Planned at short notice, the mission followed an offer by the Italian government to open the ports of Taranto and Brindisi on the heel of Italy to the Allies.

The landing was unopposed and the airborne division successfully captured the ports of Taranto, and later Brindisi on the Adriatic coast in working order.

Two months later, the Allied powers of Great Britain and the United States successfully launched their invasion of Sicily, codenamed Operation Husky.

[3] On 3 September 1943, the British Eighth Army, under the command of General Sir Bernard Montgomery, crossed the Strait of Messina from Sicily and landed in Calabria during Operation Baytown to seize the ports of Reggio and San Giovanni.

[4] The main invasion was planned for 9 September, with the U.S. Fifth Army, commanded by Lieutenant General Mark Clark, landing at Salerno on the western coast in Operation Avalanche, with Naples as their immediate objective.

Also, if the Germans then decided to continue the fight in Italy, they would have to redeploy some of their troops engaged on the Eastern Front or on occupation duties in France.

[5] During secret surrender negotiations with the Allies in early September, the Italian government offered to open the ports of Taranto and Brindisi on the eastern coast.

[6] General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander in the Mediterranean, quickly planned a third landing, codenamed Slapstick, to take advantage of the offer.

[6] Slapstick was in part an operation of deception, to divert German forces away from the main Allied landings at Salerno on the same day, while also attempting to capture Taranto and Brindisi intact.

Its seizure would, with the expected capture of Naples in the west by the Americans, give the Allies supply points on both Italian coasts.

[8] This military operation had a major political role, since the leaders of the government, including King Vittorio Emanuele III and his family, and Prime Minister Badoglio, fled from Rome to Brindisi after the surrender.

[9] It includes the two islets of St. Peter and St. Paul, which protect the bay, called the Mar Grande ("Big Sea"), where the commercial port is located.

[24] There was only sufficient troop transport aircraft to support one division-sized operation, and that was allocated to the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division, under Major General Matthew Ridgway, as part of the Salerno landings.

[30] Then, just as the Allied flotilla approached Taranto, the Italian battleships Andrea Doria and Duilio and three cruisers were observed leaving the harbour.

[33] When the airborne division troops entered the city, they were welcomed by the Italian garrison and informed that the German forces had already departed.

[26] At the same time, Major-General George F. Hopkinson established his divisional headquarters in the Albergo Europa Hotel and accepted the Italian surrender from the military governor.

[27] The only casualties in the landing occurred on 10 September when HMS Abdiel, while manoeuvring alongside the dock, struck a mine and sank.

The wounded were evacuated to Taranto, where the 133rd (Parachute) Field Ambulance had established an 80-bed main dressing station at the Rendinella hospital.

At a roadblock beside the town of Castellaneta, Major-General Hopkinson, the 1st Airborne Division's GOC, was hit by a burst of German machine gun fire while observing the 10th Parachute Battalion's attack.

[37] Within 48 hours of landing at Taranto, the airborne division reached and occupied the port of Brindisi and Bari on the Adriatic coast without opposition since both cities were still under control of the Italian royal army.

The Royal Air Force needed the airfield to bring in fighter aircraft from Sicily and support the landings at Salerno, which had not gone as expected.

[41][42] Between 20 and 24 September, the 1st Airborne Division was ordered to halt and construct defences on the approaches to Taranto, due to concerns that the Germans might launch a counterattack against the overextended unit.