A British doctor who served in Malta at the height of the Second World War has died aged 101.

Dr Norman Mawby arrived in Malta in 1941 and served at Mtarfa Hospital and in the infirmary in Valletta, treating hundreds of servicemen and civilians injured by the bombing.

The Daily Telegraph in an obituary reported how he  battled starvation and disease with no leave and under constant enemy air attack, during which his weight dropped to seven-and-a-half stone. 

The malnourished population was prey to scabies and diphtheria, among other diseases. When one of the hospital’s civilian workers brought in his daughter to see him, Mawby immediately recognised polio. The girl lived, but was ever after to walk with a limp.

When King George VI visited Malta in June 20, 1943, Mawby was assigned to him and was on standby should he have needed medical attention.