It is the final, clearly irresistible assault that is the subject of Pears’ painting. In a panoramic vista taken from a distant vantage point at sea, it shows the island under siege by both sea and air, with the small town of Pantellaria at the left (north) end of the island encircled by eruptions of shell bursts and overhung with a heavy pall of thick smoke from blazing fires. Across the picture in the middle distance are ranged the force of covering cruisers: at the far left the stern of what might be the ‘Aurora’ with General Eisenhower aboard, then the ‘Penelope’, ‘Newfoundland’, ‘Orion’ and ‘Euryalus’. Above are 12 US Air Force Flying Fortresses returning from unloading their bombs onto the exposed town.

Pears’ focus on the dazzling June sunlight and hazy heat of the southern Mediterranean adds to the sense of unstoppable, glowing victory, while any involvement in the scale and human impact of the assault is deflected by the detached and distant viewpoint. The painting thus serves well its purpose for the War Artists Advisory Committee of both reporting the unfolding events of the war and raising morale for the British public. It was presented to the Museum by the War Artists Advisory Committee in 1946.