"
Battle of Britain Day, 15 September 1940, is the day on which a large-scale aerial battle in the
Battle of Britain took place.
[9][11][12][13][14]
In June 1940, the
Wehrmacht had
conquered most of
Western Europe and
Scandinavia. At that time, the only major power standing in the way of a German-dominated Europe was the
British Empire and the Commonwealth. After having several peace offers rejected by the British,
Adolf Hitler ordered the
Luftwaffe to destroy the RAF in order to gain
air superiority or
air supremacy as a prelude to launching
Operation Sea Lion, an amphibious assault by the
Wehrmacht (German armed forces) onto the British mainland. In July 1940, the
Luftwaffe started by closing the
English Channel to merchant shipping. In August,
Operation Adlerangriff (Eagle Attack) was launched against RAF airfields in southern England. By the first week of September, the
Luftwaffe had not gained the results desired by Hitler. Frustrated, the Germans turned towards the
strategic bombing of cities, an offensive which was aimed at damaging British military and civil industries, as well as civilian morale.
On Sunday 15 September 1940, the
Luftwaffe launched its largest and most concentrated attack against
London in the hope of drawing out the RAF into a battle of annihilation. Around 1,500 aircraft took part in the air battles which lasted until dusk.
[4] The action was the climax of the Battle of Britain.
[15] RAF Fighter Command defeated the German raids; the
Luftwaffe formations were dispersed by a large cloud base and failed to inflict severe damage on the city of London. In the aftermath of the raid, Hitler postponed
Operation Sea Lion. Having been defeated in daylight, the
Luftwaffe turned its attention to
The Blitz night campaign which lasted until May 1941.
[16]
Battle of Britain Day, 15 September, is now an annual commemoration of the battle in the United Kingdom. In Canada, the commemoration takes place on the third Sunday of September."
en.wikipedia.org
Quite quiet here, not much in the news about it. Excellent movie made in the 1960's, no CGI of course some models and film effects. Mostly real aircraft and some of
the best aerial photography I think.