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 Menin Road
(art) Made by: Roberts, William (RA) 1917
image: a view down the Menin Road in the Ypres sector of the Western Front. Two small columns of British troops march along the road, the foremost comprised of men of the Royal Field Artillery. Two ambulance trucks drive ahead of them. Alongside the road...
Near Hell-Fire Corner, Menin Road, Ypres
(art) Made by: Mackey, Haydn Reynolds (MM) 1918
image: A view along a section of the Menin Road near the notorious Hell Fire Corner, the junction of the Menin Road and the Ypres-Roulers railway kept under constant observation by German artillery. There are trees on either side of the road that have...
From Ypres Ramparts
(art) Made by: Mudie-Cooke, Olive
image: a view across the devastated Belgian landscape outside of the city walls of Ypres. A road runs from the left foreground into the distance to the right, lined with bare and bomb damaged tree stumps. The remainder is largely featureless mud.
A Street in Ypres
(art) Made by: Paterson, Emily M
image: a landscape view of open ground, bomb damaged trees and ruined buildings on the outskirts of Ypres.
A Derelict Tank, Ypres
(art) Made by: Hill, Adrian
image: a bleak battlefield landscape, with a tank in the centre right on the horizon.
On the Menin Road, Near Ypres: BRCS and order of St John Motor Ambulances
(art) Made by: Baxter, David A
image: four motor ambulances drive along a road that runs across the composition. In the foreground German prisoners carry a wounded man on a stretcher across a bridge over a large flooded shell hole, whilst a man of the Royal Army Medical Corps and...
Sanctuary Wood
(art) Made by: Baxter, David A
image: a view across the heavily bomb damaged remains of Sanctuary Wood near Ypres in Flanders. The soil is churned up and the trees have been reduced to stumps.
Ypres from the Ramparts
(art) Made by: Baxter, David A
image: a view over the ruins of Ypres and the Cloth Hall from the ramparts.
Menin Gate Watering Point, Ypres
(art) Made by: Baxter, David A
image: a view towards the Menin Gate. Two waggons are drawn up on the right, a few horses tethered and drinking. Another waggon stands in the left of the composition.
A Tank on the Menin Road, Ypres
(art) Made by: Baxter, David A
image: a tank abandoned on some broken ground, with a barbed wire fence in the foreground.