Samuel Sciberras
Salvatore (or Samuel) Domenic Sciberras was born in Valetta, the capital of Malta, in 1908. His war record shows that as a 31-year-old married man, a boot repairer by trade, he enlisted in the 4th Garrison Battalion at Keswick in October 1940. He continued his service until April 1946, by which time he had spent time working in both the Loveday Internment Camp (from June 1941) and the POW Camp at Sandy Creek in South Australia (from February 1945).
As a guard with a good knowledge of Italian thanks to his Maltese background, Sciberras would have been a useful interlocutor with Italian internees and POWs, translating and interpreting as required. His relations with the men he guarded appear to have been very cordial, above all because they gifted to him some of the objects they fashioned in wood and other materials.
His good relations with others figure prominently in the wartime memories of his daughter Diane:
When my father, Samuel Sciberras, was posted to Loveday Internment Camp, I was about six years old and had two younger sisters. Our family moved from Adelaide to an old stone house between Barmera and the Camp. I vividly remember an occasion when my father invited several senior officers for a typical Italian meal of ravioli with Bolognese sauce which he would cook himself. My mother was horrified because at that time all our water came from a round galvanised iron tank at the corner of the house, cooking was done on a wood stove, and a block of ice was delivered weekly for the ice chest. However, the food must have met with approval because it was eaten with gusto assisted, no doubt, by a few bottles of wine.
Another incident seared into my memory is when my father was stationed at Sandy Creek POW Camp at the end of the war. He came home one weekend with individual gifts. One of the POWs awaiting repatriation had made felt toys representing Disney animals for us children, but I was very disappointed because despite being the oldest child I received the smallest toy – a purple felt Pluto measuring approximately 60 mm from nose to tail.
Although my father held a respected official position as an interpreter for a number of years in the military, he could only obtain labouring work upon demobilisation.
(Note: My father knew some non-political internees from Adelaide and surrounds prior to the war and was on good terms with them. Apparently, a fellow officer suspected him of being a Fascist sympathiser.)
Sources:
NAA: B884, S567, SCIBERRAS SAMUEL : Service Number - S567 : Date of birth - 09 Dec 1908 : Place of birth - VALETTA MALTA : Place of enlistment - KESWICK SA : Next of Kin - SCIBERRAS OLGA
Recollections of Diane Cocetta (nee Sciberras). Further information from Livia Cocetta (grand-daughter of Samuel Sciberras).