Operation Corkscrew was the Allied invasion of the Italian island of Pantelleria (between Sicily and Tunisia) on 11 June 1943. There had been an early plan to occupy the island in late 1940 (Operation Workshop), but this was aborted when the Luftwaffe strengthened the Axis air threat in the region. The Italian garrisons on other nearby islands (Lampedusa and Linosa) quickly fell. This cleared the way for the invasion of Sicily a month later.