. Listed as 2 “passable native “passable . Within the walls of the Accommodation in the fort was restricted, Mess in what Whitton described as a as described Whitton what in Mess house with a fair garden” was Fort a compact hospital of four wards capable of accommodating 20 men. Other features of the about half the single men of the battalion. Along side each barrack room was accommodation for six NCOs and three staff sergeants. A long two- storey building had recently been built to serve as small A soldiers. accompanied for quarters married area of the building had been set aside as quarters for the senior officers but the remainderbattalion, including its junior officers, were under of the canvas on the hard rocky ground around the fort. The officers were able to relax in their Officers in 1800 the fort was occupied by but British was forces not formally transferred to Government as the a British barracks until the 1829. 1st With its high January position exposed to a cooling sea breeze the fort quickly became established as a place for soldiers requiring convalescence. Good use was made of the fort following outbreaks of the 1837, cholera 1850 and 1865 and by of many the British forces who suffered Fever’ from that ‘ also claimed many lives requiring a garrison strength men (five of companies) a succession five of regiments hundred had occupied Fort Chambray and in November 1894 it was the turn of the 2nd Leinsters the under command of Lieut. Col Adrian Woods who relieved the Connaught Rangers. Strength upon arrival was 562 officersand men, and by January 1895 this had increased to 1,008. with a two storey rooms, 20 x 100 feet (6 x 30 metres) on each floor barrack block having designated to four accommodate 250 men, initially Fort Fort Chambray high on viewed Ras approaching et from Tafal Malta (Photo 2003) ckson i D on D was neither spoken nor 1 We cannot know why “An uninviting station at first glance first at station uninviting “An Regiment

Association The 2nd Battalion were to occupy a local fortress local a occupy to were Battalion 2nd The n the Regimental History Lt.Col Whitton writes, Whitton Lt.Col History Regimental the n as a subaltern, a not very complementary view on a hill known the as major Rasfeatures et Tafal, in fort the protect to were however defences the of the from siege subsequent and attack an of event the landward side. the Following arrival of the British ; but although the defences were built completed. never was town the building of project the Fort Chambray held a commanding view of the approach to Gozo from Malta being situated high called Fort Chambray that had built in 1761 back in the days of Knight’s Templar been originally occupation. The original concept for the fortress was to be a fortified town built overlookinglanding the stage in Mgarr the principle harbour at practically a penal settlement” Whitton gave such a poor opinion and it not be fair would to conjecture; however my subsequent research into other contemporary accounts do not lend support to Whitton’s view. east coast of Malta. of coast east … not a single tree and without a single blade … of all grass the inhabitants were peasants, priests, fisher folk or grog-shop keepers … English understood by a single soul except for a charming (local) priest Father Magri … compared to Malta, Gozo was I of the arrival, in 1894, of the 2nd Battalion at the small island of Gozo four miles from the north- A year in Gozo

Leinster   bought out bought 7 “In so far as the removal , on the 18th January 1993, Regiment Association There were originally three cemeteries My initial research identified that a newspaper, Leinster printed a letter from the Managing Fort Chambray Director Ltd., of regarding the cemetery. An extract is reproduced below. of the remains of members of others) is concerned, the whole the exercise was carried out as British Forces (and follows: Each single grave was first of all opened and the remains carefully put away, each in a separate container aspect in that buried within Fort Chambray were the remains of a number of Leinster soldiers and their families, all who appeared ‘Malta Fever’, though to one infant died shortly after succumb to birth. associated with Fort Chambray, all commencing Protestant a included three The 1800. around from old the by close itself Fort the within ground burial military hospital and doctor’s quarters, and two in the dry moat ditches outside the wall. There had also been a Cholera burial grounds burial ground two the Of ‘disappeared’. but since long that had for place burial dedicated a was one wall the outside Roman Catholics on the left of the main entrance to the and Fort one for ‘others’ on the right of the main entrance. My interest then is what happened to these departed importantly for solders the Leinster Regimental archives and what perhaps happened more to the remains Soldiers? of the Leinster The Times of Malta ‘other more appropriate facilities’ park” holiday and “a as the public the whole to open remained area regularly frequented by the people in the area. In by sold was property its with together Fort the 1992 developer based Monaco private a to authorities the In stopped. was public the for Fort the to access and lawyer businessman Gozo local a 2004 the then developer by acquiring fifty-one percent forty- Authorities Maltese the leaving shares the of Ltd. Chambray nine percent of Fort Permission to develop the Fort and surrounding area into an exclusive holiday complex was given in the early 1990’s, and on 1st July 1991, as of part the preparations cemetery inside was the cleared Fort of for graves and the development, human remains. the