I feel that perhaps Henry Frendo (June 9) missed the whole point of my article.  To begin with he cited many books which were written well before one could have access to British and Italian documents of the era. I stress three points, namely:

The riots of 1919 were not spontaneous but had been instigated by the law students who had gone up the University Club building and partially burnt the Union Jack which then they carried towards the law courts and started a demonstration.

The quality and price of bread was an ideal excuse. The literati were well aware of the great famine facing many parts of the world. The Germans had asked for an armistice as they could no longer feed their people. The harsh living conditions after the Great War, were not confined to Malta. The situation was by far worse in many other countries. British soldiers who had been badly injured (losing a limb) had to sell matches in railway stations. The situation in Italy was much worse with the islands having their population evacuated. The attitude of the time was to bring out armed soldiers if riots were threatened.

In recent time the archives of many countries are now in the public domain and true historians can have a field day with information of great importance.  That is why I insist that the University of Malta should carry out a serious and updated study, and this well before the centenary of the event in two years’ time.

Many are tempted to shoot off criticism without thinking or without enough awareness of true and factual history.

I am not surprised by irrelevant comments.  There are also some in influential positions who are too biased to be reliable in what they deliver.