Thread: 70 Years ago Today - The Siege of Malta begins - 11th June 1940

The Siege of Malta commences 11th June 1940
On 11 June 1940, the day after Italy declared war on Britain and France, aircraft of the Italian Royal Air Force attacked Malta. Most of Italy's land forces had been committed for the upcoming invasion of Greece, so it resorted to Aerial Bombardment. On the first day, ten Italian bombers dropped bombs on Grand Harbour and Kalafrana.

After 3,000 bombing raids over the next two years by German and Italian forces, the siege was finally lifted.

On 6 December 1942, a supply convoy reached Malta without suffering any losses. After that, ships sailed to Malta without joining convoys. The last air raid over Malta occurred on 20 July 1943. It was the 3,340th alert since 11 June 1940.