Defending the Isles: The RAF's heroic stand against overwhelming odds

Following the evacuation of British and French troops from Dunkirk on the beaches of northern France, the British people were feeling very vulnerable.

The fall of France to the Nazis in June 1940 left Britain as the only country still fighting against Hitler.

It had only taken the German army ten months to control most of Western Europe.

By May 1940, Hitler planned to assemble a large invasion force on the coast of France, ready to invade Britain.

On the 16th of July 1940, Hitler issued the Führer Directive No. 16, which outlined his plans for the invasion of Britain, codenamed Operation Sealion.

Hitler began assembling his air forces, the Luftwaffe, on the airfields in Belgium and France.

The Luftwaffe, under Hermann Göring's command, was tasked with preparing the way for a future landing of German troops by trying to nullify British air defences through continuous air raids. 

Before the war, the Luftwaffe had 2,500 aircraft, while the British only had 1,200.

Thanks to their experience from the campaigns in Poland and France, the German pilots were much more prepared.

In the months prior to the Battle of Britain, the British had been developing their radar system.

This system was able to detect incoming enemy aircraft and direct British fighter planes to intercept them.

By Spring of 1940, there were over 50 radar bases built around Britain. The Luftwaffe soon realised that they would need to destroy these radar stations if they were to stand any chance of success in Operation Sealion.

A new, sophisticated system of defence was built around these new radar sites, known as the Dowding System.

The Dowding System was the name given to the British air defence system, named after the British Chief Air Marshal Hugh Dowding.

It was a network of radar stations, anti-aircraft guns, and fighter aircraft controlled by the RAF.

British success against the German attacks relied predominantly on the effective cooperation of the air force with this new technology.

However, in order to defeat the Royal Navy and gain air superiority, the Germans needed to control the English Channel.

The Luftwaffe began a campaign of attacks on British ships and shipping convoys in the Channel.

The first German raids took place on 10 July 1940 and continued for around a month.

These were small-scale raids targeting British shipping convoys initially. The purpose of these raids was to test British defences and gather intelligence on Britain's air defence capabilities.

This period of fighting became known as the 'channel battles'. However, despite suffering heavy losses, the Royal Navy remained in place and prevented any German troops from crossing.

The Luftwaffe then turned their attention to trying to destroy the Royal Air Force and their airfields.

From 13th August to the 6th of September, the Luftwaffe launched a major offensive against British airfields.

This offensive was known as Adlerangriff (Eagle Attack). The aim of this offensive was to destroy the RAF's ability to defend Britain.

During the Adlerangriff, the Luftwaffe targeted a number of key RAF airfields and radar stations in southern England.

RAF Tangmere in Sussex was targeted. The following day, another raid targeted RAF Manston in Kent.

These raids continued into September and many of the RAF's front-line fighter squadrons had been destroyed or severely damaged.

At the time the RAF replied heavily on two types of fighter aircraft: the Submarine Spitfire and Hawker Hurricane.

The Hurricane was the most common, as they were easier to produce, and formed the backbone of the RAF's forces. 

They also accounted for the majority, nearly 60%, of all enemy aircraft shot down.

Meanwhile, the Spitfire was celebrated for its speed and agility, primarily when engaged against German fighters like the Messerschmitt Bf 109.

As a result, it achieved a much higher victory-to-loss ratio.

In contrast, the German air forces were limited by the number of aircraft they could bring to bear and the amount of fuel they needed to use to simply reach their targets and begin their attacks.

By late August, the RAF had endured a brutal month of air battles. Fighter Command had been stretched to its limits as the German bombers continually targeted vital airfields and radar installations.

On August 20, 1940, as the Battle of Britain reached a critical point, Winston Churchill stood before the House of Commons.

The British people needed hope, and Churchill delivered it through his famous words: "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few".

During the heaviest phase of the battle, between August 24 and September 6, the RAF faced mounting losses.

Each sortie brought new risks, and British aircraft were sometimes hastily repaired and sent back into action.

While this allowed Fighter Command to maintain its defense, the exhausted pilots and overworked machinery increased the instances of mistakes.

More than 300 British pilots had already been killed, and many aircraft had been destroyed. 

Regardless, the pilots, many of whom were fresh recruits, continued to take to the skies.

Eventually, they began to have an impact on the attackers. By late August, the Luftwaffe had lost more than 600 aircraft.

Each plane was incredibly expensive planes and took significant time for the German factories had to replace.

Equally as devastating was the increasing losses of experienced pilots.

Britain's 'Chain Home' radar system proved to be a decisive factor in this success, as it provided early warnings of incoming Luftwaffe attacks and allowed RAF fighters to intercept enemy bombers before they could reach their targets.

Ultimately, the attacks failed to achieve their main objective to stop the RAF protecting Britain.

After suffering heavy losses and failing to establish air superiority, Hitler had pushed back the date of Operation Sealion several times.

However, he officially postponed it indefinitely on September 17, 1940.

Instead of planning for a land invasion, the Luftwaffe began targeting British cities in night-time raids, which came to be called the 'Blitz'.

This change in tactics signaled the onset of the Battle of Britain's conclusion, which ended on October 31, 1940. 

By this point, the Luftwaffe lost approximately 1,733 planes and suffered 2,662 casualties.

Since the Luftwaffe failed to achieve its objectives and suffered heavy losses, it was celebrated as a significant victory for the Allies.

However, despite the victory, between July and October, the RAF had lost 792 planes and over 500 pilots.

But there was much more destruction to come.

From the 7th of September, the Luftwaffe began a new offensive against Britain.

This offensive was known as the 'Blitz' and was a campaign of night-time bombing raids against British towns and cities.

Manchester, Birmingham, Coventry, Liverpool, and Bristol were all heavily bombed.

However, London was the main target of German attacks and was bombed for 57 consecutive nights without a break.

There were regularly more than 400 bombers in each raid, and they caused widespread damage. 

The Blitz continued across Britain until May 1941. Over the course of the Blitz, more than 43,000 British civilians were killed and millions more were left homeless.

Despite this, the British people remained defiant and determined to defeat Hitler.