Posts Tagged ‘British Titanic Society’

  • Wiċċ imb’wiċċ mat-Titanic

    Skont studju akkademiku li wettqet Jill Lane li jirrelata ma’ riflessjonijiet dwar it-traġedji u l-fotografija, hija tgħid illi l-fotografija dejjem tieħu s-sura ta’ leħħa ta’ berqa. Dan minħabba li permezz tagħha, wieħed donnu jagħma għal ftit biex imbagħad jillumina ruħu u jara aħjar. Hi tkompli tispjega illi f’sitwazzjonijiet traġiċi, ir-ritratti kapaċi jifirdu l-preżent mill-passat, hekk kif huma jaqbdu sitwazzjoni u jimmortalizzawha waqt li din tkun diġà saret parti mill-passat. B’hekk dik l-immaġni bħal donnha toħloq xaqq ta’ realtà bejn il-ħajja ta’ dak il-ħin u l-ħajja ta’ issa.

    Min-naħa l-oħra, fil-ktieb tiegħu ‘Camera lucida: reflections on photography’, Roland Barthes jisħaq illi l-fotografija kapaċi tikkrea punt li jipprovdi aċċess sottili għal dak li jsir oltre minnu. Għalhekk, bħal kif dari kien isir fid-drama tat-traġedji Griegi, fejn in-nies kienet tifhem xorta x’ġara akkost li l-vjolenza tkun seħħet ‘wara l-palk’, daqstant ieħor jiġri bil-fotografija meta wieħed ikun kapaċi jirrifletti sewwa dwar il-ħsara li tkun saret anki jekk ma jidher xejn fir-ritratt.

    Sitt xhur biss differenza

    Alexander James Littlejohn qabel it-trageda tat-TitanicInfatti kien permezz ta’ żewġ ritratti li ġew f’idejn Philip Littlejohn li hu seta’ jixtarr tassew dak li għadda minnu nannuh Alexander meta dan esperjenza waħda mill-agħar traġedji li qatt rat id-dinja – l-għarqa tal-vapur Titanic.

    “L-ewwel ritratt kien ħadu ftit taż-żmien qabel salpa fuq it-Titanic,” spjegali Philip. “Kif qed tara, fih tidher immaġni komuni ta’ raġel ta’ 40 sena, b’xagħru skur u b’mustaċċi folti. Issa jekk tħares lejn ir-ritratt l-ieħor tiegħu, żgur li taħseb li dan ħadu wara bosta snin, peress li xagħru u x-xagħar t’għajnejh huma bojod karti, daqs li kieku xjaħ. Madanakollu, fir-realtà, iż-żmien li għadda bejn iż-żewġ ritratti kien biss ta’ sitt xhur!”

    Bilkemm ridt nemmen lil għajnejja. U nistqarr li ksaħt meta ħarsti ġriet minn ritratt għall-ieħor. Għax akkost li r-ritratti kienu jidhru sempliċi, issa stajt nifhem li dawn kienu xhieda tan-niket u s-sofferenza kbira li għadda minnhom dak il-bniedem.

    L-14 t’April 1912

    Fil-11:40pm, fl-14 t’April 1912, RMS Titanic, l-akbar vapur mibni biex jivvjaġġa fuq l-oċeani, ħabat mal-quċċata ta’ massa ta’ silġ li qattgħet fih diversi toqob f’numru ta’ sezzjonijiet tiegħu u f’temp ta’ ftit ħin, destinu flimkien ma’ dawk li kienu rekbin fuqu, inbidel mill-lejl għan-nhar. Fil-fatt, il-vapur li kien intqal li lanqas Alla ma kien kapaċi jgħerrqu daqs kemm kien maħdum bir-reqqa, inbela’ taħt l-ilma ftit siegħat wara; eżattament fis-2:20am. Kien mument tal-waħx hekk kif dawk li rnexxielhom jirkbu d-dgħajjes tas-salvataġġ iċċassaw imbikkma lejn il-vapur għadu mixgħul, jinqasam u jinżel fl-abbissi mudlama b’aktar minn 1500 passiġġier li kienu għadhom abbord.

    L-għażla ta’ min se jsalva u min le

    Alexander James Littlejohn - sitt xhur wara t-trageda tat-Titanic“Kien lejl fejn kellhom jittieħdu għadd ta’ deċiżjonijiet sinifikanti u diffiċli fi ftit tal-ħin u permezz tagħhom tfassal min kellu jsalva u min le,” irrakkuntali Philip.

