The King ' s Own Malta Regiment The King ' s Own Malta Regiment was a territorial infantry regiment on the British Army colonial list prior to Malta ' s independence . It was formed in 1801 as the " Regiment of Maltese Militia " , existing only until the following year . It was reformed as the " Maltese Militia " by Sir Adrian Dingli in 1852 before disbanding again in 1857 . It was raised again , this time as the " Royal Malta Regiment of Militia " in 1889 ; this regiment was considered to be the successor to the " Maltese Chasseurs " of the early 19th century . The regiment was renamed the " King ' s Own Royal Malta Regiment of Militia " in 1903 , and was disbanded in 1921 . The regiment was raised for a fourth time in 1931 as the " King ' s Own Malta Regiment " . Initially on the British Establishment , in 1951 it was transferred to the Malta Territorial Force before becoming part of the Malta Land Force on Malta ' s independence in 1970 . The regiment was disbanded in 1972 . History . The K . O . M . R . was formed as a Territorial Infantry Regiment in 1932 , the latest in a series of locally raised militia units and regiments dating back to the 1800s . Its immediate predecessor was the Royal Malta Regiment of Militia , established in 1889 . The opportunity to have the name changed to a more prestigious ‘ King ’ s Own ’ presented itself and was eagerly snapped up in 1903 , when during a Royal Visit , King Edward VII referred to the RMRM as “ My Regiment ” . During the Second World War the Regiment was expanded to four battalions , 1st , 2nd , 3rd , and 10th , and all rendered sterling service . The infantrymen were constantly trained in fighting tactics , weapon training and anti - invasion drills , to prepare against the largest threat to Malta , Operation Herkules , the planned German - Italian invasion . The main task of the 2nd Battalion , the unit represented by the ‘ Malta Command L . H . G ’ , was the defence of the shores of Malta . This was carried out mainly by the manning of pill boxes , and generally one depth post and two beach posts were allocated to a platoon of 30 men . Constant patrols along the shoreline were carried out to foil any Commando - style operation the enemy might try to carry out . The infantrymen were often called upon to speed up the unloading of vital cargoes from convoy ships , before the ships were bombed and sunk in port . So essential were the supplies that unloading would not stop , not even during air raids ! Afterwards the supply dumps , where all these supplies were stored , sometimes in the open , would need guarding round the clock . The Regiment also put to good use their Vickers , Lewis and Bren machine guns to provide defence against low flying aircraft , especially those strafing the airfields . As the few RAF fighter planes available would be scrambled to engage the enemy bombers , and since the prime targets were the airfields , the bomb craters would have to be filled in and passed over with a roller to allow the defending fighters to land again before they ran out of fuel . So this work would sometimes have to be carried out during the actual raid , running for the slit trenches when bombs would be heard whistling down ! Other jobs were the re - arming and refueling of planes , as well as the building of protective pens for the aircraft to minimize bomb shrapnel damage as much as possible . The KOMR was frequently called upon to perform unenviable tasks such as when in January 1941 , after the Germans tried to sink the ‘ Illustrious ’ in port with determined and ferocious bombing , they were sent to rescue the living and remove the dead from the devastated Cottonera area of the Grand Harbour . As tribute to the hardships endured during the war , the KOMR contingent for the London Victory Parade was the only regiment permitted to carry its Regimental Colours . The Colours of all the other regiments were carried massed together . The Regiment was given the battle honour “ Malta 1940 - 1942 ” and Queen Elizabeth II also granted the regiment the unique privilege of carrying the George Cross on the Regimental Colours . The Regiment was disbanded in 1972 . Bofors 40 mm gun . The Bofors guns manufactured in England , and later Canada , Australia and the USA , were fitted with 2 electric motor / oil units that could be engaged instead of the hand - wheels to turn / elevate the gun . These movements were controlled from a distance by a Kerrison Predictor . This would be ‘ aimed ’ at the target , and data about the target inputted manually . The predictor would mechanically work out the ‘ future position ’ of the target and control the oil units ( hydraulic pump / motor ) to make them turn and elevate / depress the gun so that the barrel would be aimed at the ‘ future position ’ of the target . According to the ‘ 1940 provisional Gun Drill ’ for the Bofors , ten personnel manned each gun + predictor unit . Only the loader would be on the gun to feed rounds into the autoloader , and to fire the gun using his foot pedal . This ‘ return to basics ’ must have been widespread , as in the ‘ 1942 Gun Drill ’ book , the predictor is given less importance , and details are given of what the seven men making up the crew at ‘ gun control ’ ( ‘ hand ’ control ) would be doing . Each was given a number and each had a designated role : -