This year marks the 99th anniversary of the day when the entire village of Ghajnsielem was mobilized to assist the hundreds of casualties from the ill-fated British expeditions of Gallipoli and Salonica who were brought to Fort Chambray to recover.
The Ghajnsielem Redcoats today pause to remember the British Soldiers and their relatives who perished while they were stationed at Fort Chambray over a period stretching just over a hundred years from the turn of the nineteenth century until March 1916 when the Fort ceased to serve as a convalescence camp for the British military.
During the First World War, Fort Chambray also served as a convalescent depot. Casualties from the Gallipoli landings and the Salonika expedition were brought to the Fort in October 1915 to relieve the overcrowded military hospitals and camps in Malta. This year marks the 99th anniversary since the start of that period of about six months when the entire village of Ghajnsielem was mobilized to assist the soldiers from the ill-fated British expeditions.
Efforts will be made so that next year this special anniversary will be marked as it should be not just by the Club and its members, by the entire community of Ghajnsielem as well.
