Of the 39 officers who signed this silver box in March 1914 (at Verdala Barracks, Malta hence the name) 13 lost their lives during the First World War, seven of them by October of that year. It was commissioned by members of the 2nd Battalion Officers’ Mess to commemorate the meeting of the 1st and 2nd Battalions in Malta. In the moment, it may have seemed like a small curio, a keepsake, a souvenir – but with time, it now acts as more of a memorial to their lives, cut short by war.
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Earlier Event: December 5
The axe that never got used, Museum of London
Later Event: December 19
Eek-a-Mouse flyer, Black Cultural Archives, London