Linking a German prisoner of war's two frames with a Maltese-Canadian family

Michael Caruana acquired a pair of photo frames carved out of Maltese stone by a German fighter pilot who was shot down and held as a prisoner-of-war in Malta in 1943. After Caruana emigrated to Canada in 1950, the frames ended up in a defunct Maltese-Canadian Club in London, Ontario, Canada. Dan Brock tracks down Caruana’s ancestors to return the frames.

In the upstairs lounge of the now-defunct Maltese-Canadian Club in London, Ontario, Canada, in the trophy case, were two stone photo frames. On the back of one frame was a “J’ written in pencil in a circle. On the other was an “L”.

There was a note sticking out of one of them stating that the photo frames were carved out of Maltese stone by a German fighter pilot who was a prisoner-of-war in Malta in 1943. It also said that a Maltese man named Michael Caruana had acquired them in exchange for four packs of 10 cigarettes.

At the Maltese-Canadian Club on February 28, 2016, (from left) Ingeborg Caruana, Carmen Caruana, John Caruana and Ken and Elaine Meloche.

Olivia Caruana (front left), Natalie (Olivia’s friend), Murray Taylor, Michael Caruana, Pat and Bill (Murray and Yvonne’s friends) and Linda and Tony Caruana.

While nothing more is known of the German fighter pilot, further investigation revealed that this Michael Caruana was known by his nickname Ħarufu (a male lamb). By way of analogy, a gentle, easy-going person in Malta may be referred to as a ħaruf (lamb). Perhaps Caruana or one of his male ancestors was one such person.

The note with the crucial information attached to one of the photo frames.

In one of the frames was an old photo, presumably taken in Malta, of a mother and father and their six children. Could this be the family of Michael Caruana? And who was Michael Caruana?

Long-time members of the Maltese-Canadian Club were rather vague about who this Michael Caruana might be but they seemed to agree that he was connected with the late Leno Caruana of London, Ontario, who was on the club’s committee at one time and was noted for making and selling pastizzi and other Maltese pastries.

The late Joe Condorato, a club member at the time, suggested that Leno had a close relative in nearby St Thomas, Ontario, who made artificial legs, and that fellow club members Henry and Maria Grech would know who he was. A telephone call to the Grechs ultimately led me to the gentleman.

John Caruana, about 1962.

 It turned out that Tony Caruana of St Thomas was a nephew of Leno Caruana and a grandson of the Michael Caruana in question. The fact that Tony’s grandmother, Michael’s wife, used to call her grandson Ħarufu convinced me that I had the right family.

With the names Tony provided me of his grandparents and some of their children, I was able to find Michael, his wife Lorenza “Laura”, née Abela, and their children: Francis “Frank”, Joseph, Emanuel “Leno”, Mary, Carmela, Edith and three-year-old John who had emigrated to Canada in 1950, disembarking from the TSS Neptunia, in New York Harbour, on May 19.

Michael, his wife Lorenza “Laura”, née Abela, and their children had emigrated to Canada in 1950, disembarking from the TSS Neptunia, in New York Harbour, on May 19

The Caruana family, about 1945, (from left, front row) Lorenza, Francis, Joseph, Emanuel, Mary and Carmela, with Michael holding baby Edith.

 Their destination was St Thomas, Ontario, a few miles south of London, where Lorena’s younger sister, Maria (Abela) Cini and her family were living. Maria had emi­grated to Canada in October 1948, on board the Rudnik, with three-year-old Carmela “Carmen” and John, aged two. Their fellow passengers were mainly the wives and children of the men who had already gone to Canada from Malta, by way of Halifax, Nova Scotia, in May and June of the same year, via the Marine Perch and Vulcania respectively. Maria’s husband, Joseph “Joe” Cini, was on the latter and, ultimately, found work at Weatherhead of Canada Ltd in St Thomas.

As Edith Caruana, the sixth child of Michael and Lorena, was five years old when the family left Malta, I was fairly certain that the photo of the husband, wife and six children was of this family and had been taken in Malta about 1945, with baby Edith being in her father’s arms, when the family lived in Tarxien. Tony Caruana later confirmed this.

A cropped photo-card (that is, a photograph on the back of a postcard) to commemorate Joseph Caruana celebrating his First Holy Communion, about 1943.

In the other photo frame was a photo taken in Malta of a boy who had celebrated his First Holy Communion. Again, Tony was able to confirm that this was of his uncle, Joseph Caruana, the same Joseph who had donated the photo frames and the Caruana family photos to the club.

Hidden behind the first stone frame was a coloured photo, taken about 1962, of a young man. This proved to be the seventh and youngest child, John Caruana, who was born in 1946.

The evening of Sunday, February 28, 2016, saw 12 members and friends of the Caruana family arrive at the club, then on Charterhouse Crescent in London, to see the family photographs, taste some Maltese food, and sample a can of Kinnie.

Within the group was Ingeborg Caruana, widow of Francis, the eldest of the Caruana children. A few of the club members remembered “Frank” as a dance instructor at singles dances and, like Leno, a former club member. Two of Frank’s siblings were also present: Carmen, the youngest of the children standing in the photo with their parents, and John, the young man in the coloured photo. There was also Elaine, a daughter of Joseph Caruana, who had donated the stone photo frames and family photos, and her husband, Ken Meloche.

Also in the party were Tony Caruana, son of the late Frank Caruana, his wife Linda, their daughter Olivia, Tony’s brother-in-law, Murray Taylor and Michael Caruana, the son of Yvonne, Tony’s eldest sister.

Front of the stone photo frame “J” and (right) the back of the stone picture frame marked “L”.

We visited in the upper room, adjacent to the lounge, and I used the opportunity to capture this memorable occasion in the accompanying photos.

Ultimately, the photos and the stone photo frames were returned to the Caruana family.

Dan Brock, an 85-year-old Canadian of Polish, Irish and English ancestry, based in London, Ontario, Canada, is editor of the newsletter of the Maltese-Canadian Club of London, Canada.