The Battle of Britain

The Germans waged a heavy air campaign against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940 where more than 1,000 civilians died. 2,936 pilots took part in defending Britain from Germany and 544 of them lost their lives. This is the only battle to be fought entirely in the air.

This is battle was particularly important in World War II because if Britain was not able to defend itself, Germany could have become a world power.

It is quite impressive that the British were able to fend off the Germans. At the beginning of the battle, the Germans had 2,500 aircraft to Britain's 1,200.  Germany could get more than 1,600 flying at a time and Britain could only muster 600. 

By sure luck, the Germans changed their targets from the early warning radar stations to bombings cities which really helped the British. It is believed at that point, they were 24 hours away from losing the battle.

By the end of the battle, the Germans lost 1,100 aircraft to the 660 British aircraft. If the outcome was different, the world could have been a very different place than we see today.

For more detailed information, please see here.

All the Best!

American to Britain