After an absence of two years due to COVID-19 restrictions, the Floriana community will again be celebrating the feast of St Publius on Sunday. This year’s feast coincides with a tragic period in the history of Floriana, which occurred 80 years ago during World War II.

In the morning of Tuesday, April 28, 1942, the air raid siren sounded incessantly to warn everyone to seek immediate refuge. Many of those present in St Publius church rushed to the old railway tunnel shelter. Some others remained in the church’s crypt. 

Everyone thought it would be a day like any other at the time, with some explosions taking place here and there. All waited patiently until the peril was over.

Premeditated attack on the church

According to the German radio, a number of planes, Junker 88s and Stukas, flew from Sicily on their way to Malta to carry out a ferocious attack on Floriana. 

The pilots had taken a number of photos during previous reconaissance visits to the area extending to the Grand Harbour, with the church of St Publius earmarked with a red circle − according to them, it was a major military objective that was to be bombed and completely destroyed.

The German planes flew high above their main objective on April 28 and, in no time, a number of them dropped their bombs on their target. 

The church was hit by five large-scale bombs. A bomber struck shortly afterwards, dropping a bomb which exploded bet­ween the belfry towers and shattered the statue representing faith and the frontispiece.

A substantial part of the façade was completely demolished. Another bomb exploded on the top of the dome, shattering it to pieces. Stones fell down onto the presbytery and smashed the roof of the crypt. Thirteen people died under the debris, including Fr Paul Portelli, while another 11 were seriously injured.

The only survivor was Dominic Meli. As soon as the ‘all-clear’ signal was given, people rushed out of their shelters towards the church building.

First-hand experience

My late father, Antonio Agius (1899-1987), had given me a detailed description of what happened just after the attack on the church. 

On that fateful day, at around 8am, my father, who was at work in Gżira, was informed by one of his colleagues that clouds of dust were coming out of the Floriana church and uttered: “Floriana church has been badly hit.”

On hearing this, my father left his workplace and ran all the way to Floriana. In a few minutes, he arrived on site, where a policeman was on guard to prevent anyone from entering the church. He tried to stop him but my father was in such a state of panic that the officer stepped aside and let him rush in.

He beheld a catastrophic scene and couldn’t believe his eyes: the roof was wide open and the wooden pulpit was completely shattered. The fine Bohemian chandeliers were all destroyed. The area behind the main altar was in shambles, together with the high altar and the surrounding decorated marble barrier on the presbytery. 

“They believed the church was an ammunition depot”

There, my father met Archpriest Ghigo and Emmanuel S. Tonna (air raid precautions special constabulary) who invited him to join them in their search for some valuable sacred objects in the Crucifixion side chapel. 

Among the rubble, they found the holy remains of St Vidal scattered all over the place. The hanging painting of the Crucifixion, a masterpiece by Giuseppe Calì, of 30 years earlier, was completely destroyed.

Historical find

At one point, while searching the area behind the niche, where the statue of St Publius lay among the debris, my father saw a big piece of wooden sculpture which he realised was part of the statue (the lion’s body). He noticed the engraved letters on the lion’s belly, ‘V.D. 1811’ which are the initials of the sculptor, Vincenzo Dimech, and the date of the statue. 

Both Tonna and my father were witnesses to this important discovery which shed new light on the date when Dimech worked on the wooden statue. Until then, it was thought that the statue was sculpted in 1815.

The statue was found lying on its back against a wall, with the two angels and pedestal considerably damaged. It was, therefore, decided to transport the statue to Naxxar church for safekeeping until the end of the war.

A very important statement

In 1960, a group of German tourists visited Floriana church during the feast of St Publius to admire the decked-out church. 

Rev. Carmelo Xuereb, who was parish priest at the time, asked my father to give them a tour of the church. During the visit, he also showed them slides and photos depicting the havoc caused by German bombers during World War II. 

At the end of the visit, one of the tourists privately informed my father in a broken voice that, incidentally, he was one of the pilots who was selected for the mission of April 28, 1942.

The German stated that the order was to destroy the church because, through photos taken during one of the aerial reconnaissance visits, they had noticed some people carrying large boxes into the church. They thus believed that the church was being used as an ammunition depot and, therefore, considered it a military target.

This statement is very important for the history of the Floriana church. First, because it confirms what was broadcast by German radio shortly after the end of the attack, thus discarding theories written by other authors that St Publius church was mistakenly bombed, and that the actual target was St John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta. And, secondly, that the enemy was well prepared and had specific plans to carry out an attack of such a calibre on the Floriana church. 

Commemoration

It is only fitting that the commemorations of the attack serve as a tribute to our forefathers who worked so hard to rebuild the church after the war hostilities. 

During the days of the feast of St Publius, there will be a photo exhibition on that fateful day at the Floriana Senior Citizens Centre, at No. 47, St Publius Street. 

A commemorative book has also been published by the author which includes a number of photos and information on social war experiences by various eyewitnesses of the war in Floriana.