"The Battle of France is over. I expect the Battle of Britain is about to begin...", those haunting words spoken by Prime Minister Winston Churchill on June 18th 1940.
The Battle of Britain was the first major campaign to be fought entirely by air forces and was one of the largest and sustained bombing campaigns of all time. RAF airfields were the initial targets but as the battle progressed, destruction of aircraft production centres and ground infrastructure became ever more regular.
The Battle of Britain saw the rise of aerial combat and “dog fighting”. Amongst our arsenal were the legendary Supermarine Spitfire and the Hawker Hurricane which were piloted by young, talented pilots who pitted their wits and flying skills against the German Luftwaffe’s ME109 and ME110 Fighters as well as the wave upon wave of Henkiel HE-111 Heavy bombers.
Although outnumbered and often out gunned, the RAF wouldn’t stop and most definitely wasn’t going to give up. Although aircraft supplies were short and the constant bombing ruined runways and hangers, they did what they needed and got back up into the air.Many say it was this stubbornness that frustrated Hitler most and accounted for the first real defeat of Hitler’s military forces.
Fighter Command was so successful that the conclusion to Churchill's famous 'Battle of Britain' speech has come to refer solely to them: "...if the British Empire and its Commonwealth lasts for a thousand years, men will still say, 'This was their finest hour.'"
