World War 2 Pictures Home >> Battle of Britain Interesting Facts
 

Battle of the Britain Facts
Battle of the Britain facts including location, date, summary and significance of the battle.
Also includes quotes, planes, aircraft, commanders, statistics & additional information.

Location

 Where did the Battle of Britain take place? The Battle of the Britain took place in the airspace over the United Kingdom during World War 2.
  

Date

 When did the Battle of Britain start and end?
July 10, 1940 to October 31, 1940.
  

Significance

 The RAF's victory was the first major victory for the Allies since the beginning of the war. Although German military power was not seriously threatened, the battle was of great importance in scoring a first and decisive defeat of the Luftwaffe. With the defeat, Hitler postponed indefinitely the planned amphibious invasion of Britain, Operation Sealion, and focused his attention on the invasion of the Soviet Union in the summer of 1941.
  

British aircraft spotter during Lodon Blitz in 1940
  
London Blitz
Aircraft Spotter

Battle of Britian St. Paul Cathedral
 
Battle of Britain
St. Paul's Cathedral
   

Summary

 Who won the Battle of Britain? The British Royal Air Force (RAF) achieved a decisive victory over the German Luftwaffe (German Air Force). In the beginning of the battle, the commander of the German Luftwaffe, Herman Goring, assured Hitler that Britain could be defeated by air power alone. He had some 2,000 aircraft at his disposal divided into three Luftflotten (air fleets). The RAF had approximately 700 fighter planes divided into four fighter Groups. The RAF had roughly the same amount of fighters but the significant advantage of an extensive radar and control system to warn them of German planes. The Battle of Britain was divided into four stages:

(1) July 10 to August 12, 1940 - Luftwaffe concentrated on reconnaissance missions for larger attacks in the future. They also launched attacks on south coast ports, radar stations and shipping in the English Channel. After heavy shipping and aircraft losses the British were forced to stop all Channel convoys.
(2) August 13 to September 6, 1940 - Luftwaffe wanted to destroy the RAF planes both in the air and on the ground. The airfields of Group 11 were heavily targeted in this phase.
(3) September 7 to October 5, 1940 - "The London Blitz". Large scale bombing attacks against London and other major cities began. Airplane factories and other strategic targets were bombed as well. Hitler hoped to break the English morale and their will to fight. On September 7, the Luftwaffe launched its first major daylight raid of London beginning the "London Blitz". The Germans switched to night bombing after suffering heavy casualties.
(4) October 6 to October 31, 1940 - Heavy raids against London and other major cities continued. The raids became less frequent as winter weather made flying conditions more difficult.
  

Commanders

 British RAF:
Air Chief Marshall Hugh Dowding (RAF Fighter Command)
Air Vice Marshall Keith Park (No. 11 Group RAF)
Air Vice Marshall Trafford Leigh-Mallory (No. 12 Group RAF)
Commanding Air Officer Quintin Brand (No. 10 Group RAF)
Commanding Air Officer Richard Saul (No. 13 Group RAF)

German Luftwaffe:
Reichsmarschall Herman Goring (Commander in Chief of the Luftwaffe)
Field Marshall Albert Kesselring (Luftflotte 2 - Air Fleet 2)
Field Marshall Hugo Sperrle (Luftflotte 3 - Air Fleet 3)
Colonel General Hans-Jurgen Stumpff (Luftflotte 5 - Air Fleet 5)

  

Order of
Battle

 British: 1,963 aircraft
German: 2,550 aircraft
  

Planes

 British Fighter Planes: Hurricane Mk I and Supermarine Spitfire Mk I
German Fighter Planes: Messerschmitt Bf 109E and BF 110C
German Bombers: Heinkel He 111, Dornier Do 17, Junker Ju 88, Junkers Ju 87 Stuka
  

Casualties

 British: 544 airmen killed, 422 wounded, 1,547 aircraft destroyed
German: 2,698 airmen killed, 967 captured, 1,887 aircraft destroyed
  

Quotes

 "... the Battle of France is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin.." - Winston Churchill's speech to the House of Commons on June 18, 1940.

"... the British airmen who, undaunted by odds, unwearied in their constant challenge and mortal danger, are turning the tide of the World War by their prowess and by their devotion. Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few." - Prime Minister Winston Churchill's speech on August 20, 1940.

 "Of course we were as scared as anyone else would have been. But we knew that we had the whole country behind us." - Flying Officer Dennis Dave, 87 and 213 Royal Air Force (RAF) Squadrons.
 
  

Photos

 View Collection of Battle of the Britain Pictures Here
  

Additional Facts
  • The Hawker Hurricane fighter was more numerous and shot down more German aircraft than the more famous Supermarine Spitfire fighter in 1940
  • On September 15th, the Germans lost 55 aircraft to the Fighter Command 28 as two heavily escorted waves of German bombers were attacked by nearly 300 British fighters over London.

Sources
  • Dorling Kindersley (2009), World War II - The Definitive Visual History
  • Wikipedia.com - www.wikipedia.com
  • Battle of Britain (2005) - http://www.raf.mod.uk/bob1940/briefing.html
 

 

  

Site Navigation

World War 2 Pictures | Battle of the Bulge |D-Day Photos |Battle of Stalingrad
Battle of Kursk |Falaise Gap Photos | Iwo Jima Photos | El Alamein | Battle of the Bulge Facts