FACTS ABOUT THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN

1. The Battle of Britain was the first major military campaign fought entirely by air forces.
2. The battle actually got its name before it even began.  On June 18, 1940 Winston Churchill made a speech that included the lines:  “The Battle of France is over.  I expect the Battle of Britain is about to begin.”
3. Hitler did not expect Great Britain to put up a fight.  He admired the British and wanted to negotiate with them.  When England refused even to talk, he planned Operation Sea Lion, which was to be the amphibious invasion of the island.  But before the barges could be sailed across the English Channel,  the Royal Navy had to be eliminated as a factor.  Since the German navy could not do this, the Royal Air Force had to be destroyed so the Luftwaffe controlled the skies over the Channel and thus would keep the Royal Navy out.
4. The British won because of technology.  Radio Direction Finding (Radar) had been developed in the 1930s.  It gave warning of approaching German bombers.  The British also used a system of observers.  The WAAF (Women’s Air Auxiliary Force) provided radar operators and plotters.
5. The Luftwaffe was considerably larger with 1.028 fighters, 998 bombers, and 261 dive bombers (Stukas).  The Royal Air Force had about 900 fighters and 560 bombers.  The main German fighter, the Me-109, was probably the best fighter in the world, but the German bombers were weak.  Germany never developed a competent heavy bomber.  Their fighters were at a disadvantage because they had little fuel for dogfighting after flying to England.  Also, if shot down, their best bet was being captured.
6. The continuous attacks put a lot of pressure on the pilots of the RAF (and those of the Luftwaffe).  By the end of August, new pilots had as little as 2 weeks of training.  Previous to this, pilots were given 6 months of training.
7. Around 550 of the 2,900 British fighter pilots were foreigners.  Many came from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.  Others were escapees from Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Belgium.  The most famous squadron was the Polish 303 Squadron.  It accounted for 126 planes shot down.  A Czech named Josef Frantisek shot down 17 which was the record for the battle.  9 Americans served. One was Billy Fiske who had won a gold medal in bobsledding in the Winter Olympics.
8. Sgt. Ray Holmes became a national hero when he rammed a German bomber that was headed to bomb Buckingham Palace.  He sheared off the tail of the bomber.  This caused his own plane to crash, but he survived.
9. Although the Spitfire became legendary in the battle, more Hurricanes were flown and they brought down more German planes.
10. The battle went through phases.  1.  Nuisance bombing raids to get England to negotiate.  2.  Attacks on coastal shipping.  3.  Targetting British radar stations.  4.  Bombing British air fields.  5.  Bombing of British cities.  6.  The Blitz –  nightly terror bombings of cities like London.
11. The phases marked several big mistakes by Hitler and Goering (the head of the Luftwaffe).  They gave up on attacking the radar stations too soon.  They also gave up on attacking the air fields too soon, not realizing the RAF was on the ropes.  This happened because some German bombers accidentally dropped some bombs on London.  When Churchill retaliated with a raid on Berlin, Hitler got upset and ordered the destruction of London.  The Blitz began on Sept. 7 and did not end until May, 1941.  40,000 civilians were killed.
12. In the Battle of Britain, the British lost 1.542 pilots and 1,744 planes.  The Germans had 2,585 men killed and 925 captured.  They had 1,977 air craft shot down.

https://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-should-know-about-the-battle-of-britain

https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/8-things-you-need-to-know-about-the-battle-of-britain

https://www.historyhit.com/facts-about-the-battle-of-britain/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Britain