Brigadier Maurice Calleja passed away last month, on 21 June, at the age of 87. He had reached the pinnacle of a distinguished army career.

I write as a neighbour and a friend of the family since that time when our street was a small community. We knew who lived in each house – there was only one block of flats then occupied by the families of Royal Air Force officers. We greeted neighbours and when there was time, stopped for a chat and maybe enjoyed a coffee or a drink together. Murial and Maurice, but especially Maurice, were regular visitors to our family home. They were a beautiful and elegant couple. You couldn’t miss them. They were a distinguished part of this now vanished community.

The Brigadier’s garage is in front of mine so our exchanges were fairly regular until recently when walking to the garage from his home on the opposite side of the street became difficult. For some years now his second wife of 23 years, Yana, whom he married after Murial’s death, has been doing the driving.   

I remember those days when Brigadier Calleja would go with an artist friend of his, both carrying their easels and painting equipment, and driving off to paint en plein air, as artists say. He was the picture of health. He was a talented artist. He was an aesthete, a lover of beauty, a connoisseur. He also played the piano but above all he was a witty raconteur who was able to spin a good story and turn an ordinary incident into an amusing tale. It is such a pity he left no memoirs.

After his passing away two English-speaking newspapers brought up the subject of his son’s incarceration while in the same breath, announcing the Brigadier’s death. In the views of many this was in bad taste and totally inappropriate. His son has paid his dues to society. Maurice and Muriel were dragged through the coals by newspapers and bloggers at the time of the court case. The whole family has paid a very heavy price already. No mention should have been made of what happened years ago. Brigadier Calleja was totally blameless in this sorry story. In the words of Rudyard Kipling:

“If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

 To serve your turn long after they are gone,   

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’”

Brigadier Calleja did just that and more.

Recently, on Facebook, there has been an exchange regarding Brigadier Calleja’s resignation. The truth about his resignation is one only. There is a letter of 14 December 1993, which Brigadier Calleja had presented to the then Prime Minister. In it he offered his resignation. He states that no pressure was put upon him to resign. “I am however, as planned, offering my resignation as Commander of the Armed Forces of my own free will. I feel that, in order to ensure there could be no misinterpretations of conflicting interests in the future, this is the only course open to me.” Also “this offer to resign will not in any way reflect adversely on my unblemished military career, nor will it be interpreted as anything else but my sincere will to ensure that my loyalties will not appear to be in conflict”.

He bowed out of the military scene with his head held high “and in the knowledge that during my tenure of office I have truly improved the image and effectiveness of the Armed Forces of Malta”.

Brigadier Calleja lived and died an officer and gentleman.

Marie Benoit