An exhibition on the George Cross awarded to Malta in April 1942, mounted by the national agency Heritage Malta at the War Museum for the September 8 weekend, has given a fictitious version of how the award was brought to the island and that two medals, not one, were sent separately, by air and by sea. This gives a totally misleading account of a well-documented event.
I have e-mailed Heritage Malta, suggesting it gives a statement to the newspapers as well as radio and television stations to make a correction, but there has been no response. It is now imperative that the agency make redress as Internet Websites are now spreading this misinformation, to the detriment of the truth for those seeking information on an episode of importance for Malta and King George VI's personal decision.
The medal was brought by Lord Gort, in his pocket, when he arrived in a Sunderland flying boat to assume the governorship of the island from General Dobbie on the night of May 7. The Times of Malta wrote on May 10 that Gort "alighted in a battle-scarred area, wearing battle-dress...
"The ceremony of administering the Oath of Allegiance and of Office took place during an air-raid during an air alert in a bomb damaged building (the Kalafrana station commander's house). Those assembled to meet him left the building as the air attack developed for the preferable position of an open field.
"They lay down flat on the ground as three bombs whistled down. The ground on which they lay was stone and splinter strewn, being well in the target area..."
Kenneth Hare-Scott in his book For Gallantry: the George Cross wrote: "General Dobbie never saw the George Cross awarded to Malta for, when Lord Gort arrived to relieve him on May 7, 1942, they had little more than half an hour together between arrival and departure of the plane, and with so much to talk about, as General Dobbie told me: 'I never saw the George Cross which was in Gort's pocket, and I was in the plane and away before I thought of it'."
An official release said Gort had brought the George Cross with him and the British press and radio all reported this. Gort himself in his first broadcast to the people of Malta on May 14 said:
"People of Malta, I salute you... and now this may be a convenient moment for me to refer to the George Cross and the letter from His Majesty which I have brought to Malta with me..."
He repeated this statement on other occasions, also on September 13, 1942, during the presentation of the award on the Palace Square: "On my appointment as Governor of Malta I was entrusted to carry the George Cross to this island fortress..."
In making the announcement that the medal was to be displayed in the various towns and villages, the Times of Malta said: "We understand that in due course the George Cross which His Excellency the Governor has brought over with him from England, will be exhibited in places in various centres of Malta and Gozo..."
The original - and only - George Cross awarded to Malta is inscribed on the reverse: "To the island of Malta, 15 April, 1942". There is only one authentic George Cross so inscribed - but replicas were on public sale after the war, so that one of these was bought by F.X. Mallia, director of Museums, on a visit to London, to display in public and thus safeguard the original brought over by Lord Gort.
For the Malta Heritage spokesman to say that two crosses were sent is to show a total lack of knowledge of how British awards are made - no medal is ever duplicated should this be lost or stolen, for obvious reasons.
It was erroneous for the agency official to tell journalists: "One was flown over and the copy was brought over by ship as a back-up in case the first failed to make it safely."
This article is appearing in Malta at War, of which the author is editor.