The Battle of Britain, 1945-1965 (The Air Ministry and the Few)

How did the Battle of Britain as it is celebrated today, acquire its hallowed status in British popular memory? Officially recognized as a decisive event in March 1941 by Britain's Air Ministry, Hitler's decision in September 1940 to postpone the invasion of Britain was credited to Churchill's 'Few' alone. A separate campaign waged by RAF Bomber and Coastal Commands against invasion preparations was also significant in Operation Sea Lion's postponement, but was quickly eclipsed despite contemporary British propaganda attention. Beginning in 1940 with both German and British air war propaganda, then later-war coverage, this book additionally explores the commemorative, cultural and historiographic representation of this famous aerial conflict from 1945 through to the advent of the modern age with Churchill's death in 1965. It reveals that several senior Air Ministry officers were strikingly successful in shaping the Battle as a moment of British exceptionalism, misleadingly achieved only by Fighter Command.