8 Unknown Facts about The Battle of Britain

The Battle of Britain was fought between The United Kingdom and Nazi Germany. It was an all-out air offensive by the Nazi Germany to gain air superiority over the Royal Air Force of Great Britain. It is considered as the first major defeat of Germany in World War II.

Here are some unknown facts about this battle.

1. It got it's name even before the battle started

The Nazi Germany went on very aggressively attacking the western front. It overran Netherlands, Belgium and France in a matter of weeks, leaving Britain as the only allied force in western Europe. It was as this time Winston Churchill said in his speech “The Battle of France is over, I expect Battle of Britain is about to begin”.

British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, 1941

2. It was first battle in history which was fought entirely in air

The battle began with Hitler’s forces conducting air raids on The United Kingdom. His plan was to destroy the Royal Air Force and win air superiority over England, before Nazi Germany’s invasion of England. But as it turned out, Germany received a heavy defeat and lost nearly 1,700 aircrafts - twice as that of Britain.

3. A British pilot saved the Buckingham Palace from destruction

During one of the fights between the two forces over London, RAF Sergeant Ray Holmes spotted a f German Dornier bomber heading towards Buckingham Palace. Seeing this, Holmes chased him but could not fire as his ammunition supplies were completely exhausted so he rammed his plane’s wing into the tail of the German plane, thereby saving the Royal Residence.

Wreckage of the German plane which Ray Holmes brought down

4. The worst day of the battle was 31 August

The RAF’s Fighter Command went through a massive loss on this day, losing 39 aircrafts and 14 pilots.

5. Not all pilots in RAF's Fighter Command were British

The British deployed nearly 3000 men for the battle. While most of them were British, the Fighter Command also constituted of pilots from all over the Commonwealth and some other nations such as the US.

Some of the pilots were not British

6. Hitler's attack on Britain initially was to be made through both land and sea

Adolf Hitler was to launch a massive attack for invasion of Britain in 1940 through land and sea. But due to logistics and weather problems he called of the sea attack and concentrated only on air attack.

7. The worst hit city was London (Bombed 71 times)

The air raids conducted by the German’s bombed 16 cities of The United Kingdom with the worst hit city being London. It was bombed 71 times and at one point for 56 straight nights.

8. Germany continued to bomb Britain even after the battle ended

The intensity of battle fizzled out after mid-October 1940, after Hitler turned his attention towards attacking Soviet Union in the Eastern front. However, the German’s continued to conduct night time air raids over Britain in a futile attempt to break Britain’s fighting spirit.