This was the name of the air battle fought over Britain between the 10 July and 31 October 1940.

In the summer of 1940, Hitler dominated mainland Europe. His next plan was to invade Britain and although it lay just across the English Channel from France it was not easy to invade. Germany had decided that the best plan to invade Britain was to first master air power above the skies of Britain. Knocking out British air power would weaken one force so that all resources could be set against a very strong British Navy. This planned invasion became known as "Operation Sea Lion." Britain stood alone. Churchill’s famous speech on June 18, 1940 referred to this and also to the danger.

".......the Battle of France is over. The Battle of Britain is about to begin, upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization, upon it depends our own British life and the long continuity of our institution and our Empire."

The Luftwaffe's modern fighter, the Messerschmitt (Me-109), had limited range and was not able to accompany German bombers. This made them vulnerable to attacks by the modern RAF fighter planes. The fact that the Luftwaffe was fighting over enemy territory had two major disadvantages. If a German plane was shot down over Great Britain then that pilot was lost to Germany. A damaged German aircraft was likely to ditch in the sea because the pilot had more chance of being picked up. Damaged RAF aircraft could always try a reach their base or land somewhere else. RAF pilots that were shot down parachuted onto English fields. They were returned to their units almost immediately.

Another advantage for the RAF was a British invention – radar. This helped direct the fighters to intercept attacking German aircraft. Radar could also intercept German communications. Having already cracked the Enigma code system the British were starting to get more and more intelligence about Germany’s plans.

The Luftwaffe was actually winning the battle of Britain but was frustrated by the unexpected numbers of Allied planes opposing them so they switched in early September 1940 to night bombing of British cities (The Blitz). This was a fatal mistake. On 17 September, two days after the Luftwaffe's worst day in the Battle of Britain, Hitler cancelled "Operation Sea Lion" and focussed his attention on the invasion of the Soviet Union, a campaign known as "Operation Barbarossa."

The Luftwaffe lost a total of 1,733 aircraft from July to October, the RAF 915.