 Operation Slapstick was an amphibious landing at the Italian port of Taranto , part of the Allied invasion of Italy in September 1943 . The mission had been planned at short notice , following an offer by the Italian government to open the ports of Taranto and Brindisi on the heel of Italy to the Allies . The 1st Airborne Division was selected to undertake the mission , but at the time they were located in North Africa . A shortage of transport aircraft meant the division could not land by parachute and glider , and all the landing craft in the area were already allocated to the other landings : Operation Avalanche at Salerno on the western coast , and Operation Baytown at Calabria . Instead , the division had to be transported across the Mediterranean by ships of the Royal Navy . The landing was unopposed , and the airborne division successfully captured the ports of Taranto , and later Brindisi on the Adriatic coast , in working order . 
