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when did the battle of britain take place

The Battle of Britain took place from 10 July 1940 to 31 October 1940, during the Second World War.

Quick Scoop: Battle of Britain Dates

  • Officially recognised British dates: 10 July 1940 – 31 October 1940.
  • Fought mainly as an air campaign over southern England and the Channel.
  • Some German and later historians extend the campaign conceptually into the Blitz period (up to May 1941), but the formal Battle of Britain dates end in October 1940.

Mini timeline

  1. 10 July 1940 – First major Luftwaffe attacks on Channel convoys; commonly taken as the start of the battle.
  1. August 1940 – Escalation of attacks on RAF airfields and infrastructure.
  1. 7 September 1940 – Shift to mass raids on London; start of the Blitz phase overlapping the late Battle of Britain.
  1. 15 September 1940 – “Battle of Britain Day”, a decisive defeat for the Luftwaffe.
  1. 31 October 1940 – Last major daylight raids; officially marked as the end of the Battle of Britain.

In short: if you’re answering “when did the Battle of Britain take place?”, the standard date range is 10 July 1940 to 31 October 1940.

TL;DR: The Battle of Britain ran from 10 July 1940 until 31 October 1940, as an air campaign over the UK in World War II.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.