The Battle of Britain

The battle begins, summer 1940
The battle begins, summer 1940

After defeating France in June 1940, Hitler assumed Britain would sue for peace but ordered his armed forces to prepare for invasion. Hermann Goering assured him that a sustained air assault would destroy the RAF, winning the air superiority needed.
A Heinkel He 111 bomber flying over London, September 1940
A Heinkel He 111 bomber flying over London, September 1940

July 1940 saw German planes target shipping in the Channel, drawing the RAF into combat, before radar stations, communications centres and airfields faced round-the-clock bombing in August. The battle reached a climax with attacks on London in September.
The Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF)
The Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF)

Joan 'Elizabeth' Mortimer, Elspeth Henderson and Helen Turner of the WAAF. All three received the Military Medal for courageous conduct during attacks on Biggin Hill airfield. Biggin Hill suffered a total of ten major attacks between 30 Aug and 5 Sept.
Non-British personnel in the RAF
Non-British personnel in the RAF

A group of pilots of No. 303 (Polish) Squadron RAF return from a sortie. The first Polish squadrons were formed in the summer of 1940. Pilots came from several other countries, including Australia, Canada, Czechoslovakia, New Zealand and the USA.
Sector 'G' Operations Room at RAF Duxford
Sector 'G' Operations Room at RAF Duxford

RAF Duxford was a Sector Station in 12 Group, responsible for defending the Midlands and East Anglia. As the fighting intensified, Duxford's squadrons were called on to support 11 Group's defence of London and the south-east.
Hawker Hurricane Mk Is of No. 85 Squadron RAF
Hawker Hurricane Mk Is of No. 85 Squadron RAF

Despite incessant attacks, the RAF's defences held. The Luftwaffe could not continue, and in the autumn switched to 'nuisance' raids and night operations. The failure to defeat the RAF convinced Hitler to postpone his invasion plans indefinitely.

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Invasion Preparations in an English Village
(art) Made by: Mozley, Charles 1944
image: A view from an elevated postion looking onto a road in an English village. There are houses and a church in the background to the left, with a number of American military trucks and a jeep parked on the road in the foreground. To the right is a...
Greece: An orphanage. Curing scabies with anachryl
(art) Made by: Cole, Leslie 1945
image: A distressed young girl being painted with anachryl by a masked nurse, attended by two women, a priest and two British soldiers. Three other children await their turn.
Recruit's Progress: Medical Inspection
(art) Made by: Weight, Carel Victor Morlais (CBE, RA) 1942
image: New recruits are lined up for inspection; all are stripped to the waist. The inspector sits at a table, head leaning on an elbow, while a recruit faces him, arms in the air and trousers round his ankles. Foreground right, a recruit, full...
direction sign, Jerusalem
(equipment)
sign & backing canvas sign lettered in black on white, nailed to wooden board Polaroid photo in signs card index
1903 Pattern Bandolier Equipment (set)
(equipment)
The 1903 Pattern bandolier equipment evolved as a result of criticism made of the infantry's buff leather Slade-Wallace equipment used during the Anglo-Boer War, 1899-1902. Among other irritants, the Slade-Wallace ammunition pouches were designed to...
Kite Balloons, Roehampton, 1915
(art) Made by: Lavery, John (Sir) (RA) (RSA) 1915
image: A view of tethered kite balloons flying high in the sky. They hover over an army camp site with canvas bell-tents. There are trees in the background and a cow standing in the foreground.
Respirator (Service) & Haversack (MkVIII)
(equipment)
Second World War period British Army issue respirator (gas mask). The Service Respirator was issued to all members of the armed forces as well as those in certain civil air raid precautions services whose duties might involve them working in areas of...
The Mule Track
(art) Made by: Nash, Paul 1918
image: The view across a battlefield undergoing heavy bombardment. The shattered landscape is disected by an angular duckboard path, along which a mule train is travelling, their small figues just visible in the distance. The animals rear and panic at a...
Spring in the Trenches, Ridge Wood, 1917
(art) Made by: Nash, Paul 1918
image: Three British soldiers waiting in a trench. One stands leaning against the wall of the trench, another sits on a step resting one arm behind his head. The third stands up looking out over the broken landscape beyond. There are the remains of a...
The Menin Road
(art) Made by: Nash, Paul 1919
image: A devastated battlefield pocked with rain-filled shell-holes, flooded trenches and shattered trees lit by unearthly beams of light from an apocalyptic sky. Two figures pick their way along a tree-lined road, the road punctuated by shell-holes and...