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The Battle of Britain (German: Luftschlacht um England) was an effort by the German Air Force during the summer and autumn of 1940 to gain air superiority over the Royal Air Force (RAF) of the United Kingdom in preparation for the planned amphibious and airborne forces invasion of Britain by Operation Sea Lion.
The Battle of Britain (German: Luftschlacht um England, lit. 'air battle for England') was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defended the United Kingdom (UK) against large-scale attacks by Nazi Germany's air force, the Luftwaffe.
German propaganda image: A Royal Air Force Supermarine Spitfire trails smoke after attacking a German Heinkel He 111 bomber during the Battle of Britain. This is a list of the officially accredited Battle of Britain units with their aircraft types, code letters, call signs and casualties.
Six 'Eagle' Spitfires were lost, with one pilot taken prisoner and one killed. Through to the end of September 1942, the squadrons claimed to have destroyed 73½ German planes while 77 American and 5 British members were killed. 71 Squadron claimed 41 kills, 121 Squadron 18, and 133 Squadron 14½. [6]
Göring, Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe, believed the invasion could not succeed and doubted whether the German air force would be able to win unchallenged control of the skies; nevertheless, he hoped that an early victory in the Battle of Britain would force the UK government to negotiate, without any need for an invasion. [119]
Equipped with Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5 fighters, it supported the final offensives against the Turks in Palestine. The unit disbanded on 2 September 1919. The unit disbanded on 2 September 1919. On 10 October 1939, No. 145 Squadron was reformed, taking delivery of Hurricane fighters in March 1940.
The Battle of Britain began in July 1940, followed by the Blitz, an eight month bombing campaign against the United Kingdom. During this time, London was attacked by the German Luftwaffe for 57 nights, from September 1940 to May 1941, leading to more than 40,000 civilian deaths and millions of homes and buildings damaged or destroyed. [10]
For its Battle of Britain campaign against Great Britain during World War II, the German Luftwaffe had the following order of battle in the West. Luftflotte 2 was responsible for the bombing of southeast England and the London area and based in the Pas-de-Calais area in France.