IN PHOTOS: Spotlight on long-forgotten air raid shelter showcases harsh realities of war
One of the rooms still holds metal bed carcasses.
During World War II, air raids were commonplace on the Maltese Islands, which suffered heavy enemy bombardment in many of its major cities and towns.
To combat this, underground structures or shelters were built to protect the citizens, ranging in size from large tunnels to protect the majority of a town’s people, to private ones dug up beneath citizens’ own homes.
Today, several of these larger air raid shelters are open to visitors, giving unique insight into what life was like in the difficult days of war. Many, however, remain inaccessible – blocked long ago, and since, forgotten.
One such space, located in the vicinity of Gzira and Sliema, was recently rediscovered by local exploration group Follow to Explore. Quoting wartime records that state that “at least one air-raid shelter (private or public) [was located] almost on every street” in the area, the group dictate the experience of discovering a long-forgotten shelter.
Sharing a series of photos showcasing the hidden depths of the shelter, which is dug into the rock and accessible through a tunnel, they write, “there are several rooms, one of them still has metal bed carcasses. Probably, a family with several children was hiding here during terrifying days of the war.”
Interestingly, they also note that the floor is decorated with colourful cement tiles, in what was likely an attempt to make the space more comfortable and feel somewhat more like home.
Meanwhile, a broken ceramic plate lies on the ground, “forgotten ages ago by its owners” – a harrowing reminder of the difficulties of life in wartimes.