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Battle of Britain
Date Range
July 10 – October 31, 1940
Location
Skies over the United Kingdom
Combatants
Nazi Germany (Luftwaffe) vs. United Kingdom (Royal Air Force)
Outcome
British victory — Germany failed to achieve the air superiority needed for invasion
Casualties
1,542 British aircraft and 1,733 RAF personnel vs. 1,977 German aircraft lost
Strategic Significance
Hitler's first major defeat. Saved Britain from invasion and kept alive the European resistance base. Immortalized in Churchill's words: "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."