Control of North Africa would transform the route used to resupply Malta in this scenario. Convoys could travel along a friendly coast and approach Malta from the south before entering waters nearer Italy. Land-based aircraft could provide fighter cover, strike support, and anti-submarine patrols along the route. This might also reopen the Mediterranean for urgent convoys bound for the Far East. Difficult narrows would remain, but access to air bases along the North African coast would make those passages easier to support.
Chapter · 38:56-40:08
Malta convoys and the Mediterranean supply corridor
Allied control of the North African coast could give Malta convoys sustained air support and reopen a Mediterranean supply route toward the Far East.