The Red Lion

The Hardest Day is a name given to a Second World War air battle fought during the Battle of Britain on 18 August 1940 between the German Luftwaffe and British Royal Air Force . By June 1940, the Allies had been defeated in Western Europe and Scandinavia. Britain rejected overtures for a negotiated peace. Consequently, Adolf Hitler issued the German armed forces Directive No. 16 ordering the invasion of the United Kingdom.The invasion of the United Kingdom was codenamed Operation Sea Lion . However, before this could be carried out, air supremacy or air superiority was required. The Luftwaffe had to destroy the RAF in order to prevent it from attacking the invasion fleet or providing protection for any attempt by the Royal Navy's Home Fleet to intercept a landing by sea. Hitler ordered the Luftwaffe's commander-in-chief, Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring and the Oberkommando der Luftwaffe to prepare for this task. The primary target was RAF Fighter Command. In July 1940, the Luftwaffe began military operations to destroy the RAF. Throughout July and early August, the Germans targeted convoys in the English Channel and occasionally RAF airfields. On 13 August, a major German effort, known as Adlertag , was made against RAF airfields, but failed. The failure did not deter the Germans from persisting with air raids against the RAF or its infrastructure. On 18 August 1940, the Luftwaffe made an all-out effort to destroy Fighter Command. The air battles that took place on this day were amongst the largest aerial engagements in history at that time. Both sides suffered heavy losses. In the air, the British shot down twice as many Luftwaffe aircraft as they lost. However, many RAF aircraft were destroyed on the ground, equalising the total losses of both sides. Further large and costly aerial battles took place after 18 August, but both sides lost more aircraft combined on this day than at any other point during the campaign, including 15 September, the Battle of Britain Day, generally considered the climax of the fighting. For this reason, the air battles of 18 August 1940 became known as The Hardest Day in Britain.
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