The Axis also paid heavily for the struggle over Malta. Hundreds of German and Italian aircraft were lost, along with much of the Italian naval transport fleet and a substantial share of wider Axis merchant shipping. Merchant seamen were killed at sea, while German U-boats and Italian submarines were damaged or destroyed directly or indirectly. The exact figures pass quickly in the lecture, but their operational meaning is clear. The campaign consumed aircraft and shipping on which Axis forces in North Africa depended.
Notable Point · 50:04-50:45
The Axis price of trying to neutralize Malta
Axis aircraft, merchant shipping and submarines suffered losses that reveal how Malta contested the logistics of the Mediterranean war.