Battle of Britain Day

Today marks the 80th Anniversary of a key battle victory in the Battle of Britain that took place during World War 2. In June 1940, the Wehrmacht (German armed forces) had conquered most of Western Europe and Scandinavia, with the British Empire only standing in their way. After having several peace offers rejected by the British, Adolf Hitler ordered the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) to destroy the RAF in order to gain air superiority or supremacy, as a prelude to launching Operation Sea Lion, an amphibious assault on the British mainland. In July 1940 the Luftwaffe started by closing the English Channel to merchant shipping. In August, Eagle Attack was launched against RAF airfields in southern England. By the first week of September, they had not gained the results wanted by Hitler. This caused them to start bombing cities such as London, starting on 7th September, and reached their daylight climax on 15th September. This involved 1500 aircraft taking part in air battles which lasted until dusk and was the conclusion of the Battle of Britain. RAF Fighter Command defeated the German raids. The Luftwaffe formations were dispersed by a large cloud base and failed to inflect severe damage on the city of London. This caused Hitler to postpone Operation Sea Lion, and make the Luftwaffe turn its attention to the Blitz night campaign which lasted until May 1941.