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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Batterie de "75" Devant Soissons
(art) Made by: Smid, T (artist) 1916
image: a battery of French 75mm field guns in action on the flat open ground near Soissons in the Aisne region. Three 75s are arranged in a line, each placed next to a wheeled limber and manned by a team of French gunners. The French 75 was the workhorse...
Prise D'Armes Aux Invalides
(art) Made by: Smid, T (artist) 1916
image: a line of French soldiers and a few civilians receiving medals from a senior officer to mark their service and bravery. They stand in the centre of a square, lines of French infantry behind them and a crowd of civilians assembled in the cloisters...
Battaille de la Marne, Épisode de Courtacon
(art) Made by: Smid, T (artist) 1916
image: German infantry are shown in full retreat under a French attack in the village of Courtacon during the Battle of the Marne in September 1914. The German soldiers retreat amidst a chaotic scene, with discarded weapons, equipment, an upturned cart...
Attaque a la Baionette, Metzeral, Juin 1915
(art) Made by: Smid, T (artist) 1915
image: French infantry, wearing the distinctive uniform and headgear of the Chasseurs Alpins, attack a German trench protected by barbed wire on the tree lined hills near Metzeral in June 1915. Fierce fighting took place here between 15 and 24 June 1915...
Un "155" Long dans L'Argonne
(art) Made by: Smid, T (artist) 1916
image: a French artillery gun team fire a large 155mm gun from a carefully constructed emplacement in the Forest of Argonne in north-eastern France. The men quickly move away from the gun, shielding their ears against the huge noise. Artillery was the...
Arrivée de Blessés en Gare du Nord
(art) Made by: Smid, T (artist) 1916
image: a band of seemingly cheerful wounded French soldiers disembark onto the platform at the Gare du Nord in Paris, where they are greeted by nurses who give them cigarettes and bowls of hearty-looking soup. The majority of the soldiers sport beards or...
Les Fusiliers Marins, Dixmude, Mars 1915
(art) Made by: Smid, T (artist) 1915
image: a group of French Fusiliers Marins, in their distinctive uniform and headgear, attack a retreating German field gun team and limber near Dixmude in Flanders in March 1915. The ground is littered with war debris, including shell cases and discarded...
Attaque de Nuit, Champagne, Sept 1915
(art) Made by: Smid, T (artist) 1915
image: French infantry man a thoroughly constructed trench during a night attack by German infantry in the Champagne sector in September 1915. The French troops fire machine guns and rifles through purpose-buillt breeches in the parapet, which is topped...
Le General Joffre D'Alsace Reconquise
(art) Made by: Smid, T (artist)
image: a depiction of General Joseph Joffre, Commander-in-Chief of the French Army, accepting a bunch of roses from a young girl dressed in traditional Alsatian costume. Other senior officers stand beside Joffre, along with a line of girls in Alsatian...
Passage de L'Yser, Flandres, Nov 1914
(art) Made by: Smid, T (artist) 1915
image: Belgian infantry escort a column of captured German soldiers across a wooden pontoon bridge over the Yser Canal in Flanders. Amongst the leading Belgians is a machine gun transported on a wheeled cart pulled by two dogs. The landscape is flat,...