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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Poilu and Tommy
(art) Made by: Orpen, William 1917
image: A French orderly carrying a wounded British soldier on his back. They move through swirling smoke, and a light shines from the right of the composition casting their shadows on the earth behind.
The Presentation of the Notables, Jerusalem
(art) Made by: McBey, James 1917-12-11
image: To the right stand a group of ecclesiastical and civil dignitaries under the walls of Jerusalem. They are individually presented to a group of allied army officers who stand on the left.
La Journée du Pas de Calais: 'On les aura'
(art) Made by: Mayeur, Arthur Jules
image: A French poilu kneels on the left of the composition. He is dressed in full kit and has his rifle at the ready with fixed bayonet. He kneels beside a ruined wall, behind which two British Tommies are on the look-out. The nearer of the two leans...
La Journée du Pas de Calais: 'On les aura'
(art) Made by: Mayeur, Arthur Jules
image: A French poilu kneels on the left of the composition. He is dressed in full kit and has his rifle at the ready with fixed bayonet. He kneels beside a ruined wall, behind which two British Tommies are on the look-out. The nearer of the two leans...
La Journée du Pas de Calais
(art) Made by: Mayeur, Arthur Jules
image: In the foreground a poilu looks over the top of a trench taking aim with his rifle. Immediatly behind his right shoulder there is the head of a grinning Highlander. He wears a tartan bonnet and the barrel of his rifle is just visible. Further...
La Journée du Pas de Calais
(art) Made by: Mayeur, Arthur Jules
image: In the foreground a poilu looks over the top of a trench taking aim with his rifle. Immediatly behind his right shoulder there is the head of a grinning Highlander. He wears a tartan bonnet and the barrel of his rifle is just visible. Further...
1914 Les Alliés a Ypres 1915 [1914 The Allies at Ypres 1915]
(art) Made by: Audino, Charles (artist) 1915
image: Foreground, from left to right; British sailor in attacking position, fixed bayonet; French Infantryman kneeling and firing; Belgian Infantryman standing and drawing back rifle bolt. In the background, a field gun is being made ready by French...
Prison Camp Headgear: Eighteen Hats, Changi Gaol, 1944
(art) Made by: Searle, Ronald William Fordham 1944
image: Eighteen sketches of Prisoners of War wearing an odd assortment of headgear. image verso: Two pencil sketches of a French soldier, annotated 'Hats Changi Gaol POW camp Singapore' in ink.
Armée Francaise [French Army]
(art) Made by: Arnoux, Guy (artist) 1916
image: A decorative composition of 12 circular cartouches arranged in rows of 3 within a hand drawn rectangle. Each row reads horizontally: (1) Zouaves - Aisne - Souchez (2) Genie - Carency - Oise (3) Dragons - Marne - Alsace (4) Marins - l'Yser -...
'La Manière Française' - L'Union Sacrée [The French Navy, Sacred Union]
(art) Made by: Bonfils, Robert (artist) 1918
image: An allegory of a unified Third Republic in the face of German aggression. In an image surrounded by foliage, a priest, to the left, his head turned away from the viewer, holds a wheeled shell hod from which a bourgeois, facing left, bends to lift...