 An operation to fly Spitfires to Malta succeeded and anti-aircraft ammunition was to be supplied by fast minelayer, with which Malta must hold on until mid-June, when the situation in the Western Desert.Should Martuba or Benghazi in Cyrenaica have been captured by the Eighth Army, a westbound convoy from Alexandria might survive without cover from battleships and aircraft carriers.It would also be known if "Luftwaffe" aircraft had been diverted to the Russian Front and if the crisis in the Indian Ocean had abated, sufficient for ships to escort a fast convoy from Alexandria.