Sir Bill Rollo, vice chairman of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) embarked on a two-day tour of the island to review the CWGC’s Heritage Tourism Initiative – that has seen record numbers paying their respects at the graves of those who died on Malta during the two World Wars.

Launched in January 2019, the initiative encourages locals and tourists to visit Malta’s war grave cemeteries and honour the people who fell in the two World Wars. Malta is the pilot for this tourism initiative that aims to commemorate the people who served in the World Wars by celebrating and telling the stories of the people who served and lived through wartime Malta.

The project has seen new tours introduced at Imtarfa and Pietà Military Cemeteries and Capuccini Naval Cemetery. The tours are run by local volunteers, who have worked with the CWGC to create an insightful journey of remembrance for visitors.

The success of the initiative has been evidenced with an increase in tours of the cemeteries and a 100 per cent rise in visitor numbers. The initiative is supported by the Malta Tourism Authority, Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna and the Malta Aviation Museum Foundation, who have been actively promoting the project to their own visitors.

“I am delighted to be in Malta to see the CWGC’s Heritage Tourism Initiative first hand and to be able to meet and thank our partners and our staff,” Sir Rollo said. “Our cemeteries are a key part of Malta’s culture and heritage and I hope the project will encourage more visitors to visit our sites, learn the stories of the people we commemorate, from the Commonwealth, Malta and elsewhere, and remember the sacrifice they made.”

CWGC commemorates many Commonwealth service personnel across 14 unique sites on the island. The cemeteries provide an opportunity for the public to understand a key period of Maltese history and reflect on the sheer human cost the World Wars.

The gardens within the CWGC cemeteries are beautifully kept by local gardeners and landscapers. The stonework is hand carved by incredibly skilled, and specialised craftworkers from Turkey, and the CWGC volunteers are always at hand to provide tours of the properties. Access to the sites is free. Access codes to the gates may be found on the Malta pages of https://www.cwgc.org/malta.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.