    Fost dawn l-għażliet, bla dubju, kien hemm uħud li ħammru wiċċ bosta hekk kif l-aktar passiġġieri għanja ġew magħżula fost il-bqija sabiex iħallu l-vapur l-ewwel. Fl-istess ħin, kien hemm ukoll il-mumenti erojċi fejn għadd ta’ rġiel iddeċidew li jibqgħu fuq il-vapur ħalli jċedu posthom lin-nisa u lit-tfal.

    “Min jaf x’kien ikun id-destin ta’ nannuwi Alexander James Littlejohn, li kien sempliċiment baħri li kien qed jieħu ħsieb is-sezzjoni tal-Ewwel Klassi tal-passiġġiera tat-Titanic, li kieku mhux għax dan ġie ordnat biex jitla’ fuq id-dgħajsa tas-salvataġġ numru 13 sabiex jaqdef u jieħu għas-sigurtà lill-35 mara u tfal li kienu fuqha?” staqsa Philip.

    Il-ġrajja minn fomm wieħed li salva

    Meta staqsejtu jekk nannuh kienx ikellmu dwar din il-ġrajja, Philip stqarr illi bħal ħafna min-nies l-oħra li salvaw minn din it-traġedja, huwa rarament kien ilissen xi ħaġa rigward dak il-lejl. Però fl-1912, huwa kien ta din l-intervista lil ‘The Daily Telegraph’:

    “Mort biex nimla’ d-dgħajsa numru 13 u fiha telgħu madwar 35 mara u tfal. Peress li kien hemm spazju għal aktar nies, bdejna nsejjħu lil nisa oħrajn sabiex jiġu magħna imma ħadd ma resaq. Għalhekk, minflok, telgħu magħna xi rġiel li kienu tal-Ewwel Klassi. Uffiċċjal tat-Titanic ordna sabiex jitilgħu żewġ baħrin ma’ dawn in-nies biex jaqdfu d-dgħajsa, u b’xorti tajba, ipponta lejja…. F’ħin minnhom, rajna t-Titanic jgħereq min-naħa ta’ quddiem. Stajna naraw li kien għadu mixgħul u hekk kif beda jinbela mill-ilma, d-dawl beda jintefa ftit ftit. Bqajna nħarsu lejn il-vapur nieżel bil-mod sakemm f’daqqa waħda, donnu ta’ s-salt u hekk kif inqata’ d-dawl kollu li kellu fuqu, għosfor minn wiċċ l-ilma. Immedjatament wara bdejna nisimgħu qabda krib tal-biża’ u sejħiet għall-ajjut. Kien mument terribbli u ta’ qsim il-qalb.”

    Għal bosta snin, Alexander kien imexxi żewġ ħwienet tax-xorb f’Londra u Sussex. Imbagħad meta mietet martu fl-1910, huwa telaq ibaħħar u ħalla warajh it-tliet uliedu ċkejknin. Oħtu bdiet teħodlu ħsiebhom meta fl-1911, huwa beda jaħdem mal-kumpanija White Star Line. Kumbinazzjoni, beda x-xogħol fuq l-RMS Olympic meta din ħarġet fuq l-ewwel vjaġġ tagħha. Imbagħad fis-sena ta’ wara, huwa salpa mal-RMS Titanic li wkoll kien qiegħed jagħmel l-ewwel ħarġa tiegħu fuq il-baħar. Iżda x-xebħ bejn dawn it-tnejn jieqaf s’hemm minħabba li l-aħħar vjaġġ, kellu jimmarkalu ħajtu u d-dehra tiegħu għal dejjem. Sorprendentement, minkejja din l-esperjenza trawmatika, f’Ottubru tal-1912, huwa reġa’ beda jaħdem fuq il-baħar.

