Timeline
With Hitler’s sights set firmly on Britain, the island became the setting for an epic battle of the skies…
The fight for air supremacy
British PM Neville Chamberlain informs the country it is at war
3 SEPTEMBER 1939
Following the German invasion of Poland two days earlier, Britain and France declare war on Nazi Germany.
10 MAY 1940
German forces invade France and the Low Countries. Advancing through the Ardennes, they bypass the Maginot defensive line, reach the coast and cut off large numbers of British and French troops.
4 JUNE 1940
Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of more than 300,000 British and French troops from Dunkirk, comes to an end. Ten days later, German troops enter Paris.
British ships on the south coast are targeted by German bombers