Henry Gatt grew up hearing nothing of his father’s distinguished World War I service because “he didn’t brag”, and so took it upon himself to try and find out something about the part he played.

“He never shared stories with me about the war. He wasn’t pompous. In fact he was very humble. I suppose I would have known nothing if it weren’t for a few military dispatches,” Major Gatt, 92, said.

He was speaking to Times of Malta 100 years after his father, Alfred Gatt, left Malta for Egypt to join the British forces in Gallipoli, in what was to be one of the bloodiest campaigns of the Great War.

Also known as the Dardanelles campaign, the eight-month battle on the Turkish peninsula is regarded as a microcosm of the violent tactics employed during World War I.

Henry Gatt, 92, son of World War I British forces veteran Alfred Gatt (right) – one of four Maltese to be awarded the Military Cross. Main photo: Chris Sant Fournier

Major Gatt found out that his father had served as part of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps in Gallipoli.

It was not likely he was on the front lines, but he played an integral part in the supply and running of equipment on the battleground.

He was one of four Maltese to be awarded the Military Cross “for distinguished service in the field” and led a long military career which at one point saw him appointed commander of the fixed defences in Malta, with the rank of Brigadier. Major Gatt, however, said that although his father had eventually been buried with full military honours, he had shared close to nothing of his exploits with him, or any of his 13 siblings, even in the many years after the war.

“I only knew of Gallipoli through geography lessons. I would have known nothing at all about what my father did if it were up to him,” he said.

It was only news coverage and military dispatches that had unveiled part of his father’s efforts.