Arthur Gera, former AFM commander who broke with Mintoff, dies at 92

Arthur J. Gera MBE,  the former Armed Forces commander who broke with Dom Mintoff in 1980 over a reorganisation of the armed forces, has passed away. He was 92.

Gera was appointed principal state officers of the Armed Forces in Malta in 1974, and acting commanded a year later before being made AFM commander in 1976 as Brigadier.

But he ended his military career in 1980 when the force was split into two by the Mintoff administration. Specifically, the 1st Regiment AFM – a 500-man regiment of infantrymen, the Maritime Squadron, and the Helicopter Flight, was placed under a separate command. A number of police personnel were also transferred to augment this strength.

Gera later moved into the family pharmaceutical importation business, Alfred Gera & Sons.

Born in Sliema, Gera recevied his education at the Lyceum, the Royal Academy in Sandhurst, and the University of Malta.

He served in the 2nd Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment of the Royal Malta Artillery up to 1956, serving as staff captain until 1959. He later served as aide-de-camp to Maurice Dorman, the British governor of Malta up to 1965.

After 1966, Fera returned to the RMA as battery commander of the 3rd Battery RMA when this formed part of the British Army of the Rhine in Germany. IN 1969, he was promoted to brigadier major and in 1970 general staff officer at HQ Malta Land Force.

He was made an MBE in 1970.

Gera married Marie Therese Amato-Gauci in 1959. He had a son, Michael, and two daughters, Joanna and Madeleine.