The Battle of Britain
The Royal Air Force, immortalized by Churchill”s “the few”, were not as few as that master of propaganda implied. The British held several advantages during the Battle of Britain, including advanced radar allowing them to detect incoming attacks and vectoring fighters to meet them. German fighters had limited fighting time in the skies over Britain, due to the fuel expended just getting to the target areas. Still, the Luftwaffe pounded British radar stations, airfields, and ground installations, inflicting heavy casualties on the fighters which opposed them. They also suffered significant casualties. The raids of the bombers, a prelude to invasion, did heavy damage, but did not destroy the RAF.
During the battle the number of available pilots for the Royal Air Force increased, as did the number of available fighter aircraft. Pilots arrived from throughout the British Empire, and from exiles from the Polish, Czech, French, and other air forces of Europe. By September, unable to defeat the RAF in the air and in response to British bombing raids at night on German cities, the Luftwaffe initiated the bombing campaign which came to be known as the Blitz. The Blitz did significant damage to British cities, caused the evacuation of children to the country in many cases, but did not break British morale. By the time Hitler canceled the invasion of England the Luftwaffe had suffered severely in lost planes and pilots, which may have been useful against the Soviets.