Malta (Capuccini) Naval Cemetery

 

The Cemetery is about 2 kilometres south-east of Rinella, a bay and hamlet opposite Valletta across the mouth of the Grand Harbour and on the southern outskirts of the village of Kalkara.

During the Second World War, Malta's position in the Mediterranean was of enormous Allied strategic importance. Heavily fortified, the island was never invaded, but was subjected to continual bombardment and blockade between Italy's entry into the war in June 1940 and the Axis defeat at El Alamein in November 1942.

At the height of Axis attempts to break Malta's resistance in April 1942, the island and her people were awarded the George Cross by King George VI.

Malta's defence relied upon a combined operation in which the contributions made by the three branches of the armed forces and Merchant Navy were equally crucial. Although heavily pressed in defence, offensive raids launched from the island by air and sea had a crippling effect on the Axis lines of communication with North Africa, and played a vital part in the eventual Allied success there.

Malta (Capuccini) Naval Cemetery, which once belonged to the Admiralty, is divided into two sections, Protestant and Roman Catholic.

Buried in the Cemetery is Oliver Ogle Ormrod (Grave Ref. Prot. Sec. (Officers'). Plot. E. Coll. grave 2.), a fighter pilot, who died on 22 April 1942, during the defence of Malta.