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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The Ypres Salient at Night
(art) Made by: Nash, Paul (artist) 1918
image: A night scene showing three soldiers on the fire step of a trench surprised by a brilliant star shell lighting up the view over the battlefield. On the left there is a flooded shell-hole, beyond which stand three other soldiers, overlooked by a...
Defence of Albion
(art) Made by: Nash, Paul 1942
image: A Sunderland flying boat on a stormy sea off the coast of Portland. Part of the U Boat is visible in front of the plane. Large quarried stones are stacked on the shore.
The Landscape, Hill 60
(art) Made by: Nash, Paul 1918
image: a battle scarred landscape with a small lake surrounded by hills. The water has been disturbed by multiple hits and smoke rises from explosions. A few biplanes are engaged in a dogfight in the sky above.
Ruined Country: Old Battlefield, Vimy, near La Folie Wood
(art) Made by: Nash, Paul 1918
image: a landscape looking over an old battlefield near Vimy in France. In the foreground the earth is carpeted with different coloured mosses and grass, heavily scarred from past shellfire. There are lines of skeletal-like trees beyond, and dramatic...
Sunrise, Inverness Copse
(art) Made by: Nash, Paul 1918
image: a view over a devastated Western Front landscape at Inverness Copse, near Ypres in Belgium. The ground is a layer of thick brown mud, from which rise the trunks of shattered trees. There is a lake beyond the copse, and a bright sun rising over the...
Battle of Britain
(art) Made by: Nash, Paul 1941
image: An abstracted aerial view of a wide flat landscape including the mouth of a river. Above the sky is full of contrails, and to the upper right aircraft can be seen flying in formation.
Void of War
(art) Made by: Nash, Paul 1918
image: an angular, almost abstract depiction of a shell-pocked landscape and shattered trees. A duckboard angles its way across the landscape, and driving rain falls from a cloud in the top left corner of the composition.
A German Double Pill-box: Gheluvelt
(art) Made by: Nash, Paul 1918
image: a heavily damaged German pillbox looms large in the right foreground, some debris littered outside the entrance doorway. There is a tree stump and another damaged structure in the distance.
Sketch for The Mule Track (IWM ART 1153)
(art) Made by: Nash, Paul 1918
image: two British soldiers moving along a duck-board during a heavy bombardment. They crouch whilst walking, a reaction to a close explosion. Shells erupt and debris flies around the devestated landscape and shattered trees.
Sunset: Ruin of the Hospice, Wytschaete
(art) Made by: Nash, Paul 1917
image: the ruins of a building that has been completely destroyed. There are a number of graves in the foreground marked by small wooden crosses in the ground. These reflect the burnt trees standing amongst the ruins, and more trees in the background....