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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Munitions, Newcastle, 1917
(art) Made by: Lavery, John (Sir) (RA) (RSA) 1917
image: The interior of a munitions factory in Newcastle, looking down the length of the large high-ceilinged building. There are male and female munitions workers on the factory floor with four huge metal girders supported horizontally on rails towards...
SHIPBUILDING DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR
part of "IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM PHOTOGRAPH ARCHIVE COLLECTION" (photographs) Made by: Nicholls Horace 1914
Female workers feed furnaces with wood debris at the shipbuilding yard of Armstrong Whitworth and Company at Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, during the First World War.
SHIPBUILDING DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR
part of "IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM PHOTOGRAPH ARCHIVE COLLECTION" (photographs) Made by: Nicholls Horace 1914
A female worker operating machinery at the shipbuilding yard of Armstrong Whitworth and Company at Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, during the First World War.
SHIPBUILDING DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR
part of "IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM PHOTOGRAPH ARCHIVE COLLECTION" (photographs) Made by: Nicholls Horace 1914
A female worker operating a vice at a bench in the shipbuilding yard of Armstrong Whitworth and Company at Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, during the First World War.
SHIPBUILDING DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR
part of "IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM PHOTOGRAPH ARCHIVE COLLECTION" (photographs) Made by: Nicholls Horace 1914
Female workers assemble light fittings at the shipbuilding yard of Armstrong Whitworth and Company at Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, during the First World War.
SHIPBUILDING DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR
part of "MINISTRY OF INFORMATION FIRST WORLD WAR OFFICIAL COLLECTION" (photographs) 1914
Boilers for torpedo boat destroyers (TBDs) under construction in Newcastle during the First World War.
SHIPBUILDING DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR
part of "MINISTRY OF INFORMATION FIRST WORLD WAR OFFICIAL COLLECTION" (photographs) 1917
British H class submarines under construction at a shipyard in the United Kingdom during the First World War.
THE WORK OF THE VOLUNTARY AID DETACHMENT (VAD) IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR
part of "GUILFOYLE (MR)" (photographs) 1914
Group of Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) members at the 1st Northumbrian Field Ambulance (Jesmond Road, Newcastle), Royal Army Medical Corps. The Royal Army Medical Corps was supplemented by the efforts of several voluntary organisations. In 1909-1910...
THE WORK OF THE VOLUNTARY AID DETACHMENT (VAD) IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR
part of "GUILFOYLE (MR)" (photographs) 1914
Portrait photograph of Vera Henzell, Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) member. Vera Henzell received her certificate in Home Nursing from the Order of St John of Jerusalem in England, Ambulance Department (as part of the Red Cross Organisation of the...