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Battle of Britain

Battle of Britain
Part of the Second World War
Battle of britain air observer.jpg
An Observer Corps spotter
scans the skies of London.
Date 10 July – 31 October 1940
(3 months and 3 weeks)
Location British airspace
Result Decisive British victory
Belligerents
 United Kingdom
 Canada
 Germany
 Italy
Commanders and leaders
United Kingdom Hugh Dowding
United Kingdom Keith Park
United Kingdom T. Leigh-Mallory
United Kingdom Quintin Brand
United Kingdom Richard Saul
Canada L. Samuel Breadner
Nazi Germany Hermann Göring
Nazi Germany Albert Kesselring
Nazi Germany Hugo Sperrle
Nazi Germany Hans-Jürgen Stumpff
Kingdom of Italy R.C. Fougier
Units involved
 Royal Air Force
Canada Royal Canadian
Air Force
Luftwaffe
Corpo Aereo Italiano
Strength
1,963 serviceable aircraft

2,550 serviceable aircraft.

Casualties and losses
544 aircrew (RAF Fighter Command), 718 (RAF Bomber Command), 280 (RAF Coastal Command) killed
422 aircrew wounded
1,744 aircraft destroyed
2585 aircrew killed and missing, 925 captured, 735 wounded
1,977 aircraft destroyed, 1,634 in combat and 343 non combat
Around 90,000 civilian casualties, 40,000 of them fatal.

2,550 serviceable aircraft.

The Battle of Britain (German: die Luftschlacht um England, literally "Air battle for England") was a combat of the Second World War, when the Royal Air Force (RAF) defended the United Kingdom (UK) against the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) attacks from the end of June 1940. It is described as the first major campaign fought entirely by air forces. The British officially recognise its duration as from 10 July until 31 October 1940 that overlaps with the period of large-scale night attacks known as the Blitz, while German historians do not accept this subdivision and regard it as a campaign lasting from July 1940 to June 1941.

The primary objective of the Nazi German forces was to compel Britain to agree to a negotiated peace settlement. In July 1940, the air and sea blockade began with the Luftwaffe mainly targeting coastal shipping convoys, ports and shipping centres, such as Portsmouth. On 1 August, the Luftwaffe was directed to achieve air superiority over the RAF with the aim of incapacitating RAF Fighter Command and, 12 days later, it shifted the attacks to RAF airfields and infrastructure. As the battle progressed, the Luftwaffe also targeted factories involved in aircraft production and strategic infrastructure and, eventually, it employed terror bombing on areas of political significance and civilians.

By preventing the Luftwaffe's air superiority over the UK, the British forced Adolf Hitler to postpone and eventually cancel Operation Sea Lion, a proposed amphibious and airborne invasion of Britain. However, Nazi Germany continued bombing operations on Britain, known as the Blitz. The failure to destroy Britain's air defences to force an armistice (or even outright surrender) is considered by Steven Bungay to be the Nazis' first major defeat in World War II, and a crucial turning point in the conflict.


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