On April 9, 1942, exactly 70 years ago, a German bomb pierced the Mosta Rotunda dome at about 4 p.m. Inside, some 150 parishioners were praying but, thanks to Divine Providence, no one was seriously injured. Every year, a thanksgiving prayer, the Te Deum, is said at the Mosta Rotunda to commemorate and praise the Almighty for saving the Rotunda from being destroyed. Various exhibitions and reenactments are held to mark this day.

Mosta, being so close to Ta’ Qali airfield, had its fair share of air raids and one still recalls the wailing of sirens before and after the raids, especially the one situated at Tarġa Gap. A few weeks ago in The Times there as an article about the siren that was on the roof of the clock tower in Tarġa Gap being taken away for restoration by Fondazjoni Wirt Artna and then to be placed in a museum in Vittoriosa. This is not fair. This siren (picture) belongs to Mosta.

Last year, the Mosta council submitted an application to the Malta Environment and Planning Authority for a project to rehabilitate the area next to the clock tower, which, together with the other attractions, Ta’ Bistra catacombs, Victoria Lines, the nuclear shelter and, maybe later, the Mosta Fort will be turned into another tourist attraction. Surely, this siren can remain and find a resting place in Mosta. The local council and Ħarsien Patrimonju Mosti should intervene in this matter.