The RAF strike back


Though London suffered badly from the Luftwaffe attacks, Fighter Command took advantage of the lull. Despite the relentless damage to the capital, Fighter Command was instilled with a new confidence, which was to be a turning point in the Battle of Britain.


Believing the RAF had only 150 fighters left, the Luftwaffe launched another huge wave of over 1000 aircraft towards London and Southampton on September 15th 1940. The Germans were met by a phalanx of Spitfires and Hurricanes from squadrons all over Britain. The ensuing battle spread across the whole of southern England and lasted the whole day. The Luftwaffe’s confidence was shattered.


Two days later, Hitler postponed Operation Sea Lion indefinitely. Though the Battle of Britain continued for another six weeks, the RAF had triumphed, simply by surviving the Luftwaffe’s pulverising war of attrition. Heavy losses were counted on both sides – 1,730 of the Luftwaffe’s aircraft were destroyed and 2,600 airmen were killed. The RAF’s deficit was small by comparison - 746 fighters and 520 pilots.


Winston Churchill paid tribute to those heroic men with the immortal words: "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.".