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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Queueing for the Dentist : Milag Nord Hospital
(art) Made by: Worsley, John 1944-04-01
image: a line of men stand in a queue outside a low wooden hut with a fence.
Naval Officers Filling in a Discovered Escape Tunnel, 1945
(art) Made by: Worsley, John 1945
image: Across the background runs a high double fence of posts and barbed wire beyond which two armed German guards are patrolling. A waist-high ditch runs from the left of the picture, beneath a single stretch of barbed wire, towards the high perimeter...
Feeding Liberated Prisoners-of-War before they are Flown Home, Brussels Air Port, 1945
(art) Made by: Zinkeisen, Doris Clare 1945
image: The interior of what appears to be an aircraft hangar being used as a canteen with a view out onto an airfield. Within the hangar on the right an assortment of liberated military personnel, formerly prisoners-of-war, sit at circular tables eating...
Changing of the 'Wire-watch'
(art) Made by: Worsley, John
image: A watchtower of a perimeter fence at a Prisoner of War camp. There are two tall wire fences running parallel from the left of the composition into the background. A wooden watchtower stands to the right of centre, and several German guards walk...