between four to five times since they were here in the navy. The HMS Diana Association holds two reunions each year.