Staff and customers are celebrating the centenary of the Naafi, the British military retail operation that operated in Malta for decades.

However grand an anniversary, the celebrations are modest with a few branded items being released to mark the occasion at a handful of remaining shops.

One thing I quickly discovered when embarking on ‘Canteen Army: The Naafi Story’ is that nearly everyone has an opinion about it. To be sure, some are less favourable than others, although even Naafi’s worst critics show it a grudging regard. For instance, few would dispute that it occupies a unique place in Malta’s history.

Famed for its canteens, bars and shops serving the Army, Navy and Air Force, Naafi opened for trading December 9, 1920 after Winston Churchill, then the War Secretary, demanded an institute to serve all armed forces at home and abroad during peacetime.

During the Second World War, Naafi in Malta increased the number of canteens and shops from 17 in 1939 to 80 by 1942, serving the vast number of British and Allied land and naval forces on the island.

With the RAF flying out of Malta sinking three in every four German supply ships sailing between Sicily and Tripoli, Germany’s Middle East Commander Erwin Rommel decided that Malta was to be crushed, and swang the Luftwaffe into action.

The island was continually rocked under the thundering sound of exploding bombs and anti-aircraft defences, the sheer intensity of the raids made it 'the most bombed place on earth'.

Norman Reginald Gill, an RAMC radiographer never forgot experience in Malta: ‘Most shops were closed because they had been bombed or because they had nothing to sell. There was not a lot of point in going into Valletta because there was nothing to buy.’ Brigadier W.N. Hamilton, the Naafi supervisor, in Valetta later recorded: ‘Hardly a day went by without 4 or 5 canteens being damaged’. Incredibly, only two staff members were killed during the siege.

When the raids were over, Naafi canteen staff tended the wounded, swept up the debris and opened up again - and regardless of the terrific intensity of the barrage, an ENSA concert party continued to play to the troops without a break for nearly three years.

The ‘Whizz Bangs’ —comprising four men and four women—were the only wartime concert party on the island. Each night, as the bombs fell, they organized a full menu of dances, activities and concerts. On some occasions, units of the garrison would settle down to enjoy a twenty-six-item programme.

In the end, Malta was not subdued, and Major J. C. Burke, Naafi’s commander on the island recalled his greatest moment was watching Italian Fleet sail to Valetta to surrender in September 1943. ‘The islanders,’ he said, ‘did not cheer. They simply stared open-mouthed, at the awe-inspiring sight.’

Naafi, along with the British forces, retained a presence in on the island until March, 1979 when their military bases on Malta were closed.

Nathan Morley is author of Canteen Army: The Naafi Story.