    L-iżgħar superstita tat-Titanic

    Mingħajr ma kien jaf, meta Alexander qadef kemm jiflaħ id-dgħajsa numru 13 biex isalva lin-nies li kien hemm fuqha, miegħu kien hemm l-iżgħar persuna li finalment rnexxielha ssalva mill-għarqa. Din kienet Millvina Dean li f’dak iż-żmien kellha biss disgħa ġimgħat. Aktar tard, hija kienet l-aħħar superstita minn dawk kollha li għexu din it-traġedja. Millvina u Alexander qatt ma ltaqgħu aktar u hu miet fl-1949 fl-età ta’ 77 sena. Madanakollu, hi rnexxielha tiltaqa’ man-neputi tiegħu Philip u dan għamel aktar minn 10 snin jaħdem magħha fuq ir-radju u t-televiżjoni. Millvina ħalliet id-dinja ta’ 97 sena f’Mejju tal-2009 u Philip kien preżenti għaċ-ċerimonja meta l-irmied tagħha ġie mxerred fil-baħar minn fejn it-Titanic kien salpa fuq l-ewwel u l-aħħar vjaġġ tiegħu.

    “Kien fatt ironiku li Millvina Dean u t-Titanic kellhom l-istess età,” fakkarni Philip. “Millvina kienet xtaqet ħafna tattendi għall-vjaġġ li sar fuq MS Barmoral sabiex jikkommemora l-100 anniversarju minn din it-traġedja terribbli u infatti konna ppjanajna li mmorru flimkien. Ta’ min isemmi li missierha kien wieħed minn dawk l-irġiel qalbiena li kien tqabad fost dik il-folla ta’ nies iddisprati li riedu jħallu l-vapur sakemm irnexxielu jtella’ lil martu u lil bintu fuq dgħajsa tas-salvataġġ. Ommha spiss irrakkuntatilha li kif ra li kienu sikuri fid-dgħajsa, hu tbissmilhom u sellmilhom, imbagħad tahom dahru u mexa ‘l ġewwa sabiex jistenna t-tmiem kiefer li kien jaf li ser jgħaddi minnu.”

    Għalkemm Millvina ma rnexxiliex tgħix sakemm sar dan il-vjaġġ, Philip inkluda l-ġrajja tagħha fis-serje ta’ lekċers li huwa taha lill-passiġġiera li kienu preżenti fuq MS Balmoral. Naturalment, huwa ma naqasx li jaqsam ukoll it-tifkiriet ta’ nannuh u dawk ta’ xi superstiti oħra li eventwalment inġabru mill-baħar mill-vapur Carpathia.

    Vjaġġ biex jikkomemmora seklu mit-traġedja

    Il-vapur MS Balmoral salpa fl-10 t’April 2012 minn Southampton sabiex isegwi bl-eżatt ir-rotta li kien ħa t-Titanic 100 sena qabel. Fuqu, huwa kellu 1,309 passiġġier; l-istess numru ta’nies li kellu fuq t-Titanic. Waqt il-vjaġġ ta’ 12 il-lejl, fuq l-MS Barmoral ġew offruti l-istess ikliet li kien hemm fil-menu tat-Titanic. Barra minn hekk, banda ta’ ħames mużiċisti ġiet mistiedna fuq il-vapur sabiex toħloq mill-ġdid l-istess atmosfera li kien hemm fuq il-vapur ta’ destin ikrah.

    Fil-lejl tal-14 t’April, dan il-vjaġġ kommemorattiv, waqaf fil-post fejn it-Titanic jinsab mgħarraq u hemm saret ċerimonja f’isem dawk li ħallew ħajjithom f’dawk l-inħawi fl-1912. Wara, dan il-vapur kompla fi triqtu lejn Halifax, il-Kanada fejn għadd minn dawk li tilfu ħajjithom waqt din it-traġedja kienu jinsabu midfuna. Eventwalment, dan il-vjaġġ intemm fi New York; il-post fejn it-Titanic kien mistenni li jasal seklu qabel imma baqa’ qatt ma tfaċċa’.

    Sinċerament, ma nafx jekk jien kienx ikolli l-kuraġġ li ningħaqad ma’ dawn il-passiġġiera li rħewlha għal dan il-vjaġġ partikolari għax ma tantx inħobb nisfida wisq id-destin.

    Philip stqarr illi, “Kien hemm xi kritiċi li maqdru din l-idea għax rawha makabra u mhux flokha. Imma għalija, dan kien vjaġġ uniku li permezz tiegħu stajt inżur post li hu tant sinifikattiv għall-familja tiegħi. L-istess qalu għadd ta’ passiġġiera oħra li l-familji tagħhom kienu għaddew mill-istess trawma.”