Without going into the detail of the (locally resisted) development, its progress is important from a Leinster Regiment historical ’. The 4 6 , when on September was the parish feast of 3 “Chain Selem” held in Ghajnsielem, a village referred village a Ghajnsielem, in held in 1895 within Fort Chambray in 1895 within Fort 5 Fort Fort Chambray was handed back, by the British, to So why was the period of the “Gozo posting” patients in “Sacred Heart Hospital” were transferred to development of self contained apartments whilst other facilities, such as restaurant and bar together with a new access road, were developed. In 1983 the remaining as a leprosy unit called “St Bartholomew Hospital” and remained in use until 1956. In 1979 work commenced to convert the former married quarters into a tourist in use under the name of “Sacred Heart Hospital” until developed was fort the of part another 1937 in Also 1983. the Gozo authorities in 1934 when the barrack block was block barrack the when 1934 in authorities Gozo the turned into a hospital for Mental Diseases and remained and baptised However the thrust of this article and the driver for my current interest now follows. who occupied the married quarters. That was sufficient to make me want to go and take a look, especially as one of my father’s elder sisters, Mary E Dickson was born interesting? Much depends upon your of course, point for me my of initial interest started view because my contingent the of part were grandmother and grandfather Chambray, departing for their next ‘posting’ to Bermuda Chambray, in November 1895. 15, 1895 the bandsmen were hosted biscuits with and ‘wine, cigars’ beer by the ‘grateful parishioners battalion spent some twelve uneventful months in Fort of those! One reported example Loreto’ of Lady ‘Our to by the troops as endeavours; a ready source of labour. Regimental bands were particularly popular especially as they gave public many were there and days, fete local the on performances trade for the local market and with not much to do on the quiet island the soldiers assisting were often the employed local in population with their construction fort included a bomb-proof powder magazine seaward side of on the grounds. Regiments stationed the at the fort were very popular in Gozo because they generated Main entrance to Fort Chambray Photo 2003 Chambray Main entrance to Fort Pte Nicolas Pte James Headstone for Pte Lyons of Lyons Pte for Headstone the Connaught Rangers NELSON. NELSON. Company” “G 2 Bn Leinster Regiment, • LOUTH, Company” 2 “G Bn Leinster Regiment, who died in Gozo 1895, 7th August on aged 24 years. • Pte Thomas CLANCY, 4034, “A Company” 2 4034, Pte “A Thomas CLANCY, who died in Gozo on September 25th 1895, aged 25 years. • Bn Leinster Regiment, who died in Gozo on June 3rd 1895, aged 20 years. Whilst on business in Malta in 2002, I made The burial marker for Pte. James Nelson, the original tomb stone stone tomb original the Nelson, James Pte. for marker burial The having been ‘lost’. 1895 a visit to Fort Chambray battalion to had see been where stationed the and 2nd discovered the that project development had been a ‘on number hold’ of years for and the site been had ‘mothballed’ to Walking all around intents the outside of the walls of the fort, which were part and overgrown part being upon used the Catholic burial as ground, which had been ‘allotments’ turned I into a plot for growing tomatoes. I took the chanced details of some of those interred from a number of but wall the against positioned were that headstones burials Leinster the of headstones the unfortunately, were no longer intact and only markers were found for four persons. 2nd Battalion, Leinster Regiment, died 23rd September

Regiment and reburied within the landward 8, Association Gwendolyn Grace DAVIDSON, daughter of Captain of daughter DAVIDSON, Grace Gwendolyn aged 27 MURPHY, years, Sergeant, F Company, P. E.C. LAWN, aged 21 years 3 months, Private, H Emma Mary SHORT, aged 25 years, the wife of Walter GOLL, aged 24 years, Private, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Private, years, 24 aged GOLL, Walter The old Roman Catholic burial ground at Fort Chambray Fort at ground burial Catholic Roman old The now being used as an area to grow tomatoes Corporal Michael J. Short, Regiment Died 7th May 1895. 2nd Battalion, Leinster • 1895 May 4 Born LeinsterRegiment. Davidson, T.S.C. Died 19 May 1895. (Age 15 days) • Leinster Regiment Died 30th June 1896, • Company, 2nd Battalion, Leinster Regiment Died 30th July 1895 • to be re-established and that the remains were to reunited with their Chambray, be returned to Fort headstones were remains identified the Amongst . the following from the Leinsters. • Mary. At that time Mary. the different tomb stones were set aside for permanent retention in part a of the Fort secluded within a yard adjacent to the old barrack block, for future identificationa awaiting more permanent location. The final part of the plan was that one of the former cemeteries’ was in in representation of the Church of and England Father Zerafa, the parish Giorgio priest de Roger a that identified research of Further Ghajnsielem”. supervised the transfer and that the each contents grave was placed in a wooden of box lined with plastic and the reinterred in the cemetery of St and later re-interred in the cemetery of Santa Maria, near in the presence of the Reverend Canon Philip Cousins, Dean of St. Paul’s Anglican Pro-Cathedral

