The Malta Volunteer Defence Force (MVDF) was formed on June 3, 1940. Most recruits were hunters and farmers. They were armed mainly with hunting shotguns, some revolvers and antiquated weapons owned by the men themselves, although shotgun cartridges were allotted to them. Later, Italian rifles captured in North Africa were also given to the volunteers.

Their duties included watching for parachutists, manning roadblocks and guarding supply dumps. At first, they were only issued with an armband and steel helmet but later they received a denim battledress. The MVDF was also known as the Home Guard.

Most of those who joined the force carried their duties diligently and with enthusiasm. On June 19, 1940, at 8.15pm, some volunteers escorted Riccardo Busuttil and Paul Caruana of Ħamrun, together with Gaetano Chircop of Marsa, to the Rabat police station on suspicion of being saboteurs. The suspects were kept overnight at the station by the police and only released the next day at 2pm when it was determined that the three men had been trying to find a cave where to shelter when they were detained by the volunteers.

During an air raid, Ermidio Agius, 28, of Birkirkara, spotted two individuals on the terrace of 172, Strada Reale, Birkirkara. Police enquiries revealed that the two men who were breaking air raid regulations were Francis Gove and Joseph Mallia, who were “members of the Volunteers Sportsmen and they appeared on the roof after the raiders passed”. No action was taken against them as they were watching for enemy paratroopers.

The volunteers’ efforts were not always appreciated by the public. Capt. A. Bartolo, a sector commander of the volunteers, informed the police that members of the Qormi Home Guard Section were being constantly annoyed and made fun of by a 40-year-old man. The offender was taken to court.

A worse case occurred when four members of the Żejtun MVDF signalled a car to stop in order to investigate its occupants. At first, the driver refused to obey but when the men challenged him again, the car came to a halt. The volunteers found that the occupants of the car were engaged on military duties so they let them proceed. On the return journey, one of the passengers offended the Żejtun men with obscene words.

On the other hand, an English soldier driving a motorcycle through Valletta Road, Mqabba, was not at fault when he was challenged by a 17-year-old member of the Home Guard. The motorcyclist immediately obeyed the order to stop and the volunteer approached him with his rifle at the ready. Then, to everyone’s astonishment, the youth pressed the trigger and a shot rang out. More surprisingly, the bullet completely missed the soldier who was only a few paces away. The trembling volunteer explained that he had thought that his weapon was empty. Luckily for him, the motorcyclist drove away without making a formal complaint.

The sense of duty of George Calleja, 60, of Birkirkara, was not appreciated by the public. During an air raid, Calleja was near the Birkirkara parish church when he spotted an enemy aircraft flying overhead. He took aim and discharged his rifle at it. People who were sheltering close by were terrified and it seems that their complaints reached higher authorities, for Calleja’s rifle was confiscated.

Vincent Ciangura, Thomas Portelli and Paul Caruana, from the Rabat section of the volunteers, apprehended Joseph Zahra near Fort Binġemma. He was spotted observing the fortification and had a map of Malta in his possession. The three men took Zahra to the Rabat police station. Enquiries by the police showed that Zahra, who was from Qormi, was an employee of the General Post Office. He explained that his only hobby was trekking in the countryside and he had bought the map to help him find his way around the island. Zahra had been spotted the week before at Mtaħleb, again near some defensive positions. A search was carried out in his residence but no incriminating evidence was discovered so he was allowed to leave.

At 10.10pm on May 27, 1941, a lieutenant of the Royal Malta Artillery was passing through Valley Road, Birkirkara. when he struck a match to light a cigarette. Persons who were in the vicinity started shouting at him to put out the light as there was an ongoing air raid. His answer was “mind your own business”, and then he put his hand on the butt of his service revolver, which was in its holster.

On seeing this, Damiano Bezzina, 29, a member of the volunteer force, snatched the lieutenant’s revolver and took it to the Birkirkara police station. When the lieutenant went to retrieve his weapon, he accused Bezzina of striking him in the eye with his fist.

George Zammit, leader of the Żurrieq Home Guard, was speaking to volunteer Angelo Schembri, who was on duty at Post No. 5, St Martin Street, when a man passed by, arousing their suspicions. The two volunteers followed the stranger and ordered him to put up his hands. The man obeyed, dropping a knife. But when they told him to follow them to the police station, he refused, so Zammit went to fetch a sentry from Bubaqra.

Lance Corporal Burke, 2nd Battalion Royal West Kent Regiment, together with another two members of the Home Guard, accompanied Zammit back to where Schembri was guarding the suspect.