    Wiċċ imb’wiċċ mat-Titanic

    Iżda fir-realtà, Philip letteralment daħal aktar fil-fond f’din l-istorja hekk kif fid-29 ta’ Lulju 2001, huwa kellu l-opportunità li jirkeb f’sottomarin żgħir li ħadu 3,800 metru taħt il-baħar sabiex jara mill-qrib il-fdalijiet tat-Titanic.

    “Minn meta t-Titanic instab fl-1985, niżlu numru ta’ individwi ħdejh. Iżda jiena kont l-ewwel wieħed li kelli membru tal-familja fuq it-Titanic,” qalli Philip.

    “Dakinhar kont twassalt fuq il-post mill-istess vapur Russu li uża l-grupp ta’ James Cameron meta kienu qed jaħdmu d-dokumentarju ‘Ghosts of the Abyss’. Il-baħar kien lixx daqs iż-żejt. Kont qisni xi sewwieq tal-Formula 1 meta lbist il-ħwejjeġ protettivi kontra n-nar bħala prekawzjoni kontra l-ammont ta’ ossiġnu qawwi li kien ser ikun hemm fis-sottomarin. Finalment, tlajna fuq is-sottomarin Mir 1 u bdejna niżlin fil-qiegħ. L-ilma nbidel minn ikħal, għal aħdar, għal iswed aktar ma bdejna niġbdu ‘l isfel. Ma stajna nilmħu xejn li jurina kemm konna niżlin ‘l isfel fl-Atlantiku ħlief il-figuri tal-indikatur li bdew jixgħelu quddiemna ħalli juruna f’liema profondità konna qegħdin.”

    “Konnha tlieta abbord inkluż il-pilota Russu. Miegħi kien hemm wieħed li kien għamel riċerka qawwija dwar it-Titanic u għalhekk kien eċitat ferm li fl-aħħar kien ser jara dan il-vapur mill-qrib. Min-naħa l-oħra, ħsibijieti marru fuq nannuwi u f’moħħi staqsejt x’kienet tkun ir-reazzjoni tiegħu li kieku kellu jkun hemm miegħi, 89 sena wara li seħħet dik it-traġedja.”

    “Ħadna sagħtejn u nofs sakemm ilħaqna l-fdalijiet tal-vapur. Intbaħna li wasalna hekk kif ħabta u sabta t-Titanic tfaċċa taħt id-dawl tal-bozoz tas-sottomarin tagħna. Kien f’dak il-mument ukoll li rajna d-dawl tas-sottomarin Mir 2 li kien niżel magħna. Permezz ta’ żewġ idejn robotiċi, is-sottomarini ħallew plakka kommemorattiva ħdejn it-Titanic; waħda mill- British Titanic Society u l-oħra għall-ħaddiema tal-post li tilfu ħajjithom waqt li kienu qed jippruvaw jiġbru l-ittri kollha hekk kif it-Titanic ħabat mas-silġ.”

    “Wieħed mill-aktar mumenti memorabbli kien meta sibna ruħna fil-parti fejn kien hemm id-dgħajjes tas-salvataġġ għax proprju hemm kien nannuwi f’dak il-lejl fatali,” ftakar Philip. “Madanakollu, kont emozzjonat ħafna wkoll meta għaddejna minn medda ta’ madwar 800 metru li fiha kienu għadhom jidhru sewwa xi oġġetti tal-passiġġiera li tkaxkru f’dan il-lwog meta għereq it-Titanic.”

    B’kollox dan il-vjaġġ ħa sitt siegħat hekk kif huma kellhom bżonn sagħtejn u nofs oħra biex reġgħu telgħu fil-wiċċ. Meta staqsejt lil Philip jekk qattx għaddielu minn rasu li seta’ jinqala’ xi inċident waqt li kienu ħdejn it-Titanic, huwa weġibni li lanqas biss qatt ħaseb dwar dan.

    Għall-kuntrarju ta’ ċerti kritiċi li jsostnu li l-post fejn it-Titanic jinsab mgħarraq għandu jiġi rispettat daqs ċimiterju u għalhekk għandu jitħalla fil-kwiet, Philip Littlejohn jemmen li din il-ġrajja għandha tibqa’ titfakkar ħalli b’hekk ma ninsewx.

    Fil-ktieb tiegħu ‘Waiting for Orders’ huwa jirrakkonta ġrajjet nannuh, “Inħoss li huwa obbligu li niftakru dak il-lejl infernali li ħalla warajħ tant vittmi fejn bosta kienu dawk li ġabu ruħhom ta’ eroj. B’hekk nittama wkoll li din l-istorja ma terġa’ qatt tirrepeti ruħha.”

