The Battle of Britain

The Battle of Britain

Condensation trails left by aircraft in combat over Kent, 18 September 1940.; Swirls of contrails had become a common sight in the sky over London and the south-east in the summer of 1940. For most people, it was their only glimpse of the battle. On this particular day, the Germans sent a small force of Junkers Ju 88 bombers, heavily escorted by fighters, to attack Chatham, Gravesend and Rochester. The RAF shot down 11 bombers and six fighters for the loss of 11 aircraft and two pilots killed.

Condensation trails left by aircraft in combat over Kent, 18 September 1940.

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Swirls of contrails had become a common sight in the sky over London and the south-east in the summer of 1940. For most people, it was their only glimpse of the battle. On this particular day, the Germans sent a small force of Junkers Ju 88 bombers, heavily escorted by fighters, to attack Chatham, Gravesend and Rochester. The RAF shot down 11 bombers and six fighters for the loss of 11 aircraft and two pilots killed.

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The Battle of Britain was the decisive air campaign fought over southern England in the summer of 1940. The RAF won a famous victory over the German Air Force (Luftwaffe), which made an invasion of Britain all but impossible and boosted the morale of...

The Battle of Britain was the decisive air campaign fought over southern England in the summer of 1940. The RAF won a famous victory over the German Air Force (Luftwaffe), which made an invasion of Britain all but impossible and boosted the morale of the British people.

After defeating France in June 1940, Hitler assumed Britain would sue for peace but ordered his armed forces to prepare for invasion. The head of the Luftwaffe, Hermann Goering, assured him that a sustained air assault would quickly destroy the Royal Air Force, winning the air superiority needed.

Major daylight attacks began in August, but met stiff resistance. The British had an air defence system in place that gave them a crucial advantage. Radar stations along the coast provided advanced warning of enemy formations, and a network of operations rooms then 'scrambled' fighter squadrons into the air and directed the interceptions.  

Faulty intelligence meant German target planning was haphazard, with low-value objectives attacked to little purpose. Some RAF airfields suffered intensive raids, but invariably continued to operate. The vital radar stations were largely ignored. The Germans consistently exaggerated the damage they were causing. In reality, British fighter production more than kept pace with losses, and pilot numbers never fell to critical levels, although the pressure on them was intense.

The battle reached a climax with mass attacks on London in September, but the RAF exacted a heavy and decisive toll. The Luftwaffe could not continue in the face of such losses, 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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  • The Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF)

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    The Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF); Sergeant Joan 'Elizabeth' Mortimer, Acting Assistant Section Officer Elspeth Henderson and Sergeant Helen Turner of the WAAF. These three WAAFs all received the Military Medal for courageous conduct during heavy German attacks on Biggin Hill airfield. Mortimer was decorated for marking unexploded bombs with flags while under fire during a raid on 18 August. Henderson and Turner showed similar gallantry on 1 September by remaining at their posts in the operations block, despite it receiving a direct hit. Biggin Hill suffered a total of ten major Luftwaffe attacks between 30 August and 5 September.

  • Spitfire pilots of No. 19 Squadron

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    Spitfire pilots of No. 19 Squadron; Spitfire pilots of No. 19 Squadron, Fowlmere, September 1940. The strain of recent combat shows on the face of Squadron Leader Brian 'Sandy' Lane as he confers with two of his fellow No. 19 Squadron pilots at Fowlmere, RAF Duxford's satellite airfield, late September 1940. They are Flight Lieutenant Walter 'Farmer' Lawson (left), and Flight Sergeant George 'Grumpy' Unwin. All three survived the Battle of Britain, but only Unwin survived the war. Out of a total of 2,917 RAF pilots who took part in the battle, 544 were killed.

  • Air Vice-Marshal Keith Park

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    Air Vice-Marshal Keith Park; Air Vice-Marshal Keith Park, commanding the most vital of Fighter Command's four operational areas, No. 11 Group, which covered south-east England. Park had the hardest of jobs, assessing which attacks posed the most danger and which could be safely ignored. He was careful to commit his squadrons in ones and twos, ensuring enough units remained in reserve to meet subsequent raids. These tactics were effective, but meant the RAF fighters were usually outnumbered in combat. He is seen here later in the war when he became Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Middle East Command.

