Showing 35 results

6" guns, sailors and members of the public aboard HMS Lion.

Arthur sitting on a bench in Plymouth outside the NAAFI club, with a Maltese sailor, M/E H. Woods from Zejtun.

Arthur (first from right) and three naval colleagues.

Arthur Wait by some bunk beds; Arthur on board a ship; a group photograph of Arthur with fellow seamen-in-training. The photos were taken during Royal Naval training.

Arthur Wait (front row, bottom right) and his class/fellow recruits at HMS Raleigh. The photo was taken during Royal Navy training.

Dates covered: 1940-1980. Arthur Wait was born in 1940. He came from a long standing naval family. He described life as a child in Birzebbuga and the hardships endured by the Maltese in the post-Second World War years. He recounted how he joined the navy and his life as a Maltese man in the British navy. He also mentioned the closing of the military base in Malta and how it affected those people who worked with the British Forces.

Arthur Wait described what he did when he was on leave and the relations between the British and the Maltese who worked with the navy. He mentioned the political situation in Malta in the 1960s and 1970s and the way this crisis affected those who worked for the British Forces. He returned to Malta in 2007.

This photograph was taken during Arthur's active service in the Royal Navy.

Arthur Wait in his first uniform after joining the Royal Navy

Seamen onboard HMS Ark Royal receiving the beer transfer. The photo was taken during Arthur Wait's naval service.

Arthur Wait (second from left), two men and a woman in a bar in Campbeltown, Scotland.

In the interview, Ettore Raffi spoke about his experiences of life at sea and his voyages to Tunisia, Panama, Mississippi and the Mediterranean. He travelled to Malta three times during different periods. He shared memories regarding trade between Lampedusan fishermen and sailors and the Maltese. The Lampedusans used to consider Malta as a rich island because of the availability of tobacco, sugar, chocolate and bars of soap. He recalled relations between Maltese, Italian and British sailors, as well as the nightlife in Valletta, particularly related to Strait Street, and Maltese women. Ettore Raffi gave us his opinion about Maltese culture, the period between 1964-1979, the Dom Mintoff government and the changes after Independence.