     (Dan l-artiklu ġie ppubblikat fis-sensiela MINN RITRATT (4 parti) fit-Torċa tat-12 t’April 2015)

    2015.04.12 / no responses / Category: Torca - Features & Articles

  • The story of a relative of a Titanic survivor

    Alexander J Littlejohn before embarking on TitanicAlexander J Littlejohn - six months after the Titanic tragedy

    Philip Littlejohn with Millvina Dean

    At 11:40 p.m. on April 14th 1912, RMS Titanic, the largest ocean liner ever built by the hands of man, hit an iceberg which ripped holes in several of its water-tight compartments, dooming its destiny and that of all its passengers. A few hours later, at 2.20am, the survivors that managed to get on the few boats that were available, watched the horrifying spectacle of the Titanic with its lights shining brightly and with more than 1500 passengers still on board, being engulfed in the deep dark and icy abyss.

    It was a night where so many significant and difficult decisions had to be taken quickly since they determined who was to survive and who would be left behind. Certainly there were the shameful arrangements where the richest passengers were selected from the others in order to leave the ship first. However there were also the heroic instances wherein several men opted to stay behind in order to allow the survival of more women and children. So who knows what would have been the fate of Alexander James Littlejohn, a First Class Steward on the Titanic, had he not been ordered to get on board life-boat 13 in order to row about 35 women and children to safety?

    During his lifetime, Alexander J Littlejohn rarely talked about this tragic night, like most of the other survivors. Yet in 1912, he gave this graphic eye-witness account of the sinking of the Titanic to The Daily Telegraph:

    “I went to fill up Boat 13 and got about 35 women and children into it. We shouted for more women but there were none forthcoming. We had a few First Class male passengers in. An officer ordered two of us to get in and help row the boat and I happened to be one of the fortunate ones to be ordered in…. We could see the Titanic sinking by the head. Her forward ‘E’ deck ports were under the water and we could see the lights gradually go out on the ‘E’ deck as she settled down. All her other lights were burning brilliantly from stem to stern. We watched her like this for some time, and then suddenly she gave a plunge forward and all the lights went out. Her stern went right up in the air. There were two or three explosions and it seemed to me that the stern part came down again and righted itself. Immediately after there were terrible cries for help; they were awful and heartbreaking.”

    For several years, Alexander had run two pubs The Rising Sun in London, and the Crown in Hastings, Sussex. He only went to sea after his wife died in 1910, leaving him with three young children. His sister looked after them and he joined the White Star Line Company in 1911. Incidentally, his first appointment was on the RMS Olympic’s maiden voyage and the following year, he joined the RMS Titanic which was also going on its first crossing at sea. Nonetheless, the similarity between the two ended there as the latter journey marked both his life and his appearance.

    His grandson, Philip Littlejohn, has compelling proof which manifests clearly the shock that his grandfather had suffered during that particular night. Indeed, in a photo taken some time prior to his embarkation on Titanic, Alexander is portrayed as a man aged 40 with dark hair and a heavy moustache, and yet in another photo taken just six months after the disaster, he looks notably different, particularly with his white hair and eyebrows. Surprisingly, despite this traumatic experience of surviving the sinking of the Titanic, Alexander returned to sea in October 1912.

    Without knowing, in life-boat 13, Alexander had rowed to safety the youngest Titanic survivor, Millvina Dean, who was only nine weeks old at the time, which person would also be the last living link to the Titanic disaster since she outlived all the other survivors. Alas, the two never met each other again and Alexander died in 1949, aged 77. However Dean succeeded to meet his grandson Philip and he worked with her over a period of ten years on TV and radio. She died at the age of 97, in May 2009, and Philip was present for the ceremony when her ashes were scattered near the departure point of the fateful voyage.

    Ironically, Millvina Dean and the Titanic shared the same age, and she had planned to join Philip Littlejohn and the rest of the passengers on the Titanic memorial cruise ship, MS Balmoral, which was chosen to commemorate the 100th anniversary from this bitter tragedy. Dean’s father was one of those brave men who had fought his way through the massive desperate crowd in order to get his wife and his two children safely on a life-boat and then he had bade them goodbye and turned away to await his gruesome end. Although Dean did not make it to be a 100, Philip included her story too during a series of lectures that he presented on board the MS Balmoral wherein he narrated the events leading up to the liner’s fateful collision, including eye-witness accounts and the rescue by the liner Carpathia.

