Adlertag

Battle of Britain
Part of the Western Front of World War II
An air battle, 1940
Date 13 August 1940 Location England and English Channel Result British victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom	Germany
Commanders and leaders
Hugh Dowding Keith Park Charles Portal	Hermann Göring Albert Kesselring Hugo Sperrle
Casualties and losses
Fighter Command: 13 fighters (air) 1 fighter (ground) 3 fighter pilots killed RAF Bomber Command: 11 bombers (air) 24 aircrew killed 9 captured Other: 47 miscellaneous aircraft (ground) c. several hundred civilians	47–48 aircraft destroyed (air) 39 severely damaged circa 200 killed or captured including: 44 killed 23 wounded at least 45 missing

Adlertag ("Eagle Day") was the first day of Unternehmen Adlerangriff ("Operation Eagle Attack"), which was the codename of a military operation by Nazi Germany's Luftwaffe (German air force) to destroy the British Royal Air Force (RAF). By June 1940, the Allies had been defeated in Western Europe and Scandinavia. Rather than come to terms with Germany, Britain rejected all overtures for a negotiated peace.

During the Battle of Britain, Hitler gave the German armed forces (Wehrmacht) a directive (Directive No. 16) that ordered provisional preparations for invasion of Britain. This operation was codenamed Operation Sea Lion (Unternehmen Seelöwe). Before this could be carried out, air superiority or air supremacy was required. The Luftwaffe was to destroy the RAF in order to prevent it from attacking the invasion fleet or providing protection for the Royal Navy's Home Fleet which might attempt to prevent a landing by sea. On 1 August Hitler gave the Luftwaffe's commander-in-chief, Reichsmarschall (Empire Marshal) Hermann Göring and the Oberkommando der Luftwaffe (High Command of the Air Force) a (Directive No. 17) to launch the air assault.

The essential target was RAF Fighter Command. The service's destruction would deny the British their air superiority asset. Throughout July and early August, the Germans made preparations for Adlertag. The date of the assault was postponed several times because of bad weather. Eventually, it was carried out on 13 August 1940. The German attacks on 13 August inflicted significant damage and casualties on the ground, but, marred by poor intelligence and communication, they did not make a significant impression on Fighter Command's ability to defend British air space.

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