When the captain of HMS Ark Royal received urgent orders to sail out of the Grand Harbour soon after Christmas Day of 1960, the message was kept under wraps because the aircraft carrier was hosting a children’s party.

The party continued without mishap with the aircraft carrier quietly slipping out of the harbour at night after some 2,000 children and several top officials had safely disembarked.

The aircraft carrier had sailed to Malta specifically for the children’s party, with the innovative setting being proposed by author and broadcaster Frans Said to an RAF Air Officer Commanding.

It was just after Easter 1960, when Said was told that the Admiralty in London had accepted his request: HMS Ark Royal, which was stationed in the Mediterranean, would sail to the port specifically to host the party.

The first party for deprived children at The Knights Hall in Valletta in 1952.

The party was the culmination of nearly a decade of Christmas parties that Said and his Rediffusion colleagues originally organised for drama children.

Back in 1951, Said had just returned from a short internship at BBC’s Bush House, where he learnt about radio production of drama for children.

Some 300 children turned up for that 1952 party, held at The Knights Hall, situated in today’s Mediterranean Conference Centre

Equipped with scripts he had obtained from the BBC, Said got in touch with Ġużeppina Attard Montalto and Mary Camilleri who used to run children’s drama clubs and started producing children’s programmes.

That very same year, Attard Montalto, out of her own pocket, organised a party for the cast at the studios in Britannia Street, Valletta (now Melita Street).

By next year, the number of drama children had increased substantially, and Attard Montalto could not afford the party, so Said asked the Rediffusion manager, Com Edward Hamilton Hill, for support. In turn, Hamilton Hill suggested inviting a few children from residential homes.

A Christmas party at the Viceroy Theatre in Paola in 1955.

In what must have been the first national campaign for charity organised by the broadcasting media, Said ran a couple of appeals during his own programme, and he received a good number of toys and food donations.

Some 300 children turned up for that 1952 party, held at The Knights Hall, situated in today’s Mediterranean Conference Centre.

“It was right after the war, and poverty was widespread across Malta. Children were deprived of absolutely everything, so the party went down well with all,” Said, now 89, recalls.

“Back then there was no culture of Christmas parties, and we decided to turn the event into an annual one, inviting children from all over Malta and Gozo.”

‘We agreed I go to the party and my sister gets the toy’

Said would spend at least six months preparing for the party, finding huge support in benefactors and the Rediffusion management, which covered transport expenses for the children. Azzjoni Kattolika and parish priests also chipped in, helping him trace deprived children.

“However, we couldn’t invite whole families. It was rather heart-breaking… there were families with six, seven, eight children and we could only give them one ticket.

A child receiving a toy from Father Christmas at the 1961 party.

“Apart from gifting each child toys, we also held raffles for big toys. Once, one boy who won the raffle wanted a pram with a doll. He told us his big family had received only one ticket for the party, and they all agreed that while he attended the party, his sister, who had stayed behind, would get the present. We were all in tears, and he was sent back home with loads of toys.”

The parties continued to grow, and Said was always in search of larger premises, moving the event to various locations, including the Paola Viceroy Theatre, Hollywood cinema in Ħamrun and the Navy hangars.

His children’s programme was widely followed, and he also received calls from chief justice Sir Anthony Mamo and archbishop Michael Gonzi with tips for upcoming Christmas parties.

The programme for the Christams Concert Party organised by Rediffusion in 1954.

Between 1951 and 1970, the last time the party was held, Said estimates that some 40,000 to 45,000 children were hosted at the parties.

By then, bands and other social clubs had started organising parties for parishioners, and there was no longer a need for national parties.

“Organising the parties had become really exhausting. I was married, had three children, ran a radio programme and was an RAF employee. But the satisfaction was huge. It was an experience that children never forgot and the stories about these parties have been recounted through generations.”

Said would spend at least six months preparing for the party, finding huge support in benefactors and the rediffusion management, which covered transport expenses for the children. Azzjoni Kattolika and parish priests also chipped in, helping him trace deprived children.

Children at the 1969 Christmas party.

Watch the video on Times of Malta.

This article is being published as part of a series called Malta’s hidden treasures, a collaboration between the National Archives of Malta and Times of Malta.

The project, forming part of the European Digital Treasures co-funded by the European Union through the Creative Europe programme, allows readers to gain an insight into Maltese history, society through our archives. You can discover more at the National Archives of Malta headquartered at the historical building of Santo Spirito in Rabat and other archives. If you are unable to visit the archives in person, you will soon be able to access an online oral and visual archive called Memorja. The website will be the main repository of recent Maltese national and public memory and will host hundreds of recollections dating back to the 1920s. Those interested in this project can register online on www.memorja.com ahead of the launch of the website. 

For more information about the national archives, call on 2145 9863 or customercare.archives@gov.mt.