During the Second World War, part of the barracks was converted into 45th General Hospital which was manned by the Royal Army Medical Corps. A detention area for enemy prisoners-of- war was also established within the camp at Pembroke. By 1945 the number of prisoners amounted to 2,500. As a number of them were Roman Catholics they built a small chapel which was formally blessed in May 1946 by the Archbishop of Malta, Michael Gonzi. The prisoner-of-war camp was closed in 1948. It-Torri tal-Madliena | Madliena Tower (1658)
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and sick soldiers from Gallipoli and Salonika were brought to Malta, Pembroke became the site of a number of hospitals and convalescent camps. These consisted mostly of hutted or tented camps. Many of the wounded soldiers there were ANZACs and this prompted the Australian Branch of the British Red Cross to collect funds for the building of an entertainment hall. Aptly named Australia Hall, it could accommodate 2000 men. Later in 1921 this hall served to house the first branch of the Navy, Army and Air Force Institute (NAAFI) in Malta, and also doubled as a cinema. In the 1930s the degenerating international situation led to the expansion of the British garrison on the Island. New barracks were constructed at Pembroke and named St Patrick’s Barracks.
After the war, small blocks of other ranks’ married quarters were built at St Patrick’s Barrack’s and an Officers’ Mess and recreational complex was built on the rocky foreshore in 1948. The last housing units to be constructed by the British at Pembroke were officers’ married quarters in the 1960s. These are today referred to as the White Rocks. The rifle ranges remained in use, and some of them remain in use to this very day. The artillery ranges were last used in 1959. The parts of the barracks were ceded to the Maltese Government in the early 1970s when they were vacated by the military. The British military facilities in Pembroke closed down in 1978 and the property devolved to the Maltese Government.
Il-Fortizza ta’ Pembroke | The Fortress Of Pembroke (1879)