Today we Remember the countless heroes who have given their lives for their Country, in wars old and recent.
Malta's strong ties with the UK go back to WWII and unsurprisingly many of the dive-able wrecks here are British vessels or planes from the war.
Some are very shallow, giving beginner divers a chance to experience diving on a piece of history, others are at depth so that only Deep certified divers or Tec divers can experience them.
So if you get the opportunity to dive any of Malta WWII wrecks then maybe take a minute to remember the people who walked their decks, fired their guns, fought from above....did they make it home from the war?
"They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them."
From Laurence Binyon's poem For the Fallen, written in September 1914.
Below are a few examples of WWII Wrecks in Malta.
HMS Stubborn was an S-class submarine of the Royal Navy. She was launched on 11 November 1942.
Stubborn survived the Second World War and was sunk on 30 April 1946 as an ASDIC target off Malta.
HMS Maori was a Tribal-class destroyer named after the indignous Māori people of New Zealand. She served with the Mediterranean Fleet until she was bombarded by German aircraft while at Malta in 1942 causing her to sink. Her wreck was later raised and scuttled outside the Grand Harbour, and it is now a dive site.
The Bristol Beaufighter was a night fighter that left Malta on an assignment on the 17th of March 1943.
However soon after takeoff, the plane experienced mechanical problems and the pilots had no choice than to ditch the Bristol Beaufighter in the sea. The crew survived.
