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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A Destroyer Torpedoed. (HMS Ullswater)
(art) Made by: PEARS, CHARLES 1918
image: The Royal Navy destroyer HMS Ullswater in the process of sinking, having been torpedoed amidships. The destroyer is shown port side on and has virtually been cut in half by the torpedo. In the foreground survivors are sitting in a rubber life-ring...
Repairing a Fracture in a Torpedoed Merchant Ship
(art) Made by: Wheatley, John (ARA) 1918
image: A close-up view of a section of the hull of a torpedoed Merchant Navy ship. The section of hull is badly damaged, with a large hole. The ship is in drydock and so is supported by large planks of wood, with two workers visible in the lower...
Divers at Work Repairing a Torpedoed Ship
(art) Made by: Wheatley, John (ARA) 1918
image: A torpedo-damaged ship being repaired. A group of men in the right bottom corner of the composition are visible at work, with two men inside the ship seen in the bottom left corner.
Transports Under the Big Crane, Portsmouth Harbour
(art) Made by: Allfree, Geoffrey Stephen 1918
image: two transport ships, both painted with dazzle camouflage schemes, moored side-by-side underneath the large crane at Portsmouth harbour. A small black tug steams alongside.
Dazzled Transport Leaving Portsmouth Harbour, February 1918
(art) Made by: Allfree, Geoffrey Stephen 1918
image: a merchant transport ship, painted with a dazzle camouflage scheme, ups anchor to leave Portsmouth harbour. On the right the dockside is visible with a few buildings in the background.
Dazzled Tramp In Portsmouth Harbour
(art) Made by: Allfree, Geoffrey Stephen 1918
image: a view of the starboard side of a dazzle camouflaged Merchant Navy transport ship, which is moored in Portsmouth harbour.
Mined, 1918
(art) Made by: Allfree, Geoffrey Stephen 1918
image: a merchant ship run aground and listing to starboard, with a hole with water gushing from it visible on her port side from where the ship has hit a mine. The sky is heavily overcast.
Landing Survivors from a Torpedoed Ship
(art) Made by: Bayes, Walter 1918
image: The weary survivors from a torpedoed ship arrive underneath a pier. They are helped out of their boat and up onto the top of the pier. There is a figure in the water, possibly a body, in the bottom right of the composition.
Dazzled Ships At Leith
(art) Made by: King, Cecil
image: two dazzle camouflage painted merchant ships moored at a dockside in Leith, Scotland. Both are shown from the starboard side, with a hospital ship moored in the background to the left. The merchant ship in the centre has a distinctive dazzle...
A Torpedoed Tramp Steamer off the Longships, Cornwall, 1918
(art) Made by: Allfree, Geoffrey Stephen 1918
image: A tramp-steamer in dazzle camouflage keeled over to port and grounded on a cliff-lined Cornish beach. A heavy sea flecked with foam washes over the wreck, while a stormy sky passes overhead. Shafts of sunlight illuminate the sea and cliffs with an...