USS Cambria (LPA 36) - Naval Cruise Book

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Right — Between crowns and guineas we never knew what the lace cost . . . but we were sure it was worth it. Below — The Royal Band gets ready for a royal set-up. Note leg protector on drummer to right of truck. Lower left — Gozo boats — named for island immediately to northeast of Malta — act as sea-going produce trucks to Valletta markets. Lower right — The honor guard snaps to as a British flag rank gives it the once over and all that mess. N

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MALTA A SPECK of Mediterranean rock rising out of the sea haze like the Camelot of old. Home of the fabled Knights of St. John, of baroque cathedrals and dzingha boats. A walled island of walled cities — rented from the Queen o f England in this day of landlord troubles for one Maltese falcon and five grains of wheat a year. We were mighty happy when we went ashore. At last — liberty in a mountainless English-speak- ing port. We took the open elevator from Customs House Landing to the Hotel Phoenicia level and looked around. Not a wooden structure in sight. Almost every building made of a local soap- sandstone. The only trees — RHIP — fenced off about the Governor ' s summer palace. We found the Maltese a friendly, well-traveled people . . . just back from Pittsburgh ... or with a brother-in-law in Seattle. And they be- lieved in pedestrians ' rights! At rush hours they blockaded the main streets and rambled in a trafficless world. There are still some gutted reminders of the war (upper right). But in the main reconstruc- tion has come along amazingly considering that Malta has the dubious honor of being the most bombed spot on earth. Of her first three bi-plane defenders — Faith, Hope and Charity — only the stripped down fuselage of Faith remains — safely hangared in the Armory of the Governor ' s Palace. St. Mary ' s (lower left), the most modern ca- thedral on the island and possessor of the third largest dome in the world, was built over and around a small church. This church continued to function until the Cathedral ' s completion, at which time it was torn down by the townspeople and carried out through the doors of its prede- cessor. During the war the dome took a direct hit. Miraculously, the bomb was a dud — and the 300 worshippers were spared. We went to Malta twice and liked it both times. In fact, we ' d have been glad to go again.

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