Valletta - Fort St Elmo

The Lower Fort at Fort St Elmo houses a War Museum, with relics of the two world wars, including one of the Gladiator fighters, which defended Malta during World War II.

The entrance is by the east end of the French Curtain. The museum houses a small and poignant collection with exhibits from 1798 to 1945. The principal display item is the George Cross, awarded to the whole population on April 15, 1942.

Other exhibits include a wingless Faith, one of the three Gloucester Gladiator bi-planes - nicknamed Faith, Hope and Charity - which were the sum total of the Allies' air-preparedness in the first weeks of the war. There is also an E-Boat or Barchiono Esplosivo, which is a speed boat full of explosives, and General Eisenhower's Willis Jeep used in Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily in 1943.