[3] There had been an early Allied plan to occupy the island in late 1940 (Operation Workshop) but it was cancelled when the Luftwaffe arrived in the Mediterranean.

In early June, the attacks intensified and 14,203 bombs weighing 4,119 long tons (4,185 t) were dropped on 112 Italian batteries.

[7] On 8 June, a Royal Navy task force of five cruisers, eight destroyers and three torpedo boats carried out a bombardment of the main port on the island.

The engagement was observed by General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander in the Mediterranean, and Admiral Andrew Cunningham from the flagship HMS Aurora.

Unknown to the attackers, the commander of the garrison Admiral Gino Pavesi on Pantelleria had sought permission to surrender from Rome the previous evening and received it that morning.