Malta had an operational role and a strategic one. Its aircraft and ships threatened traffic between Italy and North Africa, while the island's resistance disproved claims of Axis mastery over the Mediterranean. Malta also fixed Italian and German attention on a defended point while Britain pursued operations elsewhere. A counterfactual British-held Heligoland shows the attraction and cost of this method: the outpost could divert enemy effort only if Britain could fortify and supply it well enough to survive.
Notable Point · 2:05:16-2:12:26
Malta fixes Axis attention on the central Mediterranean
Malta threatened Axis supply lines while its survival denied Mussolini control of the central Mediterranean and fixed enemy attention on the island.