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

The Lime Quarry
(art) Made by: Sutherland, Graham (OM) 1943
image: a two tiered white rock emerges from a flat landscape with a road winding towards the left under a dark sky.
Women at Work in a Munition Factory, Blackburn, 1941
(art) Made by: Rushbury, Henry (Sir) (RA) 1941
image: rows of women in blue uniforms and head scarves stand at table top machines in a factory workshop with large draped windows.
Forging a Big Gun, Sheffield, 1941
(art) Made by: Rushbury, Henry (Sir) (RA) 1941
image: a view inside the forge, showing groups of workers watching a large red-hot mould for the barrel of a big gun, suspended with ropes and pulleys from the forge ceiling. Similar activity is going on in the background. The room is filled with clouds...
Learning her Job at a Steelworks
(art) Made by: Ensor, Arthur John 1942
image: A woman and a man stand with their backs to the viewer, facing a large control panel, covered in levers and buttons. They are on a platform, high above the floor of the steel works, which spreads out below them. Both are watching some workers on...
In a Medical Aid Post : back view of sister
(art) Made by: Ardizzone, Edward Jeffrey Irving 1941
image: A sister is seem with her back to the viewer talking to a man leaning against the wall. Behind them is curtained cubicle and a cabinet holding some bottles.
Echo of the Bombardment
(art) Made by: Vaughan, John Keith 1942
image: a surreal moonlit scene featuring a large primeval coiled form in the foreground right. In the background stand the bombed-out shells of two buildings. From the window cavities of each emerge conical forms also reminiscent of prehistoric...
Quarry
(art) Made by: Sutherland, Graham (OM) 1943
image: a dark quarry scene with a few workers at work at a quarry face to the right and further workers visible further back in the centre. There are several quarry carts on tracks which run to the quarry faces, to left and right.