The Hardest Day

A picture of a twin engine bomber aircraft lying in a field with its front end burnt out.

A Dornier Do 17 of 9 Staffel (Squadron), Kampfgeschwader 76 (Bomber Wing 76). The bomber was shot down by Hawker Hurricane fighter aircraft of No. 111 Squadron RAF. It crash landed near to RAF Biggin Hill, 18 August 1940.

Date	18 August 1940
Location	Southern England and English Channel
Result	Inconclusive Casualty rates in the British favour Unsustainable attrition for both sides

Belligerents

United Kingdom

Nazi Germany

Commanders and leaders

Hugh Dowding

Keith Park

Trafford Leigh-Mallory

Hermann Göring

Albert Kesselring

Hugo Sperrle

Casualties and losses

27–34 fighters destroyed
39 fighters damaged
29 aircraft destroyed (ground)
including only eight fighters
23 aircraft damaged (ground)
10 killed
8 lightly wounded
11 severely wounded

69–71 aircraft destroyed
31 aircraft damaged
94 killed
40 captured
25 wounded

The Hardest Day is a name given to a Second World War air battle fought during the Battle of Britain on 18 August 1940 between the Nazi German Luftwaffe and British Royal Air Force (RAF).

By June 1940, the Allies had been defeated in Western Europe and Scandinavia. Britain rejected overtures for a negotiated peace. Consequently, Adolf Hitler issued the German armed forces (Wehrmacht) Directive No. 16 ordering the invasion of the United Kingdom.

The invasion of the United Kingdom was codenamed Operation Sea Lion (Unternehmen Seelöwe). However, before this could be carried out, air supremacy or air superiority was required. The Luftwaffe had to destroy the RAF in order to prevent it from attacking the invasion fleet or providing protection for any attempt by the Royal Navy's Home Fleet to intercept a landing by sea. Hitler ordered the Luftwaffe's commander-in-chief, Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring and the Oberkommando der Luftwaffe (High Command of the Air Force) to prepare for this task.

The primary target was RAF Fighter Command. In July 1940, the Luftwaffe began military operations to destroy the RAF. Throughout July and early August, the Germans targeted convoys in the English Channel and occasionally RAF airfields. On 13 August, a major German effort, known as Adlertag (Eagle Day), was made against RAF airfields, but failed. The failure did not deter the Germans from persisting with air raids against the RAF or its infrastructure.

...
Wikipedia