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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The Field of Passchendaele
(art) Made by: Nash, Paul 1917
image: a battle scarred Western Front landscape near Passchendaele in Flanders. A large water-filled shell hole dominates the foreground, with two dead soldiers lying nearby on the left. Beyond them is the entrance to a dugout, a small bomb damaged brick...
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...
Over the Top 'Britain's Efforts and Ideals'; Making Soldiers
(art) Made by: Kennington, Eric Henri (RA)
image: a British infantryman about to climb over the top of the parapet into No Man's Land, as part of an attack. He stands within a duckboarded trench, various equipment on the ground beside him. In the background, several of his comrades have crossed...
Evening, After A Push
(art) Made by: Gill, Colin U 1919
image: The original line, which the advancing army leaves behind in its forward movement, remains desolate and encumbered with the debris of battle. A dead German soldier lies at the foot of a smashed tree trunk while British soldiers holding rifles...
A Man in a Trench: April 1917, two miles from the Hindenburg Line
(art) Made by: Orpen, William 1917-04-01
image: The study of a soldier in full battle-kit. He leans against the side of a trench; his rifle stands between his legs and he holds the muzzle loosely in his hands.
The Commandant
(art) Made by: Spencer, Stanley (Sir) (RA)
image: a British Army officer emerges from the entrance of a command post dug into the side of a mound. To the left a British infantryman stands in front of some bushes, carrying his rifle on his back.
Drinking Water, Mirova, Macedonia
(art) Made by: Spencer, Stanley (Sir) (RA)
image: three British soldiers in a trench, two of the men standing beside a section cut out of the side of the earth, within which is some kind of water tap or well. There are two trees and a hill top in the background.
Dug-outs
(art) Made by: McBey, James 1917-08-09
image: a British soldier, possibly an officer, sits within the shadowed shelter of a dug-out in the arid desert. He sits in the left dug-out in a series, all constructed from sandbags and dug into a sandy earthen bank.
Wireless Operators : on duty in an observation post, hewn out of the sandstone
(art) Made by: McBey, James 1917-08-09
image: two British wireless operators stand in a cave-like observation post, wearing headsets over their ears. The foremost man writes with pencil and paper, the second man's face obscured behind him. The upper wall of the post is constructed with...
The Cook
(art) Made by: McBey, James 1917-09-10
image: a British Army cook tends to food within a frying pan beside an improvised stove housed in the side of a trench. Smoke emerges from the small chimney of the stove. Three other British soldiers stand further along the trench system.