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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Collections search

British Prisoners of War, Italy
(art) Made by: Bullard, Paul 1946
image: The interior of a prisoner-of-war hut. The space is filled by the receding lines of wooden framed bunk-beds. Men lie and sit on the three-tiered bunks, clothed and unclothed. A seated figure on the central bunk has a red lozenge shape on the...
German Prisoners : being assembled and searched at Thiberville
(art) Made by: Hennell, Thomas Barclay
image: German Prisoners of War sit in groups on the ground, some are wearing armbands marked with a red cross. In the background one is standing with his hands in the air, being searched by a British soldier. To the right another British soldier is...
tin can, from tunnel in Colditz
(souvenirs and ephemera) Made by: Canada Packers Limited, Canada
removed from a tunnel in Colditz castle; believed to have been used in helping the construction of the tunnel. Issued to Exhibitions for Great Escapes -Returned October 2006.
Italian Prisoners-of-war Working on the Land
(art) Made by: Ford, Michael 1942
image: View across an onion field in autumn with sixteen Italian prisoners-of-war gathering in the crop, supervised by a single British soldier at the near edge of the field. The PoWs are wearing clothing marked with a distinctive red spot on the jackets...
Exterior of a German Prison Camp, 1941
(art) Made by: Mitelle, Louis 1941
image: A line of POWs in prison uniforms push wheelbarrows of rubble in between rows of huts. In the foreground there is a German soldier brandishing a wooden club, and two rows of barbed wire fencing.
Sick Parade at a German Prison Camp in Pomerania, 1942
(art) Made by: Mitelle, Louis 1942
image: Injured POWs wearing bandages and slings stream past two German guards, one holding a raised club, standing with their backs to the artist. In the background there is a first aid hut and a Swastika flying above the barbed wire fence.
Interior of a German Prison Camp, 1942
(art) Made by: Mitelle, Louis 1942
image: Despairing Allied soldiers sit around a candle-lit table in a POW hut. Many sit with their heads in their hands as one man stands to cut a loaf of bread. They are watched by a passing guard.
A Pomeranian Prison Camp, 1941
(art) Made by: Mitelle, Louis 1941
image: A view down a gangway in a hut in a POW camp. Dejected prisoners in military uniform sit on the bunks which are three levels high and laundry hangs from the beams above. On the floor a group of prisoners sit huddled together in a group.
Robert Lush, A Prisoner-of-War
(art) Made by: Feilding, David (The Hon) 1945
image: Head and shoulders portrait of Lush against a background of POW's standing in line and bombed buildings
Prisoners-of-War in a Cellar, Tauberbischofsheim
(art) Made by: Ainsworth, Edgar
image: A group of seven uniformed prisoners of war are sitting around in the corner of a cell. In the background there is a small, barred window. One of the prisoners is standing, looking out, another has turned to look at the artist.