Victory Day throwback! 64-year-old photo shows 8th September celebrations in Valletta
Malta was still under British rule in 1960.
A photo shared from the year 1960 onto Facebook shows the traditional Victory Day celebrations and parade!
The 64-year-old photo shows a British Malta as the Governor General at the time, Sir Maurice Dorman, inspects the Armed Forces at Valletta’s St John Square.
These celebrations still take place to this day, celebrating Malta’s three most epic historical battles that have all come to a victorious end around the 8th September.
Such victories include the Great Siege of Malta by the Ottomans Empire in 1565, the Siege of Valletta by the French Blockade in 1890 and the Siege of Malta during the Second World War by the Axis in 1943.
On the day, flower wreathes are placed on the memorial of the Great Siege in Valletta, Santa Marija Addolorata cemetry, Malta Rebbieħa memorial, the Great Siege Memorial in Misraħ ir-Rebħa and Fort St Angelo in Birgu.
The day also happens to be day the Catholic Church celebrates the birth of the Virgin Mary which is why many local village feasts will be celebrated across Malta and Gozo. The local village feasts are Naxxar, Mellieha, Senglea and Xaghra in Gozo.
Facebook/Department of Information & Facebook/Armed Forces of Malta