The Siege Bell (The Memorial stands just below Lower Barrakka Gardens. The 10-ton bronze bell commemorates the 7,000 people who died in the two-year Siege of Malta, which ended in 1942, and it was inaugurated by Queen Elizabeth II in 1992 to mark the 50th anniversary of the siege. Her father King George V awarded the entire Maltese nation the George Cross – the UK’s highest military accolade – in honour of their bravery during the war) view from the Lower Barrakka Gardens, Valletta.