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

Collection: WATSON J (MR)
(photographs) Made by: Watson, J E T (Photographer) 1941
Photographs mainly of prisoner of war camp theatre productions (Barbary Coast 1849; The Desert Song) at Stalag XB, Sandbostel and a series of prints covering a Royal Air Force funeral at Sandbostel in August 1941. Also, a series of photographs showing...
Collection: NORRIS, ALBERT E (PRIVATE)
(photographs) Made by: Unknown Photographer
48 black and white photographic prints (33 stuck in Wartime Log Book and 15 loose) relating to Private Albert E Norris and his time spent as a Prisoner of War in Oflag VII-C at Laufen, Bavaria, and Oflag VII-B at Eichstaett, Bavaria, during the Second...
THE KATYN MASSACRE, 1940
part of "FOREIGN OFFICE POLITICAL INTELLIGENCE DEPARTMENT (PID) SECOND WORLD WAR PHOTOGRAPH LIBRARY: CLASSIFIED PRINT COLLECTION" (photographs) 1943-04-21
General view of the place in the forest of Katyn where the mass graves of more than 4000 Polish officers were found.
THE KATYN MASSACRE, 1940
part of "FOREIGN OFFICE POLITICAL INTELLIGENCE DEPARTMENT (PID) SECOND WORLD WAR PHOTOGRAPH LIBRARY: CLASSIFIED PRINT COLLECTION" (photographs) 1943-04-21
Polish delegation watching the exhumation of murdered Polish officers in the forest of Katyn. Note the German Army cameraman recording the scene on the left. The footage was later on used extensively by the German propaganda machine.
Collection: FROST E (SAPPER)
(photographs)
Photographic prints relating to British prisoners of War in Stalag VIIIB (from 1943 Stalag 344) at Lamsdorf (Lambinowice) during the Second World War. Stalag VIIIB was one of the largest camps in Germany, housing up to 100,000 Allied prisoners. Most of...
Collection: GIFFORD, NORMAN
(photographs)
Photographic prints collected by Norman Gifford during his time as a prisoner of war in Germany during the Second World War. Most of these were probably taken at Stalag VIIIB, Lamsdorf, where Gifford was a prisoner during 1942. A number of group...
Collection: CAMPLIN, LEN
(photographs)
Photographic prints relating to Stalag XXID, Arbeitskommando Warthelager, just north of Posen (Poznan). Most of the photographs are group shots of English and Scottish prisoner of war football teams. There are also two prints showing prisoners playing...
Collection: LIMAGE RONALD FRANCIS
(photographs)
Photographic prints relating to Allied prisoners of war in Stalag IVB, located 8km north-east of Muhlburg. This was one of the largest prisoner of war camps in Germany, covering some 75 acres. The photographs show details of a secret radio kept by RAF...
THE KATYN MASSACRE, 1940
part of "FOREIGN OFFICE POLITICAL INTELLIGENCE DEPARTMENT (PID) SECOND WORLD WAR PHOTOGRAPH LIBRARY: CLASSIFIED PRINT COLLECTION" (photographs) 1943-04-21
Skull of a murdered Polish officer as found in the mass graves in the forest of Katyn. The finger points to the back of the head where the bullet entered the skull.