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

A Prisoner of War Camp, 1918
(art) Made by: Unknown 1918
No description available
Burma: Japanese Prisoners-of-War in the Cookhouse, Pegu Prison
(art) Made by: Cole, Leslie 1945
image: four Japanese prisoners-of-war prepare food in the cookhouse of Pegu prison camp. Two of the men stand underneath the corrugated iron roof of a hut, one chopping something at a table. The other two men stand and crouch immediately in front of the...
Indian Prisoners escaped from the Turks
(art) Made by: McBey, James 1918-11-08
image: three Indian men, previously prisoners of Turkish forces, sit on the ground on a small earth mound. Behind them to the right an Indian Army trooper stands before some horses and a tent. Further back further horses are grazing on flat land near...
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.
Prisoners beside the Road near Homs
(art) Made by: Ardizzone, Edward Jeffrey Irving 1943
image: A British soldier guarding a group of German Prisoners of War. The prisoners sit in a group under a bank, one is wounded with is head bandaged and his arm in a sling. A second British soldier 'digs-in' on the rise above.
Italian POWs at Carpenter's Shop, Tobruk, 1944
(art) Made by: Preis, Eli 1944
No description available
A Russian Memorial to Some of the Men who Died at the Kitdal Camp
(art) Made by: Bone, Stephen
image: a memorial column with a red star, surrounded by decorative stone arrangements and a wooden fence in wooded area with mountains in the background.
Christmas Card 1940
(art) Made by: Taylor, George 1940
good
An Advanced Cage For German Prisoners, 1917
(art) Made by: Hill, Adrian 1917
image: a group of German prisoners of war stand listlessly behind a high barbed-wire fence. Most stand around in overcoats, their hands in their pockets.