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

Private Papers of Miss E Warren
(private papers) Made by: Warren, E
Ms exercise book (135pp) containing entries for the period 3 September 1939 - May 1941 concerned primarily with war news but with a few useful references to the outbreak of the war, her employment at Ealing Auxiliary Fire Service station, civilian...
Private Papers of Mrs I Ellis
(private papers) Made by: Ellis, I
Ts memoir (42pp), written in 1993, of her childhood and family life in Hull in the 1930s, her unhappy evacuation to Scunthorpe following the outbreak of war in 1939 and her return (together with her two sisters) in (?) early 1940 and describing in vivid...
Private Papers of Miss J W West
(private papers) Made by: West, J W
Extracts (pp 72-94 only) from an undated ts memoir written by the daughter, aged nineteen in 1939, of a GP in a Nottinghamshire village describing her family's preparations for the outbreak of war (August - September 1939), her continuing employment as...
Private Papers of Miss G Thomas
(private papers) Made by: Thomas, G
Bound volume containing an intermittent but interesting ms diary (91pp), with ts transcript (59pp), covering her experiences as a nursing sister at Highgate Hospital, North London (August 1939 - January 1943) and then as an administrative sister at...
Private Papers of Miss N V Carver
(private papers) Made by: Carver, N V
Ms journal (167pp) kept by a supervisor at the Central Telegraph Office in London, 23 August 1939 - 31 December 1945, containing useful references to the outbreak of war, ARP measures, civilian conditions, D Day, VE Day, the 1945 General Election and VJ...
Private Papers of L C Harling
(private papers) Made by: Harling, L C
Ms account (10pp, written in 1996) of his happy evacuation as a schoolboy from his home in Brockley, south London to Bletchingley, Surrey (September 1939 - 1942) giving a good description of the schoolboy antics during the train journey, and mentioning...
Private Papers of R W Hill
(private papers) Made by: Hill, R W
Detailed and informative memoir (81pp ts), written early 1990s (?), covering his experiences as a schoolboy evacuated from London to Chelmsford after the outbreak of the Second World War, return to London in August 1940 and life there during the `Blitz...
Private Papers of E A Dorking
(private papers) Made by: Dorking, E A
Well-written memoir (50pp ts), written circa 1996, covering his childhood in Battersea, London, during the 1930s, evacuation to the Sussex coast after the outbreak of war in 1939 and return to the capital in February 1940, experiences during the Blitz,...