Leinster 10 11 Regiment : In the register of baptisms the entry is : Being born in Gozo was later to prove to prove to later was Gozo in born Being : Although Maltese was the first language Grace and Glory: Malta, People, Places & The cause of “Malta Fever”, a mysterious Association Malta Today, July 18 2004 Malta Today, Brigadier Samut- Tagliaferro, President of the Source Malta Fever: Ghajnsielem: Use of English: Mary E Dickson Source: Mary E Dickson E Mary 7 8 2 3 4 Op cit 5 6 1 Leinster a retired officer of the Britishclassified Army, my aunt the as being USA authorities of Maltese birthby that around got easily she stock, Irish good of being course and origin. Of then problem, a not was entry where Canada to first travelling crossing over from Canada into the USA. National Museum Association of Malta. British Army regiments trading with the local inhabitants in English understood Gozitans the of some markets, nearby the and used it when they wished to. My Malta own Public Record research Office at clearly the identified English to be in use but by by many, only a few of the indigenous farmers. Another point that supports a Regiment the knowledge of of members non-catholic English that was by Gozitans local the were known to ‘skip’ church-parade on Sundays and play a local game ‘bocci’ in Apparition Square in the nearby village courts dirt on played game ball a Bocce (Eng. Ghajnsielem. of approximately 20 to 30 metres in inbuilt bias) bowls, bocce balls are spherical and have no length and unlike lawn complaint which sometimes resembled typhoid fever and at other times malaria, was not discovered until an investigation by led and 1904-1906 during Commission Fever Malta the by to infection the traced (RAMC) Bruce David Sir Colonel Lieut Maltese goat’s milk. The cause was identified as Micrococcus melitensis and the illness reclassified as “brucellosis”. Bruce was rewarded with a knighthood in 1908. Events, A.E. Abela, Public Record Office Gozo. Mary E Dickson 109th Regiment, one of six baptisms in the regiment that year. be a difficulty for my aunt when much later she immigrated to the USA. Despite my grandfather being British/Irish and remains from the Protestant cemetery and I could find no reference to any transfer from the Roman This Catholic was cemetery. important enough to seek further help and make an appointment with the Gozo archivist Father the Bezzina main town in of Victoria, Gozo. what and Bezzina My Father to surprise a of discovery somewhat came as happened next and what happened to the graves of Sergeant Privates Murphy, Louth, Nelson and Clancy and the wife of another story. Sergeant Sheil will be (Endnotes) and Italian the second language, understood by the English civil authorities in was Malta. When Whitton in use refers to the use of English and he may have been focused on his personal experience with the local inhabitants. successive However, of an years fifty after that is considered be to alternative (Parti-ta-li- to discover an uninspiring set of slabs in What had happened to the burials in the Roman Why were the names I found on headstones Had the remains been re-interred and if If so the remains had been re-interred did they Sarah SHEIL, beloved wife of Sergeant Patrick My first two goals had been achieved in that I had My next action was to visit the church of Santa Maria, Santa of church the visit to was action next My different to those originally reported? different to those originally reported? 3. Catholic cemetery? 4. 2. have individual resting places or was there a common grave? 1. where? • SHEIL, 2 Bn Leinster Regiment, who died in 1895, aged 21 years. April 6th Gozo on Catholic Cemetery, or that of Sergeant Murphy. Catholic Cemetery, the Further of transfer investigations the to only revealed refer reinterrement that the of records all the identified as being re-interred, the names identified on the burial register did not include any had of previously identified on the the markers in Leinster the Roman names I remains back to Fort Chambray had not taken place. This place. taken not had Chambray Fort to back remains tale now takes an unexpected twist because whilst I had located four of the Leinster names originally reported located the remains and they had not been interred individual burial places. ten Furthermore, in years after the approval of the original plan, the project to move the three persons had been interred, eleven of whom were unknown.. an enclosed area with no description. So back to the head the to back So description. no with area enclosed an groundsman who gave me access to the burial register that enabled me to identify that the remains of fifty- After After a discussion with the groundsman in charge of the cemetery I was directed to grave number 3 Ingglizi, remains) changed since 1895 and I already knew that English was spoken and understood by all the inhabitants so after a little driving around I found the cemetery of St Mary. near Xewkija a village close to the fort, to discover that it had no attached cemetery. Fortunately times had happened. I set myself a number of goals to achieve. happened. I set myself a number of resided on Gozo. I had also been successful in contacting in successful been also had I Gozo. on resided believed so Bezzina, Joseph Father Gozo, for archivist the had what about more discover to shape good in was I that occurred the following year when, by then, I had been successful in contacting the developers of the fort with the assistance of a mutual business acquaintance who so I was not able to do much more than note the names for future reference. However I committed myself to a These circumstances. favourable more under visit return Although I had spoken with the security guard when I first I when guard security the with spoken had I Although arrived my presence on the premises was unauthorised,