WW2 RAF BUTTONS-BADGES-- SEE STORE WW1-WW2 BADGES AN MEDALS HUFE SELECTION For Sale

WW2 RAF BUTTONS-BADGES-- SEE STORE WW1-WW2 BADGES AN MEDALS HUFE SELECTION
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WW2 RAF BUTTONS-BADGES-- SEE STORE WW1-WW2 BADGES AN MEDALS HUFE SELECTION:
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PLEASE SEE STORELOT MORE --COMBINE SHIPPINGSAVE $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$World War II (1939–1945)[edit]Main article:Military history of the United Kingdom during World War IISee also:Air warfare of World War IIandCircus offensiveRAFDarrell's Island, in theImperial fortresscolonyofBermuda, duringWWII. This was the pre-war civil airport taken over by the RAF for staging trans-AtlanticFerry CommandandTransport Commandflights, including that of Prime Minister Winston Churchill on his return from the United States aboardBOACBoeing 314"Berwick"in 1942.[19]The Royal Air Force had also operatedRoyal Naval Air Station Bermudauntil 1939, and Transport Command facilities moved toKindley Fieldin 1943 for landplane operations.

The RAF underwent rapid expansion following the outbreak of war againstNazi Germanyin 1939. This included the training of British aircrews inBritish Commonwealthcountries under theBritish Commonwealth Air Training Plan, and the secondment of many whole squadrons, and tens of thousands of individual personnel, from Commonwealth air forces. For example, by the end of the war,Royal Canadian Air Forcepersonnel had contributed more than 30 squadrons to service with RAF formations; almost a quarter of Bomber Command's personnel wereCanadian.[20]Similarly, about nine percent of the personnel who served with the RAF in Europe and the Mediterranean were seconded from theRoyal Australian Air Force.[21]To these and other British Commonwealth personnel were later added thousands of men from other countries, including many who had fled fromGerman-occupied Europe.[22]

A defining period of the RAF's existence came during theBattle of Britain. Over the summer of 1940, the RAF held off theLuftwaffein perhaps the most prolonged and complicated air campaign in history. This arguably contributed immensely to the delay and cancellation of German plans for an invasion of theUnited Kingdom(Operation Sea Lion). Of these few hundred RAF fighter pilots,Prime MinisterWinston Churchillfamously said in theHouse of Commonson 20 August, "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few".[23]Although, he first spoke these words upon exiting theBattle of Britain BunkeratRAF Uxbridgeon 16 August. However, in recent years some military historians have controversially suggested that the RAF's actions would not have prevented an invasion and that the key deterrent was the Royal Navy's command of the sea.[24]

Residential area ofHamburgafter the 1943 RAF attack (Operation Gomorrah)

The main RAF effort during the war was the strategic bombing campaign against Germany. From 31 May 1942 RAF Bomber Command was able to mount large-scale night raids, sometimes involving up to 1,000 aircraft. From mid-1942 increasing numbers of these aircraft were heavy four-engined bombers such as theHandley-Page Halifaxand theAvro Lancaster. Noteworthy raids includeOperation Millenniumagainst Cologne, the first 1000-bomber raid;Operation Chastise, the 'Dambusters' raids on targets in the Ruhr Valley;Operation Gomorrah, the destruction of Hamburg; and the'Battle of Berlin'. The lighter, fast two-enginede Havilland Mosquitofighter-bomber was used for tactical raids likeOperation Carthage, a raid on theGestapoheadquarters inCopenhagen, as well as a night-fighter.[25]

There exists considerable historical controversy about the ethics of large-scalefirebombingattacks against German cities during the last few months of the war, such as thebombing of Dresden, thebombing of Pforzheim, thebombing of Heilbronn, and other German cities.

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