A shortage of oil limited Italian naval operations but the accumulation of ships at Alexandria and decrypted wireless messages from Colonel Bonner Fellers, the US Military attaché in Cairo (, the good source), alerted the  that convoys were about to be run from Alexandria and Gibraltar to Malta.
A scarcity of oil hampered Italian naval operations, but the gathering of ships at Alexandria and deciphered wireless messages from Colonel Bonner Fellers, a reliable source, alerted the  that convoys were about to be dispatched from Alexandria and Gibraltar to Malta.