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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Pioneers on a Frozen Road at Kapelle near Goes, Zeeland
(art) Made by: Hennell, Thomas Barclay
image: A flat frozen landscape. A military van has stopped on the road. Several soldiers are standing around on the side of the road. On the left two soldiers appear to be digging or breaking the ice on the road's surface.
Calais Nord : Royal Engineers clearing the Rue Royale
(art) Made by: Hennell, Thomas Barclay
image: A view along a badly bombed street with barely any buildings still standing. There are some figures sifting through the rubble in the centre of the image.
Calais Nord : 7th November 1944. Royal Engineers removing debris.
(art) Made by: Hennell, Thomas Barclay
image: Two sets of horses and carts move in convoy through a flat, war-ravaged landscape with ruined buildings on either side. A line of soldiers can be seen foreground right passing debris to one another, clearing a ruined building.
Boulogne : Bassin-a-Flot
(art) Made by: Hennell, Thomas Barclay
image: A road running alongside a dock area lined with cranes and bombed buildings. A few soldiers in uniform walk around the bottom of the structures.
HMS Hunter: The Parachute-Packing Room
(art) Made by: Hennell, Thomas Barclay
image: One sailor can be seen rolling up a yellow parachute on a large table while another carries a rolled parachute above his head. A third soldier stands to the right, in front of a fourth soldier who sits at a sewing machine.
HMS Hunter: The Sick Bay
(art) Made by: Hennell, Thomas Barclay 1945
image: the interior of the sick bay aboard the Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Hunter. Several men lie in bunk beds suspended from the walls of the cabin by metal chains, with one man lying in a metal framed bed in the centre of the cabin. Another...
Lieutenant-General Sir Frank Messervy KBE CB DSO and Bar
(art) Made by: Hennell, Thomas Barclay 1945
image: a half-length portrait of Lieutenant-General Sir Frank Messervy sitting at his desk. He is wearing uniform, but his cap lies on a cabinet behind him.
Prisoner-of-War Cage; Thiberville
(art) Made by: Hennell, Thomas Barclay
image: Prisoners of War lie and sit around in varying states of dress in a field surrounded by barbed wire.
Military Police searching German Prisoners-of-War at Thiberville
(art) Made by: Hennell, Thomas Barclay
image: Lines of prisoners sit or lie on the ground in front of a camp waiting to be searched by a British military policeman.
Calais: La Tour de Guet and the ruins of the Museum
(art) Made by: Hennell, Thomas Barclay
image: the bomb damaged remnants of the thirteenth century watchtower, La Tour de Guet, and the Museum in Calais, France. Four figures walk amidst the rubble in the foreground, the tower in the centre left of the composition and a tall section of...