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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A Convoy Moving Up to the Front, Avenue Louise, Brussels : October 1944
(art) Made by: Schmolle, Stella L M 1944-08-01
image: a convoy of army vehicles including a truck flying a Belgian flag, a motorbike and a Sherman tank, drive along a tree-lined street while a few onlookers stop to watch.
Holland : the corridor. Collaborators in the Cigar Factory at Reusel
(art) Made by: Richards, Albert 1944
image: a line of women and children walk to the left along the brick road in the foreground, while a line of men walk to the right. They are watched by several soldiers with rifles. In the background there is a low two-storey building with a flat roof...
In A Barn in Holland
(art) Made by: Payne, Edward Raymond 1944-10-01
image: a view of two British soldiers camping on the floor of a barn with a rifle leaning against the wall between them. A rifle stands between them, leaning against the wall. A civilian wearing clogs stands over them reading from a book by the light of...
Strongpoint Taken
(art) Made by: Black, Sam 1944
image: Three German soldiers' corpses are strewn across the grass in the foreground. In the background is a dark, black mangled structure next to an artillery gun. Behind this are some British soldiers and, to the left, a smoking ruin.
Troops at Rathaus
(art) Made by: Ardizzone, Edward Jeffrey Irving 1945
image: civilian women and children climb and descend a double stone staircase at the front of a German town hall, while another group read a notice pasted on the front of it. There is a British soldier lounging in the doorway and another leaning forward...
The Wehrmacht, May 1945
(art) Made by: Ardizzone, Edward Jeffrey Irving 1945
image: a view down a tree lined road in Germany, with a column of defeated and injured German soldiers walking towards the viewer. Some of the men drag wheeled carts of belongings with them and there is an air of dejection about the scene. Two German...
An AA Battery in Holland: January 1945
(art) Made by: Hennell, Thomas Barclay 1945
image: a British anti-aircraft battery in a flat, snow-covered Dutch landscape. Two guns are on the right, with their crews busying themselves amongst them. Further back in the middle of the composition is another AA gun.
Building a Nissen Hut at Wemeldinge, Holland
(art) Made by: Hennell, Thomas Barclay 1944
image: a group of British soldiers build a Nissen hut in the right foreground, in a snow covered Dutch landscape. There are two windmills to the left and various farm buildings.
Trucks in Ostend: 3rd January 1945
(art) Made by: Hennell, Thomas Barclay 1945
image: three Army trucks parked in a line in a snow covered wood in Ostend, Belgium. Two soldiers stand to the left, with a street lamp in the right foreground.
Final Stages of the German War: The Ferry-boat 'Goethe' at Frankfurt-am-Main
(art) Made by: Gross, Anthony (CBE) (RA) 1945
image: a view of a bombed bridge, the central portion has collapsed into the river. A line of people queue at the river bank to board a ferry. On the far bank the cathedral can be seen in the distance. In the foreground there is a Bofors gun emplacement...