The Battle of Britain

The Second World War

Landing craft come ashore at Normandy, 6 June 1944, disembarking thousands of men, vehicles and tons of stores during the Allied invasion of France.; By 1944, the Allies' combined industrial, technological and manpower controlled the world's oceans, the skies over Europe and the Pacific, and supported powerful mobile armies which crushed Germany in May 1945. Three months later, overwhelming American naval and airpower saw Japan bombed and blockaded into submission in August.

Landing craft come ashore at Normandy, 6 June 1944, disembarking thousands of men, vehicles and tons of stores during the Allied invasion of France.

photographs

By 1944, the Allies' combined industrial, technological and manpower controlled the world's oceans, the skies over Europe and the Pacific, and supported powerful mobile armies which crushed Germany in May 1945. Three months later, overwhelming American naval and airpower saw Japan bombed and blockaded into submission in August.

Licensing

Click through to the Collections item to see licencing options

The Second World War was the most destructive conflict in history. It caused the deaths of over 70 million men, women and children, and its effects are still felt to this day.

It began with the German invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939,...

The Second World War was the most destructive conflict in history. It caused the deaths of over 70 million men, women and children, and its effects are still felt to this day.

It began with the German invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939, and ended with the Japanese surrender on USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945.

The first phase of the war from 1939 to 1942 was marked by a series of Allied defeats at the hands of the Germans and, after 7 December 1941, the Japanese. But the tide turned with Allied victories at Midway, El Alamein and Stalingrad. The Allies now went over to the offensive, but it was a long and costly process before the Germans and Japanese were finally beaten by the overwhelming industrial, technological and manpower resources of America, the British Empire and the Soviet Union.

A new era emerged in the aftermath; a world of nuclear confrontation between emergent superpowers and the disintegration of Britain’s empire.

Read more

  • The invasion of Poland

    photographs

    The invasion of Poland; The artillery and train of the Polish 18th Division captured by the 76th Infantry Regiment at Andrzejewo, September 1939. The Second World War began on 1 September 1939 when Hitler launched his invasion of Poland. The Poles fought bravely, but were heavily outnumbered in both men and machines and in the air. Britain and France declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939, but gave no real assistance. Two weeks later, Stalin invaded eastern Poland, and on 27 September Warsaw surrendered. Organised Polish resistance ceased one week later. Poland was divided up between Hitler and Stalin.

  • The Blitz

    photographs

    The Blitz; The western bell towers of St Paul's Cathedral photographed by Cecil Beaton on 29 December 1940. The Blitz - an abbreviation of the word Blitzkrieg (lightning war) - was the name given to the German air attacks on Britain between 7 September 1940 and 16 May 1941. Over 43,000 civilians were killed in the Blitz and much material damage was done, but British morale remained unbroken and Britain's capacity to wage war was unimpaired. In Churchill's words, Hitler had tried and failed, 'to break our famous island race by a process of indiscriminate slaughter and destruction.'

  • Pearl Harbor

    photographs

    Pearl Harbor; The destroyer USS Shaw explodes in dry dock after being hit by Japanese aircraft during their attack on Pearl Harbor. On 7 December 1941, 'a date which will live in infamy', Japanese aircraft attacked the US Pacific Fleet at its base at Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands. Despite warnings, the Americans were caught completely by surprise. Eight battleships were put out of action, and seven other warships damaged or lost. Over 2,500 Americans were killed. The following day the US Congress declared war on Japan, which had also attacked British and Dutch colonial possessions.

  • Soviet troops counter attack against German soldiers, December 1941

    photographs

    Soviet troops counter attack against German soldiers, December 1941; Barely a month after the Fall of France, Hitler started planning for Operation 'Barbarossa' - the campaign against Russia, which began on 22 June 1941. Despite repeated warnings, Stalin was taken by surprise, and for the first few months the Germans achieved spectacular victories, capturing huge swathes of land and hundreds of thousands of prisoners. But they failed to take Moscow or Leningrad before winter set in.

  • The surrender of Singapore

    photographs

    The surrender of Singapore; Lieutenant General Arthur Percival and staff on their way to negotiate the island's surrender with General Yamashita, 15 February 1942. The Japanese invasion of Malaya began on 8 December 1941, and very soon the British and Empire defenders were in full retreat. Told previously that the Japanese were no match for European troops, morale among the defending forces slumped as General Tomoyuki Yamashita’s forces moved swiftly southwards towards Singapore. British commander Lieutenant-General Arthur Percival was forced to withdraw to Singapore Island. The Japanese landed there on 8-9 February, and before long the defence collapsed.

  • The Battle of Midway

    photographs

    The Battle of Midway; The American aircraft carrier USS Yorktown under Japanese attack during the Battle of Midway, 4 June 1942. After Pearl Harbor, Japanese forces captured Hong Kong, Malaya, The Philippines and the Netherlands East Indies. In May 1942, at the Battle of Midway, the Japanese hoped to consolidate their grip on their new conquests and eliminate the United States as a strategic Pacific Power. Instead, it was the Americans who inflicted a crushing defeat on the Japanese. This was the turning point of the Pacific War.

  • El Alamein

    photographs

    El Alamein; German prisoners of war wait for transport after their capture at Alamein, 25 October 1942. In summer 1942, Axis forces under Field Marshal Erwin Rommel looked poised to take Cairo. The British Middle East commander General Claude Auchinleck took personal command of the Eighth Army and halted the retreat at El Alamein. Churchill replaced Auckinleck in August with General Harold Alexander while Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery took command of the Eighth Army. Montgomery launched his offensive at Alamein on 23 October 1942. By November, the Axis forces were in full retreat.

  • The battle for Stalingrad

    photographs

    The battle for Stalingrad; Red Army soldiers hoist the Soviet flag over a recaptured Stalingrad factory following the German surrender, February 1943. The battle for Stalingrad began in late August 1942. Bearing the name of Russia's leader, Stalingrad had a symbolic significance as well as strategic one. On 31 January 1943, General Friederich Paulus, whom Hitler had just promoted field marshal - expecting him to commit suicide rather than surrender - capitulated. Stalingrad was Germany's greatest defeat to date, and it effectively marked the end of Hitler's dreams of an empire in the east.

  • Dresden under incendiary bomb attack, 13-14 February 1945

    photographs

    Dresden under incendiary bomb attack, 13-14 February 1945; On 13-14 February 1945, Dresden was attacked by 800 RAF bombers, followed by 400 bombers of the United States Army Air Force. The bombing created a firestorm which destroyed 1,600 acres of Dresden. Even today it is still uncertain as to how many died. The scale of destruction, the enormous death toll and its timing at such a late stage in the war have all ensured that the bombing of Dresden still remains highly controversial.

  • Atomic bomb mushroom cloud over Nagasaki

    photographs

    Atomic bomb mushroom cloud over Nagasaki; Atomic bomb mushroom cloud over the Japanese city of Nagasaki, 9 August 1945. The dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki brought about the quick acceptance of Allied terms and Japan surrendered on 14 August 1945. The formal surrender took place on USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on 2 September, six years and one day after the Germans invaded Poland.