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Il-Melodija tal-Gwerra on Campus 103.7

Il-Melodija tal-Gwerra (War’s Melody), on , is about the tunes that were popular with servicemen and civilians during World War II (WWII). Some of the songs are still audible through cinema, television and historical material online. Regrettably, most of them have faded from public memory and deserve to be re-discovered for their role in upholding morale and driving whole nations during wartime. The series presents the most popular tunes from the Allies, including of course British-held Malta, the Axis, especially Italy with its cultural proximity to Malta, and also neutral countries. For each song the presenters Dr Martin G. Debattista and Mr Charles Debono provide an overview of the lyrics, complete with an interpretation and partial translation when they are not in English, and the full historical background.

Dr Debattista is a visiting senior lecturer at the University of Malta and has expertise in digital media and heritage interpretation, especially WWII. His latest book is The Frontpage on the Frontline - the Maltese newspapers and the Second World War. He is also a re-enactor and a historical scale modeller. Mr Debono is a military historian and senior researcher at the National War Museum, Fort St. Elmo, Valletta. The main idea about these series of programmes came after his passion for wartime music. He has authored several books about Maltese history, including two about Mellieha's military history, the National War Museum Guidebook and Malta during WWII. He's also a keen historical scale modeller, basing his model kits according to the study of historical photographs.

Il-Melodija tal-Gwerra airs on Wednesday at 17:00, on Campus 103.7, with a first repeat that same night at 22:00 and a second repetition on Sunday at 9:00.