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

Women Railway Porters in Wartime
(art) Made by: Roberts, William (RA)
image: a group of women dressed in overalls and work clothes unloading goods and cargo from wheeled trolleys. A male foreman stands towards the centre, directing some of the porters.
Chazabel Swings It At the Bampong Ball
(art) Made by: Sprod, George Napier 1944
image: a man in drag, wearing an elaborate headdress and brightly coloured clothes, dances with a small smiling man with a moustache and tails who is leaping into the air. Behind them to the right a second, similarly dressed couple are about to start...
The Ugly Sisters and Groucho Cock a Leg
(art) Made by: Searle, Ronald William Fordham 1944
image: two men dressed as the Ugly Sisters dance a can-can. In between a man dressed as Groucho Marx dances while holding a cigar.
Improperly Dressed
(art) Made by: Searle, Ronald William Fordham 1943
image: a soldier dressed in a patched, ragged uniform stands to attention in front of a large officer seated at a small table. The Officer is bare-chested and his shorts are also patched. text:'I will not tolerate my men in this camp being improperly...
The Hospital Camp, Thailand
(art) Made by: Searle, Ronald William Fordham 1943
image: prisoners and guards pause and salute in a thoroughfare between two rows of huts as two men walk through the camp holding a large container suspended between them on a pole.
New Arrivals At The Hospital Camp
(art) Made by: Searle, Ronald William Fordham 1943
image: men on stretchers are carried towards a row of tents by soldiers wearing arm bands marked with the red cross. In the foreground injured and sick soldiers lie on the ground with their luggage while another walks past with his arm in a sling and his...
Prisoners Working On A Cutting
(art) Made by: Searle, Ronald William Fordham 1943
image: prisoners wearing only shorts and boots work with pickaxes on the cliff surface in between two rock walls. Further along the track similarly dressed men struggle to maneuver a boulder into a small wooden carriage, watched by uniformed guards.
Carrying The Dead
(art) Made by: Searle, Ronald William Fordham 1943
image: two groups of soldiers walk towards a cross in a procession lead by a priest . They are carrying stretchers containing corpses wrapped in Union Jacks.
Arbeit Adelt [Work Ennobles]
(art) Made by: Spira, Wilhelm 1944
image: a group of Prisoners of War with shaved heads stand stand in line, holding their caps, waiting to go through a gate marked with the words 'Arbeit Adelt' [Work Ennobles]. A camp guard stand behind them.
POWs At Work
(art) Made by: Spira, Wilhelm 1944
image: a group of POWs at work stacking bricks from piles on the floor. A small cart sits on a track that runs in front of the prisoners. Next to the cart a German guard stands with his back to the prisoners, holding a bunch of keys.