  • A CH Radar Station, by William Thomas Rawlinson

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    A CH Radar Station, by William Thomas Rawlinson; A CH (Chain Home) Radar Station on the East Coast, 1946, by William Thomas Rawlinson. Radar was Britain's most valuable weapon in 1940 and was able to pick up incoming enemy aircraft at a range of 80 miles. A chain of sites around the coast were linked to Fighter Command Headquarters, the information then being relayed to Group HQs and key airfields called Sector Stations. The advanced warning usually gave RAF fighters enough time to get off the ground and reach operational height before engaging the enemy.

  • Squadron Leader A G Malan by Erich Henri Kennington

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    Squadron Leader A G Malan by Erich Henri Kennington; Squadron Leader A G Malan DSO and Bar, DFC and Bar, 1940, by Erich Henri Kennington. South African-born Adolph 'Sailor' Malan led No. 74 Squadron during the Battle of Britain and was one of the best fighter leaders and tacticians in the RAF. He had little time for out-of-date RAF methods, and under his guidance his squadron adopted the looser and more flexible formations flown by German fighters. His booklet, Rules for Air Fighting, was eventually officially recognised and went on to be used by generations of pilots.

  • Supermarine Spitfire Mark IA

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    Supermarine Spitfire Mark IA; A Supermarine Spitfire Mark IA of No. 19 Squadron at Fowlmere, near Duxford, September 1940. Fighter Command had 19 squadrons equipped with the superlative Spitfire, capable of 350 mph at 20,000 ft, and a match for the German Messerschmitt Bf 109. This aircraft is serial X4179 'QV-B' of No. 19 Squadron, with Flight Lieutenant Frank 'Fanny' Brinsden in the cockpit. During the battle, with aircraft in constant use, pilots rarely had their 'own' aircraft and instead flew whatever was available. On 15 September, Flight Sergeant George Unwin shot down two Messerschmitt Bf 109s while flying this aircraft.

  • Hawker Hurricane Mark I

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    Hawker Hurricane Mark I; Hawker Hurricane Mark I of No. 85 Squadron, based at Church Fenton in Yorkshire, October 1940. The Hurricane was the most numerous of Fighter Command's fighters in the Battle of Britain, serving with 34 squadrons. It was not as fast as a Spitfire, but sturdier and more easily repaired. Where possible, Hurricane squadrons were directed against enemy bombers, while Spitfires dealt with the fighters.

  • Dornier Do 17Z bombers

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    Dornier Do 17Z bombers; Dornier Do 17Z bombers at an airfield in Belgium, spring 1940. The so-called 'Flying Pencil' equipped three Luftwaffe bomber units at the height of the Battle of Britain, but the type was rapidly becoming obsolete and suffered heavy losses. In a famous action on 18 August, eight Dorniers were shot down and nine damaged in attacks on RAF Kenley, to the south of London.

  • Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding

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    Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding; Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding (right), commander-in-chief of RAF Fighter Command, escorts King George VI and Queen Elizabeth on their visit to his headquarters at Bentley Priory, Stanmore, September 1940. More than any other person, Dowding was responsible for victory during the Battle of Britain, having overseen the creation of a centralised aerial defence network that combined advances in technology with a flexible system of command and control. The 'Dowding system' of radio-based fighter control linked to an effective detection network meant that his squadrons could offer a level of air defence out of proportion to their actual numbers.

  • A Messerschmitt Bf 110 under fire from a Spitfire

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    A Messerschmitt Bf 110 under fire from a Spitfire; A Messerschmitt Bf 110 under fire from a Spitfire of No. 609 Squadron, 27 September 1940. The two-seat Bf 110 was fast but lacked manoeuvrability. It was vulnerable in its intended role as a 'heavy escort' fighter for the bomber formations, but surprisingly effective when used for low-level attacks against factories and RAF airfields. The outcome of the battle may have been different had the Germans seen the potential of the aircraft in this role, but only one Luftwaffe unit (Erprobungsgruppe 210), was trained for such work.