Battle Of Britain Events

1940 May 13 Winston Churchill Gives 'Blood, Toil, Tears, and Sweat' Speech
"I hope that any of my friends and colleagues, or former colleagues, who are affected by the political reconstruction, will make allowance, all allowance, for any lack of ceremony with whi..." —Winston Churchill
1940 Jun 4 Winston Churchill Gives 'We Shall Fight on the Beaches' Speech
We Shall Fight On The Beaches is a common title given to a speech delivered by Sir Winston Churchill to the House of Commons of the British Parliament on the 4 June 1940. The speech was g...
1940 Jun 18 Winston Churchill Gives 'This Was Their Finest Hour' Speech
"Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, 'This was their finest..." —Winston Churchill
1940 Jul 10 Germany Begins Air Assaults on Convoys in the English Channel
The Kanalkampf comprised a series of running fights over convoys in the English Channel and occasional attacks on the convoys by Stuka dive bombers. It was launched partly because Kesselr...
1940 Jul 16 Hitler Issues Directive No. 16, Calling for a Plan to Invade Britain, Code Named 'Operation Sealion'
"Concerning preparations for an amphibious operation against England. Since Britain still shows no sign of willingness to come to an agreement in spite of her hopeless military situatio..." —Adolf Hitler
1940 Aug 12 Germany Begins Main Assault on English Coastal Airfields
The main attack upon the RAF's defences was code-named Adlerangriff ("Eagle Attack"). Weather, which proved an important feature of the campaign, delayed Adlertag, ("Eagle Day") until ...
1940 Aug 15 The 'Greatest Day' of the Battle of Britain
Adlertag opened with a series of attacks, led again by Epro 210, on coastal airfields used as forward landing grounds for the RAF fighters, as well as 'satellite airfields' (including Man...
1940 Aug 18 The 'Hardest Day' of the Battle of Britain
18 August, which had the greatest number of casualties to both sides, has been dubbed "The Hardest Day". Following the grinding battles of 18 August, exhaustion and the weather reduced op...
1940 Aug 24 The Luftwaffe Begins Attacks on British Airfields
Göring ordered attacks on aircraft factories on 19 August 1940; on 23 August 1940 he ordered that RAF airfields be attacked. That evening an attack was mounted on a tyre factory in Birmin...
1940 Sep 7 Germany Begins Air Raids on the Port of London
The first intentional air raids on London were mainly aimed at the Port of London, causing severe damage. Late in the afternoon of 7 September, 364 bombers attacked, escorted by 515 fight...
1940 Sep 15 Major RAF Victory, Later Commemorated as Battle of Britain Day
15 September was a day of heavy and sustained fighting. The Luftwaffe had flown over 1,000 sorties. Euphoric British pilots and anti-aircraft gunners claimed a magnificent total of 18...
1940 Sep 17 Following German Defeats in the Battle of Britain, Hitler Cancels Operation Sealion
On 17 September 1940, Hitler held a meeting with Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring and Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt. Hitler became convinced that the operation was not viable. Control of...
1940 Sep 24 King George VI Creates the George Cross to Honor Civilian Bravery During the Battle of Britain and the Blitz
The GC was instituted on 24 September 1940 by King George VI. At this time, during the height of The Blitz, there was a strong desire to reward the many acts of civilian courage. The exis...
1940 Oct 12 Operation Sealion is Cancelled a Second Time, Never to be Resumed
Although difficult on the civilian population, the Blitz gave the RAF a much-needed break. Air bases and factories could be repaired and plane inventory could be replaced. With its increa...