The radar screens at RAF Fighter Command headquarters painted a chilling picture on August 18, 1940. Multiple formations of German aircraft approached from different vectors across the English Channel. Not the usual probing attacks - this was different.
The Luftwaffe had assembled its most potent strike force: Messerschmitt Bf 109E fighters, capable of reaching 348 miles per hour, escorting Dornier Do 17 bombers armed with 110-pound high-explosive bombs. Their targets were carefully selected: the sector stations controlling Britain's air defense network.
Britain's response rested on two fighters: the Supermarine Spitfire, reaching speeds of 355 miles per hour, and the sturdy Hawker Hurricane. Supporting them, an innovative network of Chain Home radar stations could track enemy formations from 100 miles away.
At 11:00am, the first wave launched from France. By noon, 560 German aircraft would be airborne, executing a precisely choreographed assault on multiple RAF airfields. As radar operators watched their screens fill with unprecedented numbers of enemy aircraft, Britain's sophisticated network of defenses faced its ultimate trial. The next 14 hours would reveal whether this intricate system of technology, coordination, and human courage could survive the most concentrated aerial assault in military history.
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