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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Arriving At The Factory
(art) Made by: Abbess, Margaret
image: an evening scene outside a factory with smoking chimneys as the workers are streaming in through a small door on the left, preparing for the night shift. Light streams from the doorway and from a large goods hatch in the centre of the picture,...
Impressions of Cooks Ferry Travelling to and from Work
(art) Made by: Abbess, Margaret
image: a view looking down on to a busy flyover, filled with buses and trucks. The road curves around to the left, sweeping over some train tracks and industrial buildings. There are more factories and a gasometer in the distance.
The Water Storage Tanks at The Crooked Billet
(art) Made by: Abbess, Margaret
image: an elderly man with a stick joins a line of people waiting at a bus shelter next to a water storage tank. In the background people rush to get on to two waiting buses.
Impressions of Cooks Ferry Travelling to and from Work
(art) Made by: Abbess, Margaret
image: a view looking down on to a street passing under the Midland Railway Bridge. A freight train sits on the bridge. Women push prams and pushchairs along the street and children play on the railings running alongside.
Tea Time
(art) Made by: Abbess, Margaret
image: workers gather around a a three-tiered tea trolley. A woman in a green dress serves tea from a large yellow tea urn while men help themselves from the trolley shelves.
In The Store Room
(art) Made by: Abbess, Margaret
image: in the store room of a munitions factory there are a number of cages on wheels waiting to be filled with machine parts. One worker in an overall stands on the right next to a table on which there is a row of trays. Boxes of components lie on the...
Impressions of Cooks Ferry Travelling to and from Work
(art) Made by: Abbess, Margaret
image: a view looking down on the neat foundations of a cleared bomb site with a row of buildings still standing in the background. Plants are growing along the remaining walls of the cleared buildings.
Locker Room
(art) Made by: Abbess, Margaret
image: a view looking down on a factory locker room filled with workers preparing for their shift. On the left side of the room there are racks of coats with women standing nearby, getting changed and chatting. On the right women wash their hands in...
Outside The Factory
(art) Made by: Abbess, Margaret
image: outside a factory at night. Light spills out from a large doorway, through which machinery and workers are visible. In the foreground, separated from the doorway by a wooden barrier there are six figures who appear to be dancing next to a parked...
Tea Time
(art) Made by: Abbess, Margaret
image: in the foreground a woman in a black dress and cap walks towards the artist holding a mug. In the background tea is being distributed by a man in a cap and braces from a large urn on a trolley surrounded female workers in aprons and caps.