The National War Museum, housed within the fortified walls of Fort St. Elmo, houses a superb collection of artefacts. Displayed in a chronological manner, these artefacts narrate the military history of Malta from the early phases of the Bronze Age, around 2,500 B.C. when the first inhabitants arrived from Sicily, to Malta's EU Accession in 2004. Prominence is given to periods that deeply marked Malta's often turbulent history. Namely, the arrival of the Knights of the Order of St. John and the resultant Great Siege of 1565, including the construction of Valletta, fortresses and fortifications, coastal towers and other coastal fortifications, and Malta as a British Fortress Colony under the British Empire and the two great wars of the 20th Century.



The museum provides particular insight into Malta's significant role during the Fist World War, the Inter-War Period and Malta's historical part in the Second World War. Perhaps the three most important artefacts on display are the Gloster Sea Gladiator N5520 FAITH, Roosevelt's Jeep ‘Husky', and Malta's award for gallantry, the George Cross.