Bombing Attacks on Malta Increase
The Luftwaffe and the Regia Aeronautica Italiana now began stepping up their bombing attacks on British occupied Malta.
The island lies at the crossroads of the Mediterranean. It was ideally placed for launching attacks on the supply route to the Afrika Korps in Libya – provided the island base itself could be defended. As it lay between British bases of Gibraltar, 1000 miles to the west, and Alexandria, 1000 miles to the east, keeping the the island supplied was turning into a major challenge for both the Royal Navy and the RAF. Malta rapidly became ‘the most bombed place on earth’ over the next few weeks as the struggle intensified.