 King George VI of England made history when he paid a personal call on his fighting men of the 1st and 8th Armies. First English monarch ever to visit North Africa, the King broke several records on this trip, for his was the longest journey and first flight abroad made by an English sovereign during wartime. Following an inspection of a German tiger tank outside Tunis, the King had a short conversation with an officer of a French women's youth movement. The King inspected United States forces attended by generals Clark and Patton of the United States Army. These Husky Americans represented the advance guard of what has become the formidable army now fighting in the opening stage of the Battle of Europe, alongside their British comrades. For Montgomery, a visit was made to an aerodrome where Air Marshal Francis Lennel knelt to receive his knighthood. King George must have felt an extra thrill of pride when he was cheered to the echo by the desert rats of the 8th Army. Allied service chiefs sped the King on the next stage of his journey. North Africa, his majesty went to Malta, now Britain's offensive outpost of the Mediterranean. There he was greeted by Viscount Gort the Governor and service chiefs. Just what the Maltese people thought of the man who had awarded their island the coveted George Cross, these pictures show. They were taken as the royal car made its triumphant way through the war-scarred streets of Valletta. The mighty men-a-war of the Royal Navy on their way to settle accounts with Mussolini's fortress of Pantallaria, destined to go down in history as the first island to be conquered by air and naval bombardment. General Eisenhower was aboard Admiral Cunningham's cruiser as guest of the British naval commander-in-chief. Pantallaria, vital stepping stone to Sicily, lays silent after days and nights of incessant pounding from the skies. And Allied blitz, which dropped on the island's 30 square miles, a greater load of bombs than on any other target of similar size. This was the end of the 24-day assault by the RAF and Allied Air Forces. In this final bombardment, a hundred American flying fortresses were among those present. After our first salvos, the shore batteries returned the fire. Heavy shells were dropping within 300 yards of the ships, which promptly put out smoke screens and went on with their remorseless battering of the Italian defences. Only that last into submission, landing parties prepared to go ashore to take over from the fascists. And over Lampedusa, that small island lying about a hundred miles to the south of Pantallaria, it was the same story of desolation and ruin. But it was absolutely necessary to lay this target flat, as the harbor was a base for e-boats and the island possessed a useful airfield. One-third of the town and harbor area was flattened out, and the strong garrison, estimated at 3,000 men, was completely helpless under the shattering hammer blows from the air. Operations resulting in the capture of Lampedusa and Pantallaria not only provided a stepping stone to Italy, but were an invaluable rehearsal for what was to come, the invasion of Sicily.