One of the volunteers again interrogated the man, who after refusing to speak for some time, finally stated that he was an Englishman, whereupon L/Cpl Burke took over the questioning. The man accepted to be escorted to Bubaqra, but on arriving there, he tried to grab the corporal’s rifle and then attempted to flee. Two of the Home Guard soldiers opened fire with their shotguns, aiming at his legs and stopped his flight.

Investigations showed that the man had been on his way to visit his son-in-law who was stationed at Bubaqra. The police found a Dockyard blue identity card on him that confirmed his identity. Dr R. Milanesi, the district medical officer of Żurrieq, certified that the man’s wounds were of slight nature and that he was not quite sober.

The majority of the volunteers conducted their duties with diligence despite having received little training. However, there were a few who broke the rules, abused their powers and frightened the public.

A 19-year-old volunteer from Ħamrun, together with a 48-year-old man from Marsa, who were patrolling the streets of Ħamrun, fired their shotguns in the air while in Victory and Villa Ambrosa streets.

Both were taken to court where they were reprimanded. Another member of the Malta Defence Corps, a 36-year-old from Żejtun, was seen crossing Piazza Maggiore, continuously striking his loaded shotgun on the ground and scaring those present in the square. His firearm was sequestrated by the police as he was found to be drunk.

During an air raid, SC 1397 Anthony Abdilla heard a shotgun being fired on the outskirts of Lija. Afterwards, he noticed a 16-year-old member of the MVDF coming from the direction of Ħal Mann. Abdilla suspected that the young man had been hunting during the air raid and informed Capt. Bartolo, the sector commander of the volunteers.

An eight-year-old boy was holding a loaded shotgun in a field at Tal-Papa, limits of Birżebbuġa, when he fired a shot, hitting his father and another two men. The shotgun had been lying on the ground a few feet away from the adults. None of them noticed that the boy was playing with the weapon. The weapon belonged to the boy’s father, who was a member of the MVDF and carried the shotgun everywhere with him.

The incident was not reported to the police and they only got to know about it three days later, when one of the men hit by the pellets fell seriously ill and was taken to hospital, where he subsequently died. It turned out that the cause of death had

nothing to do with the shooting accident but was due to cerebro-spinal fever. The shotgun was seized, and action was taken in court against the boy’s father for leaving his weapon unattended.

A 21-year-old woman from Żurrieq was accused of having shouted “damn the British Empire, for I have received nothing from it and I feel more sorry when an Italian plane crashes than when an English plane does. I said so and will stick to what I said.”

On being interrogated, she admitted that when she uttered those words, she was in a state of agitation. Her husband had stopped going to work as he preferred instead to perform his voluntary duties with the Home Guard and she had finally lost her patience with him, thus saying the abovementioned statement.

On June 20, 1941, a 16-year-old member of the Home Guard was handling his service shotgun inside a room at his residence in Rabat where several of his family members were gathered.

Accidentally, he pulled the trigger and fired a shot, killing his sister-in-law. The youth was placed under arrest and charged with manslaughter. He was eventually fined £15.

Guzman Bezzina, 45, of Żebbuġ, was watching his crops in his field at Ta’ San Lawrenz, limits of Rabat, when he was assaulted by three unknown soldiers. Bezzina, a MVDF member, fired his shotgun and hit one of his attackers in the leg, whereupon the three servicemen ran away. Bezzina was found to be suffering from several slight injuries. The troops who attacked him were never traced.

There were also several thefts from the MVDF headquarters but one case stands out. On August 17, 1942, Quarter Master Joseph Bamber reported several items missing from the headquarters of the Malta Volunteer Defence Force situated in the Government Elementary School, Ħamrun. These included two Italian rifles, 300 sporting cartridges, 42 cases containing 18 rounds of ammunition each and one hand grenade.

The police could only determine that the thieves were barefooted and seemed to know the place well. They should have followed their own conclusions; instead, they focused their attention on a member of the MVDF who had just been deprived of a stripe. Searches were effected at his residence but to no avail.

It was later established that the thieves were two boys aged 12 and 13. The youngsters also admitted to have hidden several items under the school benches in order to sneak them out later on. In fact, the police found concealed “four ground sheets, two footballs, one shoulder strap Sam Browne belt, one bicycle pump, four Italian rifles with four slings attached, one desk clock, two steel helmets, three ping pong balls, two ping pong bats, one pack of playing cards, 268 cartridges, 37 boxes of SAA ammunition of 18 rounds each, 33 billiard balls and some photographs”.

 

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to thank David Bartolo, Natalino Fenech, Ruben Vella and the staff of the National Archives, without whose assistance this article would not have been possible.

This is the fifth of a series of articles adapted from the book Malta War Occurrences – The Police Logbooks 1940-1942, by Jeffrey Sammut, published by BDL Books. For more information, visit https://bdlbooks.com/product/malta-war-occurrences-the-police-logbooks-1940-1942/.