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
North Cinque Island bars. The northern peninsula is the largest one, 2.9 km long in the N-S direction and 1.1 km wide; it has two adjacent hills about 154 m and 145 m high. The middle (southernmost) peninsula, 1.05 km across, lies 270 m to the south and has a bare hill 89 m high. About 150 m to its west lies the third and smallest peninsula, an oval knob about 450 m across. The sand bar between the south and north peninsulas was broken through in the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami but has since reformed. Politically, North Cinque Island is