For those that lived in England during WWII, the early years of the war were some of the darkest and scariest. The enemy had already conquered so much in so little time that it seemed they couldn’t be stopped. The Battle of Britain was one of the most crucial battles that happened throughout WWII and while it only lasted a short time in 1940 the damage done on both sides was severe.
September 7th actually marks an important day in the history of the battle. After weeks of attacking radar stations, aerodromes and manufacturing facilities, the Luftwaffe switched to bombing major cities, specifically on this day was London. The RAF had been doing night bombing raids against German cities including Berlin before this happened. The attack against London was as much a retaliatory attack as it was strategic. While on the September 7th it was successful, future attacks were not due to the sudden lack of pressure on RAF fighters. Hurricanes and Spitfires met the enemy on September 15th which cost the Luftwaffe dearly over London. Standing in Duxford looking at these magnificent machines one could hardly imagine what it would have been like seventy seven years ago.
Images Captured with Nikon D5, 24-70 AF-S, on Lexar UDMA Digital Film