The Grand Harbour, Malta

Family holidays often present an opportunity to follow through on my interest in military history. Earlier ths year my wife and I took a trip to Malta. The Grand Harbour was for many years the home of the British Mediterranean Fleet and I know from old documents held in my family archive that a relative of mine had been based on the island at the turn of the century.

Amongst Ernest's legacy of photographs and documents, I have a picture of HMS Commonwealth steaming into the Grand Harbour, Malta. Luckily for me, my wife was keen to go on a Harbour Cruise so I took the opportunity to take the photo shown below. Same location as the top photograph but with a 100 year time difference.

Ernest Ward (or Uncle Ernest, as I knew him) had joined the RMA aged just 15 years old and served on a variety of ships for 20 years rising to the rank of Sergeant. Prior to joining HMS Tiger (on which he experienced the Battle of Jutland), Ernest served on HMS Commonwealth. He spent a considerable amount of time on the Island of Malta. I have a map of the island on which my Great Uncle has marked the places which he visited though sadly what were country walks, are now journeys down busy roads in built up urban areas.

Amongst Ernest's legacy of photographs and documents, I have a picture of HMS Commonwealth steaming into the Grand Harbour, Malta. Luckily for me, my wife was keen to go on a Harbour Cruise so I took the opportunity to take the photo shown above. Same location as the top photograph but with a 100 year time difference.

The third photo in this set shows Ernest aboard ship winning plaudits for his gunnery skills on board HMS Commonwealth. Ernest's service record shows that he was awarded a Gunnery Medal on 26th July 1912. His skill was to put to the test in 1914 when HMS Tiger came into contact with the German battleship, Blucher, at Dogger Bank. Ernest was one of the recipients of a bounty for sinking this leviathan.