[1][2] It was signed by Marshal Pietro Badoglio for Italy, and General Dwight D. Eisenhower for the Allies, at Malta aboard the British battleship HMS Nelson.

Germany began Operation Achse, a campaign to disarm Italian forces and occupy Italy.

[3][page needed] Prior to the signing, the Allied delegations were: General Dwight Eisenhower, Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces, the British Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham, Air Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder, General Harold Alexander, and General, Sir Noel Mason MacFarlane, head of the recently established AMGOT, that is, the “Allied Military Government in Occupied Territory”.

The cruiser, commanded by Frigate captain Ernesto Pellegrini, left the port around 19:00 and arrived in Malta at 8:00.

On 13 October 1943, Badoglio accompanied by General Maxwell announced the declaration of war of the Kingdom of Italy on Nazi Germany, and became a co-belligerent fighting alongside the Allies.