BATTLE OF BRITAIN

In 1940 the German advance had pushed the allied armies back to the French port of Dunkirk and Britain had managed to evacuate using some 800 small boats the majority of its men off the beaches and back home to England.

By the summer all British forces had withdrawn from France but both the German Air Force and the RAF had lost many aircraft during this campaign. In expectation of a possible invasion every effort was made to build up the strength of the airforce and by the beginning of July 1940, the RAF had 640 fighters, but the Luftwaffe had nearly 2600 bombers and fighters.

In the skies above South East England, the future of Britain was about to be decided. As the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill put it; "What General Weygrand called the Battle of France is over, the Battle of Britain is about to begin". Battle of Britain is the name commonly given to the effort by the German Luftwaffe to gain air superiority over the Royal Air Force (RAF).

The Battle of Britain was to preclude a planned sea and airborne invasion of Britain (Operation Sealion) by the Germans but only if the RAF could be defeated. The Battle of Britain was the first major battle to be fought entirely by air forces.

It was the largest and most sustained bombing campaign yet attempted by the Germans, and the first real test of the strategic bombing theories developed since World War I.

Photograph of Messerschmitt plane 110, 1940

During the Battle of Britain a Messerschmitt Bf110C-4 crashed after combat on 13th August 1940 in a field at Flexford, North Baddesley.