Sunday, Dec 23rd, 1917
Grand morning, sun shining, lovely. Sighted Gozo Island at 1 o’clock in morning. Beautiful summer weather. Reached Malta 4 o’clock, anchored in dock. Most lovely place. On quarter guard again. Wrote home.
Malta
Lena Ashwell the suffragist, actress and impresario described her arrival on the island more fulsomely and poetically than Frank: ‘When we sight Malta, which looks a little sand-coloured island after the wonderful coast we have passed, the ship begins the usual zigzag. A doctor tells us of the delights of Malta, the forts built and named after the various Grand Masters, ….. we see the church where the Knights of Malta lie buried, the Arabic domes that crown the Sliema side, terrace after terrace of white houses, archways showing streets of steps, here and there a tiny bush, and over all the glare of sunlight and the bright blue sky.’ ¹
An Island Stop
Malta is strategically located. It lies in the Mediterranean to the south of Italy and north of the African coast. On this map, you can see Frank’s journey plotted from Marseilles. Malta and Gozo are also highlighted. They appear as two small dots just south of Sicily:
The island has a long history of inhabitation. It was initially settled by Sicilians in circa 5200BC and then successively by the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans and Byzantines from about 800BC to 800AD. In 1798, Napoleon conquered the country but was ousted within two years with British help. Then the Maltese asked Britain to assume sovereignty (with certain interesting constraints). The island remained under British control until independence in 1964.
References & further reading
¹ Description of arriving at Malta by Lena Ashwell, 1871-1957. ‘Modern troubadours, a record of the concerts at the front’ (Kindle Locations 1244). London, Gyldendal.
* Map of Europe in 1914 (image may be subject to copyright)
** Map of Malta & Gozo (copyright Encyclopaedia Britannica)