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- Invasion of Poland and Declaration of War. Six years prior to the invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, the Nazis came to power in Germany and Hitler began retaking land that had once been part of Germany including parts of Czechoslovakia.
- Winston Churchill Becomes Prime Minister. While Chamberlain has been roundly criticized for the Munich Agreement, he also worked to prepare England for the war ahead.
- Battle of Dunkirk. After the Phone War ended, Hitler invaded France on May 10, 1940. Germany’s lightning-fast offensive strategy (known as the “blitzkrieg”) quickly drove back Allied forces until the British were driven back to Dunkirk, France by which time the UK forces planned to evacuate back to the British Isles.
- Battle of Britain. With Britain having retreated home, Germany began its plan to invade the United Kingdom, leading to the beginning of the Battle of Britain on July 10, 1940.
The military history of the United Kingdom in World War II covers the Second World War against the Axis powers, starting on 3 September 1939 with the declaration of war by the United Kingdom and France, followed by the UK's Dominions, Crown colonies and protectorates on Nazi Germany in response to the invasion of Poland by Germany.
- The Battle of Britain
- The Unsinkable Ship
- The North African Campaign
- British Intelligence
- The British Empire
- The Royal Navy
Between June and October 1940, the RAF engaged in a deadly battle over the skies of southern Englandwith wave after wave of Luftwaffe bombers and fighter planes. At stake was the supremacy of the air and, in turn, the survival of the United Kingdom. Following the fall of France, the only country still standing in the way of Hitler’s total dominance...
Free from occupying forces, Britain became an unsinkable ship, able to launch constant bombing raids against German industrial, military, and civilian targets. This hampered the Germans’ ability to fight the war effectively and severely lowered enemy morale. As well as being a base for both British raids on the German homeland and its military inte...
Unable to fight in continental Europe, the British instead turned their attention to North Africa, fighting several battles against the Italians and the Germans to drive them from the continent. The battles fought between General Bernard Montgomery and his opposite number, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, culminated in Rommel’s defeat in the Battle of E...
The British knew they hadn’t much hope of taking the fight directly to the Germans at the start of the war, but what they did have was an intelligence network that was second to none. The full weight of British intelligence was thrown into the war effort and produced astonishing results that proved vital. The Special Operations Executive (SOE), for...
With an empire stretching from Canada to Australia, Britain was able to raise a fighting force the Germans and the Japanese could never hope to match. In India alone, Britain raised an army of 1.4 million troops who went on to play vital roles in both the European and Pacific theatres. While many people see the Pacific as primarily a war between Ja...
Of course, it wasn’t just on land that Britain made an invaluable contribution to the war. At sea, the gigantic Royal Navyplayed a pivotal role in defeating the Axis powers from day one of the conflict to the very end of the war. In Europe and the Middle East, Royal Navy blockades confined the Italian and German navies to port due to a chronic shor...
6 days ago · Battle of Britain, during World War II, the successful defense of Great Britain against unremitting and destructive air raids conducted by the German air force (Luftwaffe) from July through September 1940, after the fall of France.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
- The Battle of Britain was the successful defense of Great Britain against the air raids conducted by the German air force in 1940 after the fall of...
- The Battle of Britain took place between July and September 1940 during World War II.
- Winston Churchill was the British prime minister during the Battle of Britain.
- Acknowledging the importance of the Royal Air Force in the Battle of Britain, Prime Minister Winston Churchill declared, “Never in the field of hum...
The History of the Second World War is the official history of the British contribution to the Second World War and was published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO).
Service records: Usually the most detailed record of a soldier’s time in the army. Medal and honours records: Most soldiers were issued with campaign medals awarded for service during conflict;...
Get closer to stories from government, the home front and the armed forces through our extensive collection of Second World War records. Explore the stories of people whose lives were...
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