Club Run
Part of The Mediterranean campaign of theSecond World War
Map of the Western Mediterranean
Type	Aircraft ferry operations
Location	Western Mediterranean
Planned by	Royal Navy and Royal Air Force
Commanded by	AdmiralJames Somerville (July 1940 – March 1942) Vice-AdmiralEdward Syfret (March 1942 – 1943)
Objective	Deliver aircraft toMalta
Outcome	Allied victory

Club Run was an informal name for aircraft ferry operations from Gibraltar toMalta during theSiege of Malta from 1940 to 1942 during theSecond World War. Malta was half-way between Gibraltar to Alexandria and had the only harbour controlled by the British in the area. Malta had docks, repair facilities, reserves and stores, which had been built up since the cession of the island to Britain in 1814. Malta had become an important staging post for aircraft and a base for air reconnaissance over the central Mediterranean.^[1]

TheAxis powers Italy and Germany made several attempts from 1941 to 1942 to either force the British military authorities on the island to surrender or to destroy its effectiveness as a military base. The island was a forward base from which Axis supplies to their North African armies could be attacked. It is a measure of Malta's importance that Britain reassigned fighter aircraft from home defence.^[2]

Ferry missions were covered by Force H, based atGibraltar (called The Club), consisting of thebattlecruiserHMS Renown,aircraft carrierHMS Ark Royal,light cruiserHMS Sheffield and theE and F-class destroyers of the8th Destroyer Flotilla. Its Mediterranean operations were called Club Runs. It was deemed to be an exclusive club of the most efficient warships in the Royal Navy. A mythical "regimental tie" was designed for members of "The Club", consisting of a Mediterranean grey field, scattered with raspberries.^{[citation needed]}

Malta's air defences were essential, replacement aircraft and reinforcements were always needed.Fighters (Hawker Hurricanes andSupermarine Spitfires) andtorpedo bombers (Fairey Swordfish andFairey Albacores) lacked the range to fly direct from the British base at Gibraltar. The solution was for aircraft carriers to move within range for the fighters to fly off and land at a Maltese airfield.

At the outbreak of war, the opinion of theChiefs of Staff was that Malta was indefensible and this view was supported by a later review, "there is nothing practicable that we can do to increase the powers of resistance of Malta".Winston Churchill disagreed. In July 1940, he insisted that Hurricanes be flown in "at the earliest moment". This led to the first Club Run,Operation Hurry, using the ageing aircraft carrierHMS Argus.^[3] Additional capacity was created by transporting aircraft in crates and assembling them at Gibraltar or on board carriers, one ferry run from Britain delivering enough aircraft for two Club Runs.

TheRegia Aeronautica and theLuftwaffe sought to attack the aircraft while in transit and catch them on the ground before they could be armed and refuelled. Forty of the Spitfires delivered by theUnited States Navy carrierUSS Wasp inOperation Calendar were destroyed on the ground but in the following operationOperation Bowery the Axis air forces were outwitted by getting the Spitfires airborne and waiting for the Axis aircraft before they arrived.^[4]

From early 1942, Spitfires were necessary to counter the more modern Axis fighters. There were faults with the new external 90-gallon external (slipper) tanks that were needed to give Spitfires enough range and two Club Runs were cancelled. After modifications to the slipper tanks at Gibraltar the operations were run again. Calendar delivered inadequately prepared aircraft that were caught on the ground at Malta and the 64 Spitfires delivered by Bowery required adaptations to the slipper tanks while on board USSWasp. The failure to rectify a fault over several deliveries in such desperate circumstances is unexplained but was described as "embarrassing".^[5]

• 
  Hawker Hurricane Mk I
• 
  Fairey Swordfish in flight
• 
  Fairey Albacore in flight
• 
  Spitfire F Mk Vb

From October 1942, Spitfire Mk VCs with additional internal and external fuel tanks and most armament removed were capable of flying the 1,100 mi (1,800 km) from Gibraltar to Malta, where the adaptations were reversed, which made Club Runs redundant.^[12]

• Malta Convoys
• Siege of Malta (World War II)

• Dannreuther, Raymond (2005).Somerville's Force H: The Royal Navy's Gibraltar-based Fleet, June 1940 to March 1942. London: Aurum Press.ISBN 1-84513-020-0.
• Hague, Arnold (2000).The Allied Convoy System 1939–1945. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press.ISBN 978-1-55750-019-9.
• Paterson, Lawrence (2019).Eagles over the Sea 1935–1942: A History of Luftwaffe Maritime Operations (Epub ed.). Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing (Pen & Sword).ISBN 978-1-5267-4003-8.
• Rohwer, Jürgen; Hümmelchen, Gerhard (2005) [1972].Chronology of the War at Sea, 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (3rd rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing.ISBN 1-86176-257-7.

• Spitfire deployment in 1942

• Battle of the Mediterranean
• Malta Convoys
• Naval battles and operations of the European theatre of World War II

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