Battle of Britain

The 1940 air campaign in which Germany tried and failed to gain air superiority over Britain, fought chiefly between the Royal Air Force and the Luftwaffe.

Dowding system: The British system that connected radar, observation posts, fighter control rooms, and squadrons into a coordinated air-defense network. It let Fighter Command direct limited forces toward incoming German raids.
Fall of France: The defeat and occupation of France by Germany in 1940, ending with the French armistice in June. France’s collapse left Britain facing German power across the English Channel.
Battle of Britain Day: The name given to the major Luftwaffe attacks on southern England on 15 September 1940. The repulsed raids became a prominent sign that German air attacks were meeting determined resistance.
Air superiority: A degree of control over the air that allows operations without prohibitive interference from opposing air forces. Germany sought this condition over Britain but failed to establish it.
Chain Home: A British coastal radar network that detected aircraft approaching the country before and during the Second World War. Its early warnings helped Britain prepare fighters before German formations reached the coast.
Operation Sea Lion: Germany’s planned invasion of Britain in 1940, which was never carried out. German leaders viewed air superiority as a prerequisite for launching the invasion.
Adlertag: The Luftwaffe’s major assault on British air defenses launched on 13 August 1940. This opening of the main air offensive tested whether German attacks could destroy Fighter Command.
Strategic bombing during World War II: The use of air forces to attack an enemy’s industrial capacity, infrastructure, and population during the Second World War. The failed campaign against RAF defenses preceded Germany’s turn toward sustained bombing of British cities.
Royal Observer Corps: A British civilian organization that identified and tracked aircraft visually, especially where radar coverage ended. Observers supplied tracking information that radar alone could not provide over land.
Battle of France: The German invasion of France and the Low Countries from May to June 1940. Its rapid outcome created the strategic conditions for the air campaign over Britain.

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