This week in the war, on 11 June 1943, the garrison of the Italian island of Pantelleria surrendered when troops of the British 1st Division landed. The tiny island of Lampedusa surrendered the following day.

Pantelleria is 100km southwest of Sicily, which the Allies had already marked down as the target to be invaded next. (See Operation Mincemeat.) The occupation of Pantelleria (Operation Corkscrew) was an essential step in assuring the success of the Sicily Invasion (Operation Husky).

Round-the-clock bombing of Pantelleria had begun in May and had continued until early June.