Tribute to a soldier, patient... and hero

A UK-based Maltese cardiac surgeon last week paid respects at the grave of a British soldier he believes was one of the first in the world to undergo successful heart surgery. Norman Briffa’s trip to the military cemetery in Pietà last Wednesday was the culmination of more than a year’s research into the case of Private Robert Hugh Martin. Private Martin of the 1st Derbyshire Yeomanry Regiment was on horseback when he was shot in the chest on his 21st birthday in Salonika, Greece, in November 1917. He had enlisted to fight in World War I despite being underage after a young woman had shown him a white feather, which symbolised cowardice, when he was on his way to Dore and Totley train station in Sheffield. Wearing a poppy in memory of the war dead, who will be honoured in today’s Remembrance Day services, Mr Briffa, 51, explained that Private Martin was transported to Malta with a bullet lodged in his heart on board the hospital ship Glenart Castle. One of his stretcher bearers when he arrived in Malta was from the same town as Private Martin and remarked, “It’s a long way from Dore and Totley isn’t it Bob”. A successful operation to remove the bullet was carried...