AHQ Malta and other aircraft reached the island during the summer of 1942, the defensive and offensive capabilities of AHQ Malta rose. On 1 July 1942, AHQ Malta had approximately 200 aircraft, about half of which were Spitfires. Air Vice Marshal Sir Keith Park took over command of AHQ Malta On 15 July 1942. At this time, the island provided critical operational air bases for the Allies with proximity to Axis shipping lanes and the battlefields of Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Pantelleria, Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, and mainland Italy during World War II. There were three main airfields on Malta known as RAF Hal
Siege of Malta (World War II) Siege of Malta (World War II) The Siege of Malta in the Second World War was a military campaign in the Mediterranean Theatre. From 1940–42, the fight for the control of the strategically important island of Malta, then a British colony, pitted the air forces and navies of Italy and Germany against the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Royal Navy. The opening of a new front in North Africa in June 1940 increased Malta's already considerable value. British air and sea forces based on the island could attack Axis ships transporting vital supplies and reinforcements from Europe; Churchill called