After France's capitulation, General Alfred Jodl presented Hitler with OKW's strategic plans for continuing the war, consisting of two options: The "direct attack" on Great Britain with the objective of the occupation of the British Isles and the second; The 'indirect strategy' advocating an attack on the British Empire, especially on the choke-points that made it possible to maintain the sea lanes to its Dominions and allies.

18 of 12 November 1940 defining Operation Felix, recommended the need to first occupy the Portuguese archipelagos of the Azores before conducting any attack on Gibraltar.

[4] The Cape Verde Islands were poorly protected and had been used as a provisional port for sheltering British survivors from ships sank in the Atlantic.

[8] On 18 April 1941 the United States Government announced a line of demarcation between the Eastern and Western hemispheres, drawn along the 26° West meridian.

Although not a belligerent, United States warships would patrol this area and keep Britain informed about any Axis activity, but would not provide any direct protection for British convoys.

[9] Both British and US Naval chiefs were concerned about the Azores and suspected that Germany was planning to seize the islands in order to establish a U-Boat and air base.

[12] The object of Operation Pilgrim was: "capture and hold, for our own use, the Island of Gran Canary with the Harbour at La Luz and aerodrome at Gando."

The invasion was to be led by Major General V. W. Odium’s Canadian 2nd Division[Note 1] who were in Britain undergoing training, plus a detachment of SOE special forces.

[11] The operation would commence with a night approach and first light landings at Puerto de la Luz, the main port on Gran Canaria with a landing by two Canadian infantry battalions from landing-craft with air support provided by Royal Navy aircraft from an aircraft carrier and naval gunfire support from the ships.

[6] The 30-strong squadron of commandos from SOE were trained to parachute onto Tenerife and conduct sabotage operations to facilitate the British invasion of the island.