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

During a Battle
(art) Made by: Roberts, William (RA) 1918
image: three British soldiers in yellow stand on a mound while a field gun pulled by horses moves past. A stretcher party bearing a figure in yellow walks out of the composition to the right and an infantryman of the Royal Scots Fusiliers stands guard in...
Gunners. Turning Out for an SOS. Battery action at night
(art) Made by: Roberts, William (RA) 1918
image: a group of gunners of the Royal Field Artillery hurriedly emerging from a dugout, still dressing as they run towards a battery firing into the distance. A Sergeant stands to the left of the composition, holding a torch in his hand shining down at...
Signallers
(art) Made by: Roberts, William (RA) 1918
image: a scene with six British signallers laying a wire in a trench. The two men in the centre appear to be shouting at one another, perhaps as a result of the noise of artillery fire, and the others look on, transfixed in their pose. A wounded man lies...
The Menin Road
(art) Made by: Roberts, William (RA) 1917
image: a view down the Menin Road in the Ypres sector of the Western Front. Two small columns of British troops march along the road, the foremost comprised of men of the Royal Field Artillery. Two ambulance trucks drive ahead of them. Alongside the road...
Landscape with Flowering Trees, 1911-1912
(art) Made by: Rosenberg, Isaac 1911
image: A countryside scene with a village and a tree in the left foreground.
A Blockhouse Somewhere in England
(art) Made by: Duffy, Louis 1943
image: a blockhouse in a rural location. In the foreground there are six girders sunk into the ground, surrounded by rocks and cast concrete forms. In the background there is a row of similar concrete blocks running along the edge of a plowed field on a...
Coastal Defences
(art) Made by: Ravilious, Eric 1940
image: a view looking down into a wide bay from the cliff tops. The curve of the land stretches along the left side of the composition, and a searchlight beams up into the sky further along the coast. Several small boats are seen motoring out to sea from...
Wings Over Scotland
(art) Made by: Henderson, Keith (OBE) 1940
image: An aerial view of the Scottish landscape from an aircraft, with one of the plane's wings in the left foreground. Below are a few buildings clustered together, a few fields, a curved and narrow wood and what appears to be a river.
Buy War Savings Certificates
(posters) Made by: Burton, Charles (artist) 1919
whole: the image is placed at the top, held within a black frame, with the title and text below. All set against a deep blue background. Image: Under a yellow sky a farmworker, foreground left, drives a tractor, ploughing a field. A red roofed farmhouse...
War Weapons Week April 8th to 13th
(posters) Made by: Unknown (artist) 1918-03
whole: the main title is placed across the top in yellow, with the text and image below. All held within a black border. image: a British tank moves from the the background right to the foreground left, over barbed-wire and with its guns firing. In the...