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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Machine Gunners
(art) Made by: Lawson, Cecil 1917
image: British soldiers and mules laden with equipment walk along duckboards through a desolate, muddy, battle-scarred landscape. Some of the men carry machine guns. Bare damaged tree trunks scatter the landscape and there are shell holes filled with...
Untitled
(art) Made by: Lawson, Cecil 1916
image: A column of British soldiers move along a muddy road, which runs through a desolate, bomb-damaged landscape and is lined by a few bare tree stumps. A dead horse lies by the side of the road on the left.
Near Albert
(art) Made by: Lawson, Cecil 1916
image: A column of British soldiers on horseback move along a road, viewed from lower ground and so silhouetted against the sky. There is a large water-filled shellhole in the foreground that is bridged by a duckboard track.
Sanctuary Wood
(art) Made by: Lawson, Cecil 1916
image: A party of four British infantrymen carrying supplies walk along a track through the battle-scarred Sanctuary Wood. The landscape is heavily bomb damaged, with the wood only consisting of bare tree stumps and muddy ground. A shell explodes in the...
Les Routes de France
(art) Made by: Lawson, Cecil 1916
image: A column of horse drawn field gun teams with limbers move along a muddy road. A group of British infantry also march along the road in the immediate foreground. The surrounding landscape is desolate and scarred by the effects of artillery and the...
Untitled
(art) Made by: Lawson, Cecil 1916
image: A column of horses and British soldiers transporting field guns and limbers move along a muddy road towards the artist. The road runs through a desolate, bomb-damaged landscape and is lined by a few bare tree stumps. A cart wrecked by artillery...
Moving Up
(art) Made by: Lawson, Cecil 1916
image: A column of horse drawn field gun teams with limbers move along a muddy road on their way to the battle front in wet conditions. A few British infantrymen wearing waterproof capes stand by the road in the left foreground. The surrounding landscape...
Outside Arras
(art) Made by: Lawson, Cecil 1917
image: A view across a desolate landscape near Arras in northern France. Wooden footbridges lead across a flooded area of low ground, with a few thin bare tree trunks emerging from the water. There are gently sloping hills in the background.
Hell Fire Corner
(art) Made by: Lawson, Cecil 1916
image: A view along a canal crossed by a wooden bridge near Hell Fire Corner, the junction of the Menin Road and the Ypres- Roulers railway kept under constant observation by German artillery. The damaged remains of two boats float in the water and there...
Berry au Bac
(art) Made by: Lawson, Cecil 1916
image: A view across the heavily bomb damaged landscape of the French town of Berry-au-Bac. A shell of a building and a few bare tree stumps within churned up soil is all that remains.