During the war, the teaching in schools was almost normal apart from certain obvious changes. The school in Xaghra was made up of two sections, one for boys and one for girls. During the war, the section for girls was used as living quarters for the British soldiers; teaching was done in the boys’ section, for both girls and boys. The boys were taught in the morning and went home while girls would come in the afternoon. This procedure was changed every week, that is, if boys were taught in the morning during week A, then during week B the girls were taught in the morning. There was not enough space for all and some homes were requisitioned to act as classrooms. During an air raid, children would be rushed to the nearby shelters. For them all this was an adventure, since they would always be happy, as they would not be in school!

After school hours, teachers used to distribute gas masks to the population and make sure that they work. When Joseph Buhagiar used to teach in Victoria, he had to travel on foot to Xaghra in pitch darkness.

There were many Maltese refugees in Xaghra. The Maltese refugees came to Gozo to avoid the rain of bombs Italian and German bombers were dropping around the Grand Harbour and the Dock Yards. Among these important people were Tony Scott, Guze Orlando and Mro Vincenzo Bugeja.

Mr. Buhagiar also served as a special constable during WW2. It was on a voluntary basis. His number was 1196. He had a white piece of cloth attached to his hand for identification. Written on it were the words SC. His duty was to see whether there was any light coming from homes in order to enforce the blackout or better known as curfew. Few people really traveled at night except only if was an emergency.

There was little food to go around during WW2. Everything was distributed by a ration scheme. Many people were sick from scabies. Many people had to be hospitalised in a special hospital to cure infectious diseases called Lazzarett. Today, Lazzarett no longer serves these purposes. In fact it has been renovated and is now the Gozo Centre for the University of Malta.

Victory7 Kitchens were introduced in June, 1942. In Xaghra there was one in January Street. Food was ready by 11.00am. Many people utilized this service. Many people queued for a long time with pans to get some of this food, usually minestra.

Xaghra was bombed on two occasions: On 10th February, 1942, feast of St. Paul and on 12th April, 1942. Four people died. Anti-personnel bombs also killed many children, like what happened during Good Friday on 23rd April, 1943. Three children were killed at that time. In fact, they found anti-personnel bombs in the fields while they were taking care of some sheep. Other people from Xaghra were killed while serving in the merchant navy. When news arrived about the drowning of such sailors, many people were sad. The villagers were very worried and sad.

At night, people had to use kerosene lamps to provide lights. (In 1950 electricity as we know it today was distributed in Xaghra).

WW2 rendered daily life a very monotonous one. Everyone off to work in the morning; back home at night and could not go out because of the curfew. Women used to work on the local bizzilla (Gozo Lace) while the men frequented the Band Club or the Catholic Action or in a local wine shop. But most of all, the locals enjoyed the company of the British soldiers; they enjoyed watching the military tattoos together with their comanderie and spirit de vivre.

News that Italy surrendered was broadcast on 8th September, 1943, while Xaghra was celebrating the feast of Marija Bambina. Life returned slowly back to normal.