In pictures: Pets of early British servicemen in Malta

In colonial Malta, owning pets seems to have been by far more widespread among British services personnel than among the local population.

Apart from the ‘official’ ship or regimental mascots, many members of the armed forces, officers, soldiers and sailors and their families kept in their abodes, whether barracks, homes, tents or ships’ dormitories, affectionate domesticated animals. Early photos of Brits with their pets are far more common than corresponding images of Maltese. Indeed, images of the locals, though not utterly unfindable, appear extremely rarely.

Caged songbirds ready to be sold to sailors of HMS London, 1930s

The animal of choice with British servicemen was unquestionably the dog – rarely pedigree, frequently mongrel. Surprisingly, next on the scale of popularity are monkeys, apes and lemurs, followed by horses, for those who had the facilities and could afford to keep them.

I hate to disappoint cat lovers but I could not trace one single image of a feline as man’s companion from the animal kingdom. Was I unfortunate or did British servicemen seriously overlook cats as pets?

Two British sailors in Malta with a pet monkey in 1915

Gordon Highlander with his horse in Malta, 1920s

A lemur, a ship’s mascot in Grand Harbour in 1922

A soldier at his barracks in Malta holding a puppy, 1920s

A star postcard in my collection shows scores of songbirds in their sad cages ready to be traded to British seamen from HMS London on the Grand Harbour waterfront in the 1930s.

Another, but earlier, favourite image has 10 British soldiers sharing the colossal 100-ton Armstrong gun in Rinella with five friendly pet dogs. The first, a symbol of barbaric cruelty, the second a silent tribute to man’s affectionate and faithful shadow.

A seaman posing with his pet monkey in a photo studio in Malta, 1920s

Royal Marines in Għajn Tuffieħa camp in 1922, with two pet dogs

The presence of so many monkeys as pets in the British armed forces raises some questions.

Young monkeys make for adorable pets but, on reaching puberty, in captivity they can turn violent, hostile and vicious. This passion for pet monkeys has evidently waned.

Two soldiers of the Northamptonshire Regiment in Malta with monkeys on their shoulders, 1920s

All images from the author’s collections.