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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[Tass Window 848] [OUR DNIEPROPETROVSK]
(posters) Made by: Lebedev, Vladimir (artist)
image: Hitler in threadbare uniform steps aross blazing ruins clutching a firebrand; menaced by a Russian bayonet. text: Dniepropetrovsk Nash [Our Dniepropetrovsk] additional verses in Russian (not translated)
[Tass Window 507] [A WEDDING PRESENT]
(posters) Made by: Lebedev, Vladimir (artist)
image: Hitler points gun to head of cripple, waving copy of 'Mein Kampf'. text: Svadebny padarok [A wedding present]. At the beginning of each marriage, young people are obliged to buy a copy of Hitler's 'Mein Kampf'. From this book Hitler has gained...
[Tass Window 503] [HITLERAMA - A SHORT BIOGRAPHY OF A FASCIST REPTILE]
(posters) Made by: KUKRYNIKSI (artist)
image: (Six images as follows): Top left - Hitler in civilian clothes overhearing two civilians talking. Top right - Hitler with bierstein declaiming in front of Nazi party adherents. Middle left - Hitler as valkyrie holding an axe and burning books....
[Tass Window 982] [Swastika Defeated by the Soviet Sword]
(posters) Made by: KUKRYNIKSI 1944
whole: the image fills the majority of the page, leaving only a border at the top and bottom of the sheet. On the right side of the top border is some black Cyrilic type with a red number. Along the bottom of the page there are six lines of black...
[Tass Window 971] [THE CRIMEA - GOOD FOR YOUR HEALTH]
(posters) Made by: Cheremnykh, Mikhail M (artist)
image: (Divided vertically). Left - Russian seaside scene with diver and swimmer. Right - same scene, beach littered with dead German soldiers, Hitler being pushed into the water by a Russian rifle butt. A bloody hand reaches from the water to grab...
[Tass Window 869] To The Bushes
(posters) Made by: Sarkisyan, P (artist)
whole: The majority of the poster is filled by the image except for a band across the top of the page containing a block of black Cyrillic type, positioned to the right. In the upper right corner of the band a piece of paper has been stuck, marked with...
[Tass Window 946] [THE RESULT OF FASCIST CULTURE]
(posters) Made by: Sokolov-Skalya, Pyotr (artist)
image: (Three images): Top - Tolstoy with a copy of 'War and Peace'. Beside him Hitler burns books. Middle - Eighteenth century architect Kazakov, designer of the Senate in Moscow, and Catherine the Great's 'Route Palace' between Moscow and St...
[Tass Window] [PARISIAN PARADE]
(posters) Made by: Radlov, N (artist)
image: Top section: Goose-stepping German dogs parade past Eiffel Tower. Below, cartoon dogs of war, top to bottom as follows: a) Hitler and Goebbels b) Laval c) two mongrels in Sofia d) German dog howling across the Channel. text: Parizhski parad [...
[Don't Bend the Truth]
(posters) Made by: Zharov, A (artist)
image: In the upper half of the poster a grey faced Goebbels points to a propoganda poster. The scene below shows Goebbels thrown back in surprise by the reality of working Russian industry. text: Don't bend the truth. [Also additional verses in...
[Tass Window 836] [OPERETTA]
(posters) Made by: Sarkisyan, P (artist)
image: Mussolini, in typical crossed-arm pose and in full regalia and holding a whip, is in the driving seat of a carriage being pulled uphill by a dying horse. In the back of the carriage are seated well-dressed propagandists writing with giant fountain...