Appreciation: Brigadier Arthur Gera, MBE

Martin Scicluna writes:
Brigadier Arthur Gera, died on July 26, aged 92, after a long illness. He was the first of the new post-World War II intake of Royal Malta Artillery officers to become the Commander of the Armed Forces of Malta.

He was among the first of the golden generation of young Maltese men who in the late-1940s, 1950s and 1960s went straight from school – in Arthur’s case the outstanding Lyceum – to the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, which he joined in 1947 prior to his commissioning into the Royal Malta Artillery.
I first met Arthur Gera when I joined 2nd Regiment, RMA from Sandhurst in 1956.
I was excited to be thrust straight into the highly-competitive inter-Regimental Officers’ Boat Race. Arthur was then the outstanding stroke of 2nd Regiment’s officers’ six-oared gig and it was thanks to his steadiness under pressure that we won a very tight race.
I subsequently discovered that his calmness under pressure was among the many qualities which he brought to his army career, which included his selection as ADC to the Governor and a range of senior appointments on the General Staff.
When he was promoted to Brigadier and Commander of the Armed Forces of Malta...