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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NIGHT SHIFT [Main Title]
(film) Made by: Paul Rotha Productions (Production company) 1942-05
The story of a single night-shift at a factory producing guns for tanks (No 11 Royal Ordnance Factory, Newport, Wales ).
NEWSPAPER TRAIN [Main Title]
(film) Made by: Meyer, Ernst H (Production individual) 1941
An impression of the work involved in getting newspapers out of London to newsagents, a service that continued throughout the 'Blitz' ("even during the worst raids they never failed").
TYNESIDE STORY [Main Title]
(film) Made by: Hughes, Ken (Production individual) 1943
A dramatised account, with actors from a local theatre company, of the reopening for war production of the Tyneside shipbuilding yards closed down by the Depression.
SPEED UP ON STIRLINGS [Main Title]
(film) Made by: Shell (Production company) 1942
The production of Stirling bombers at the Short Brothers factory in Swindon.
RATIONING IN BRITAIN [Main Title]
(film) Made by: Welsh, Mary (Production cast) 1944
An American commentator looks at the effects of rationing on the people of England.
WOMEN AWAY FROM HOME [Main Title]
(film) Made by: Hankinson, Michael (Production individual) 1942-09
Some of the problems inherent in the conscription of women for factory work, in the form of three case histories.
LIFT YOUR HEAD, COMRADE [Main Title]
(film) Made by: Hankinson, Michael (Production individual) 1942-12
A study of one of fifteen alien companies in the Pioneer Corps.
CORVETTES [Main Title]
(film) Made by: Luff, A H (Production individual) 1941-09
A 'Flower' class corvette in convoy-protection rôle, presented as typical of a new class of ships designed to counter the Nazi threat to British supplies.
ROYAL OBSERVER CORPS [Main Title]
(film) Made by: Hankinson, Michael (Production individual) 1941-12
The functions of the Royal Observer Corps, a voluntary civilian organisation founded in 1925 and called by the commentary “the eyes of the air force.”
NEW ACRES [Main Title]
(film) Made by: Shell (Production company) 1941-08
The continuation, in the second year of the war, of the campaign to expand Britain's agricultural acreage.