Found this thread during a casual ‘surf’….. I was ‘the sailor’ on that night…. William Greaves – you probably interviewed me!! :) Prior to serving in HMS London I had served for one year in Malta in 1977 – and met my future/present wife (a WRN) whilst there. So Malta already had a special place in my/our hearts. When I was selected to perform the ceremony it was indeed an honour. Staying clear of the politics – suffice to say the ceremony itself did not follow the script as per the briefing we were given. We (the Navy) were told that during the lowering of the Union Flag there would be ‘solemn silence’ – followed by much cheering and applause when the Maltese flag was hoisted in its place. Well, they were half-right…!! I was focussed on what I had to do – but I remember there were a lot of people, lots of noise – and thinking to myself ‘it wasn’t supposed to happen like this!!’……. I was allowed ashore the following morning so I could buy first day stamp covers – which I have to this day (signed by the President and Admiral) but also remember the masses of people lining Grand Harbour as the ship left – apparently sad to see us go. To me, as a young man at the time, this was difficult to reconcile against the joy and jubilation I’d seen the night before.

Usually on foreign assignment it is a question of snatching at anything you can find. The only problem with Malta’s Freedom Day was what to leave out.

Everything just happened before my eyes and nearly 40 years later I stand by every word that appeared in the London Daily Mail next morning.

Well we’re full of nonhuman primates so perhaps there’s still a chance.

‘Which private school would have kept children out until 4am.’

A school of sharks ‘tal-gowlden jers’

‘was a benficial to the British Empire and that is why they planned to invade us twice in the early 1980′s.’

1980?

The British had been here since 1799, Mr Florian.

What necessity did they have to plan to invade us since they had been here almost 200 years by then.

Oh Mintoff did much worse than that to Pawlu Boffa spreading rumours of incest.

[Daphne – How lucky for Joseph Muscat that the grand-daughter who never knew him is so forgiving.]

No he isn’t, because the British didn’t invade Malta in the 1880s. They were already here.

DO I HAVE to tell you this?

The MLP/PL is historically Malta’s pimp.

Maltese history will be written by real historians of repute and not by the PL.

I am not at all worried about that.