Among the crowds who gathered for the Anzac Day commemoration in Werribee last Wednesday was 91-year-old World War II veteran Paul Lapira.
Mr Lapira, who lives in Point Cook with one of his daughters, was born in Malta. He enlisted in the Maltese Army at the age of 15.
“The Germans, they didn’t stop bombing Malta,” he said.
Mr Lapira became a policeman in Malta after the war and later moved to Australia with his wife Carmen. The couple were married for 65 years, and lived on the Gold Coast for decades, before Mrs Lapira passed away.
Mr Lapira, a member of the Nerang RSL Sub-branch, said he had attended an Anzac Day service every year, carrying both the Australian and Maltese flags.
This year, he woke up at 3.30am to get ready for the Werribee Anzac Day service.
“God bless Australia and Malta,” he said. “Malta is my homeland, Australia adopted me.”
Mr Lapira, who has seven great-grandchildren, proudly wore his war service medals at the Anzac Day service.
He also wore the medals his father received for serving in World War I.
