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The Battle of Britain was the first major campaign to be fought entirely by air forces. It took place during the Second World War when the British Royal Air Force (RAF) defended the United Kingdom against a numerically superior German Luftwaffe. It was a decisive campaign fought over southern England in the summer and autumn of 1940, and the stakes could not have been any higher. Indeed, victory for the Luftwaffe would have exposed Great Britain to invasion by the German Army. So, how did the RAF successfully repel the enemy, and what were the tactics used?
Click through the following gallery and revisit one of the most important battles of WWII.
On September 7, the Germans launched a sustained attack on London. Fighter Command refocused its efforts on defending the capital from what became known as The Blitz.
The Second World War, however, was far from over. Over the next eight months, London was systematically bombed by the Luftwaffe for 56 of the following 57 days and nights.
Civilian casualty rates were high, particularly in the heavily populated streets of London's East End.
In the wake of France's capitulation, Adolf Hitler was sure the British government would agree to a compromise peace on the favorable terms he was prepared to offer. But as the Führer and the Nazi hierarchy gathered at Calais to peer across the Straits of Dover, Churchill's determination to continue the war became ever more evident.
The Dunkirk evacuation in May and June of 1940 and the defeat of France by Germany emboldened the Nazis to start planning an invasion of Great Britain.
On July 16, Hitler ordered the preparation of Operation Sea Lion, the invasion of England. Hermann Göring's Luftwaffe was tasked with disabling Britain's naval capacity and driving the Royal Air Force (RAF) out of the sky.
RAF Fighter Command offered stiff resistance, but, with only 600 frontline fighters available, the effort severely strained resources.
The iconic Spitfire was renowned for its speed, excellent maneuverability, and impressive firepower. The Hurricane was equally formidable. It was the first RAF aircraft to fly over 300 mph (482 km/h) and was a reliable workhorse. In fact, it accounted for over 60% of the air victories in the Battle of Britain.
Throughout August 1940, dogfights over the English Channel were commonplace. On August 16, the Germans carried out assaults over Kent and the Thames Estuary, Sussex, and Hampshire, and at points near Harwich and the Isle of Wight. Fighter Command was taking a bruising.
Both sides lost heavily during the Battle of Britain. The Luftwaffe counted 2,662 pilots and aircrew dead. British losses amounted to 1,497, with Polish and Canadian pilots among the dead. One of those from Fighter Command killed was Pilot Officer Keith Gillman. He failed to return from combat over the English Channel on August 25, 1940, and was one of the first pilots lost in the campaign. This photo of him was used on the front cover of Picture Post and posthumously became the iconic image of a Battle of Britain pilot.
The Battle of Britain was coordinated out of RAF Uxbridge where the No. 11 (Fighter) Group Operations Room was housed. Besides this military campaign, the Operations Room was responsible for controlling fighter operations in the South East and occupied Europe throughout the Second World War, including during the Dunkirk evacuations and the Normandy landings.
But the Germans suffered for their efforts. By late August, the Luftwaffe had lost more than 600 aircraft; the RAF, only 260.
Even before the Battle of Britain, the British had developed a highly efficient air defense network. Radar gave early warning of Luftwaffe raids, which were also tracked by the Observer Corps.
The following day, the Luftwaffe increased its bombing attacks on British shipping while carrying out numerous sorties on coastal airfields and other RAF facilities.
On that day, the Germans suffered their highest losses since August 18 and it was clear the Luftwaffe had suffered an overwhelming and decisive defeat. The Battle of Britain was over.
On August 13, Hitler ordered the main offensive, called Adlertag (Eagle Day). Attacks moved inland, concentrating on airfields and communications centers. The Luftwaffe also began targeting aircraft factories.
The British were using the Dowding system, the world's first wide-area ground-controlled interception network. Named for Fighter Command's Commander-in-Chief Sir Hugh Dowding, it brought together technology such as radar, ground defenses, and fighter aircraft into a unified system of defense across the entire United Kingdom.
Radar (radio detection and ranging) revolutionized British offensive and defensive capability throughout the Second World War, playing a vital role in locating incoming German bomber formations.
As early as May 1940, Prime Minister Winston Churchill believed a German attack was imminent. On June 18, in a famous speech to the House of Commons, he warned that the Battle of Britain was about to begin. "Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties," he continued, "and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, 'This was their finest hour.'"
The skies above the city became an arena for dogfights as German fighters escorted bombers making wave after wave of bombing runs over London's docks, oil storage depots, gasworks, power stations, and other vital infrastructure.
On September 15, the RAF, back to full operational capacity, finally succeeded in denying the Luftwaffe the air supremacy it needed in order to launch an invasion.
Across Britain, around 43,000 civilians were killed during the Blitz. In London alone, almost 30,000 perished.
While numerically superior, German bombers such as the Heinkel He 111 and Junkers Ju 88 lacked bombload capacity to strike permanently devastating blows. And it quickly became apparent that they were vulnerable to British fighters, at least during daylight hours.
Britain's darkest day of the campaign occurred on August 31, when 39 aircraft were shot down and 14 pilots killed. RAF sector stations were attacked, including RAF Biggin Hill, one of the principal fighter bases protecting London and South East England.
In contrast, the Luftwaffe was the largest and most formidable air force in the world. Three air fleets (Luftflotte) were made available consisting of about 1,300 bombers and dive-bombers and roughly 900 single-engine and 300 twin-engine fighters.
Another name synonymous with the campaign is Flight Lieutenant James Nicolson (1917–1945). He was the only Battle of Britain pilot and the only pilot of RAF Fighter Command to be awarded the Victoria Cross during the Second World War.
The Luftwaffe's premier fighter was the Messerschmitt Bf 109. It was Germany's most important single-seater fighter plane throughout the Second World War.
The Battle of Britain saw members of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) serve as radar operators and as plotters, tracking raids in the group and sector operations rooms. They also tested aerial guns after repair and operated barrage balloon sites, among other duties.
The decision by the Germans to bomb London and other cities away from RAF targets proved a tactical error. Fighter Command was able to regroup, refuel, and rearm. It was the turning point in the Battle of Britain.
Shortly after the Battle of Britain was concluded, a poster was designed commemorating the pilots and aircrew. It contained Winston Churchill's famous lines, "Never was so much owed by so many to so few." Pilots who fought in the Battle of Britain have been known as "the Few" ever since, at times being specifically commemorated for Battle of Britain Day, on September 15.
Sources: (RAF Museum) (Imperial War Museums) (Britannica) (Battle of Britain Diary) (International Churchill Society)
The RAF, however, had at its disposal two of the best fighter aircraft in the world—the Hawker Hurricane and the Supermarine Spitfire.
How important was the Battle of Britain?
What exactly was riding on the outcome of this 1940 air campaign?
LIFESTYLE History
The Battle of Britain was the first major campaign to be fought entirely by air forces. It took place during the Second World War when the British Royal Air Force (RAF) defended the United Kingdom against a numerically superior German Luftwaffe. It was a decisive campaign fought over southern England in the summer and autumn of 1940, and the stakes could not have been any higher. Indeed, victory for the Luftwaffe would have exposed Great Britain to invasion by the German Army. So, how did the RAF successfully repel the enemy, and what were the tactics used?
Click through the following gallery and revisit one of the most important battles of WWII.