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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Collections search

'Stand To' Before Dawn
(art) Made by: Nash, John (RA) 1918
image: British infantrymen stand-to in a duckboarded trench. They lean against the parapet looking over the breastworks into No Man's Land, with their rifles beside them. There are two large puffs of smoke from artillery fire hanging in the dawn sky to...
Study for 'Over The Top' (IWM ART 1656)
(art) Made by: Nash, John (RA) 1918
image: a squared up preparatory drawing for the oil painting 'Over the Top' (IWM ART 1656). On the left, a red earth trench lined with duckboards stretches away from the viewer. A group of soldiers clamber from the trench, going 'over the top'. Two lie...
Study for Oppy Wood, 1917 (IWM ART 2243)
(art) Made by: Nash, John (RA) 1917
image: a squared up preparatory drawing for John Nash's painting 'Oppy Wood'. The lower half of the composition has a view inside a trench with duckboard paths leading to a dug-out to the right. Two British infantrymen stand on the firestep to the left,...
An Advanced Post, Night
(art) Made by: Nash, John (RA) 1918
image: a night scene inside the trench of an advanced post with four British infantrymen; they are all posed with their backs to the viewer. Two stand at the bottom of the trench, the others sit and lean higher up the trench wall. They all appear to be...
A Bombing Post in the Snow
(art) Made by: Nash, John (RA) 1918
image: Four British infantrymen wearing greatcoats and winter clothing lie in a shell hole in snow-covered No Man's Land, which is littered with barbed wire.
Corpl Case - CIC guard St Omer
(art) Made by: Blaikley, Ernest 1916-03-18
image: head and shoulders portrait of a man in uniform
"Thirsting for the Blood of Huns"
(art) Made by: Blaikley, Ernest 1916-03-21
image: a bespectacled soldier marching with rifle shouldered
In the garden, C I C's House, St Omer
(art) Made by: Blaikley, Ernest 1916-03-18
image: a man in uniform sitting and reading
The Cutting
(art) Made by: Blaikley, Ernest 1917-07-28
image: a cutting with dugouts built into the embankment. Small military figures.
A Dugout in a Trench near Gavrelle
(art) Made by: Blaikley, Ernest 1917-07-01
image: entrance to a dugout with seated figure inside