    The MS Balmoral set sail on the 10th April 2012 from Southampton in order to follow the exact route that the Titanic took 100 years before. It carried on it 1,309 paying passengers, the same number that were on board the Titanic. During its 12-night voyage, it offered meals from the Titanic’s original menu and a five-piece band recreated the atmosphere that the original team of artists had played on board the ill-fated ship. On the night of the 14th April, this memorial cruise stopped over the Titanic’s wreck site, and services were held in memory of those who lost their lives in 1912. Then, it continued its way to Halifax, Canada where many of those who lost their lives are buried. The voyage ended in New York, the place where Titanic was due to arrive a century before but never did.

    Some critics thought that this idea was macabre and in bad taste. Yet Philip commented, “For me, this was the voyage of a lifetime and a chance to revisit a place that means so much to my family.” He insisted that this memorial cruise was a special remembrance opportunity which made possible, particularly to those whose relatives had been on board the Titanic, to visit the spot where so many dear ones had lost their lives.

    In reality, Philip had already involved himself far more deeply in this Titanic story when on the 29th July 2001, he embarked on a dive of a life-time which led him right at the site of the Titanic’s wreck which lies at a depth of about 3,800m. Although quite a number of individuals have visited this area from the discovery of this wreck back in 1985, Philip is the first relative of a Titanic passenger or crew member to have made this experience.

    “We went out using the same Russian ship used by James Cameron’s film crew when he was making the documentary, Ghosts of the Abyss,” he says. “The ocean was like a millpond. Looking like Formula 1 racing drivers in our blue flame-proof overalls (protection from fire in the oxygen rich interior), we boarded Mir 1 and were lowered into the ocean. The interior of the submersible seemed airless, as we watched through a one-foot thick porthole as water filled our view. The water turned from blue to green to black as we descended. There was no movement to indicate our descent, just the figures on the depth indicator increasing as we sank to the bottom of the Atlantic.”

    “We were three on board including the Russian pilot. My companion had made an extensive study of the ship over a number of years and was excited at the thought of actually seeing the vessel. However my thoughts were with how my grandfather would have felt if he could have gone back to the vessel that he had left eighty-nine years before.”

    “It took two-and-a-half hours to reach the wreck. Suddenly with the submersible lights switched on, we got our first sign of the Titanic; the expansion joint on the bow section. We were going round some other areas of the ship when at one moment we saw the lights of Mir 2 approaching out of the darkness. The two submersibles used their robotic arms in order to lay two plaques near the wreck; one from the British Titanic Society and one in memory of the postal workers, all of whom were lost trying to recover the mail soon after Titanic hit the iceberg.”

    Certainly, one of the most memorable stages in this dive for Philip was when the submersible reached the area where the lifeboats had been filled with women and children, and where his grandfather had been ordered in by an officer to row life-boat 13. However, he was also very touched when they crossed the debris field which stretches for some 800 meters between the bow and stern sections of the Titanic. “It was this that I found the most moving part of the dive, as here were the Titanic’s passengers’ personal belongings which fell to the sea-bed as the ship broke in two and sank in the early hours of the 15th April 1912.”

    This dive took six hours in all since they spent another two-and-a-half hours to reach back the ocean’s surface. Asked whether he was ever afraid that history might repeat itself during these close encounters with the Titanic’s wreck site, Philip dismissed this idea completely.

    Critics of these remembrance events of the Titanic’s sinking have often asked the meaning of celebrating such a tragedy and they insist that this site must be regarded and respected as a grave-site and that the victims who lost their lives in such a horrible way should be allowed to rest in peace.

    Yet Philip Littlejohn’s viewpoint is quite contrasting to these opinions. In fact, in his book Waiting for Orders he narrates his grandfather’s story so that his experience will never be forgotten.

    “No one has celebrated the loss of Titanic,” he maintains, “but we should remember her and those who lost their lives and the related stories of heroism so that we will ensure that such a tragedy would never happen again.”

    (This article was published in the supplement ‘Man Matters’ of the Times of Malta dated 19th April 2014)

    2014.04.19 / no responses / Category: Times of Malta