The Battle of Britain — through the eyes of the enemy
Hermann Göring had promised his Führer that his air force, the Luftwaffe, would clear the skies to allow the invasion of southern England — Operation Sea Lion — to begin. The intense aerial combat and RAF victory that ensued over July and August became the stuff of legend, leading Winston Churchill to declare in parliament on August 20, 1940: 'Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.'
Tales of RAF derring-do are legion. But what was it like for the defeated Luftwaffe pilots? A new book, Eagle Days, attempts to answer that question, featuring rare photographs from the German side.
Eagle Days by Victoria Taylor (Head of Zeus £25). To order a copy go to timesbookshop.co.uk. Free UK standard P&P on orders over £25. Special discount available for Times+ members
In this propaganda photo a German soldier holds the remains of a British fighter plane shot down over the English Channel
SZ PHOTO / SCHERL
• Spectrum: Ghana's colourful fantasy coffins — in pictures
Luftwaffe airmen are briefed on flight manoeuvres against British maritime targets, August 24, 1940
SZ PHOTO / SCHERL
British workers carry the fuselage of a downed German aircraft, August 31, 1940
SZ PHOTO / SCHERL
• Spectrum: Sony World Photography Awards 2025 — the best pictures from the shortlist
On a hot summer's day, German fighter pilots wait on standby at an airfield
SZ PHOTO / SCHERL
• Spectrum: Photographs from South Sudan — a population fighting floodwaters
German Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters prowl the White Cliffs of Dover, September 7, 1940
SZ PHOTO / SCHERL
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
6 hours ago
- BBC News
Five Cumbria stories you might have missed this week
A building in danger of collapsing further into a river and a lost tortoise being reunited with her owner - here are some stories from Cumbria you might have missed. Collapsed building's owner reiterates flats plan The owner of a Grade II listed building in danger of further collapsing into a river says he still wants to transform it into of the Old Courthouse in the centre of Cockermouth, Cumbria, fell into the River Cocker in October 2023 and the property has yet to be Samiul Ahmed claims he cannot move forward with his refurbishment plans because of legal notices served by the local authority. Read more about the building in danger of further collapse here 'Dismay' as mountain rescue donations stolen A mountain rescue team was "dismayed" to find donations had been stolen from its collection box at a beauty Mountain Rescue Team said it made the discovery at Mardale Head, in the Lake District, on Sunday, after spending 12 hours on call-outs the previous day.A spokesman for the team said the box, which was set in a stone wall, had also been vandalised. Read more about the stolen donations here Tortoise with burn mark found after seven years A tortoise with a distinctive burned shell has been reunited with her owner after being missing for seven Christopher, 38, who owns Little Beasties pet shop in Ulverston, Cumbria, traced the owner thanks to a social media female tortoise, affectionally named "lucky tortoise" by Ms Christopher, was handed back to her owners after they recognised her shell which was injured by a wood-burning stove. Read more about the tortoise reunited with her owner here Farm project to plant hay meadows announced A £65,000 project to plant hay meadows on farmland this summer has been Lake District National Park Authority (LDNPA) and Cumbria Wildlife Trust are working on the plan to support "rare and threatened" plants that provide "vital nectar sources" for pollinators like bumblebees, hoverflies, and across the Lake District have already been identified and farmers will work with the organisations in the next three months to sow and plant seeds from other sites, the LDNPA said. Read more about the project to plant hay meadows on farmland here 'People can hug the Sycamore Gap tree again' A piece of the world-famous Sycamore Gap tree which was illegally felled nearly two years ago is to go on permanent act sparked global condemnation and outrage in September 2023, with two men found guilty of chopping the tree down earlier this people will be able to see and touch part of its trunk at a Northumberland visitor centre near where the tree stood. Read more about the Sycamore Gap trunk sculpture here Follow BBC Cumbria on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
The Guardian
7 hours ago
- The Guardian
I don't plan to have children. That doesn't mean I want them banished from my life
It struck me recently that, as a woman in my 30s, I am almost never asked about my plans to have children. Even in the few instances I have been, the question arose naturally in a related conversation and each time, when I said 'Oh I don't think I want children', the other person responded politely and didn't push any agenda. We could draw conclusions on what this says about other people's impressions of my lifestyle or my mothering instincts. But let's choose to see this anecdote in a positive light. I imagine that, even as recently as 10 years ago, I would have had to endure endless hectoring and intrusive comments about the so-called 'biological clock'. Or about ending up lonely in my old age or having a life which feels somehow empty or unfulfilled, as if that never happens to people with children. I think I don't really get asked this because now fewer of us are having children. Last year, the fertility rate in England and Wales (which measures how many children are born per woman during her childbearing years) was the lowest on record, at 1.44 children. The number of babies born was also the lowest it has been since the 1970s. Figures like this are usually bandied about as a source of doom and gloom regarding the state of the world. People are not having children only because they can't afford to, we are told, or because they fear impending environmental collapse. No doubt this is true for some people. But this focus may eclipse another, more straightforward reason: more of us are realising that if we don't want children we simply don't have to have them. In the space of a few generations many (although not all) of the restrictions placed on women's lives, in particular, have been dropped. It is commonplace for women to go to university and pursue the career of their choosing. The pressure to have a family has lessened. And I think the relief of that pressure is worth celebrating. (After all, in our time of environmental and social collapse we must take our silver linings where we can find them!) Still, I have wondered recently if one negative corollary to these changing norms is a pervasive and growing anti-child sentiment. I notice it everywhere. There is constant social media discourse about the annoyance of having to interact with children in pubs or cafes or parks. Now we're into school holidays I can detect the grumbling ramping up. There are noticeably more children in my local pub as some of the regular patrons have started families. It often feels as if a war is brewing, with locals of all ages hissing and whispering, their eyes narrowed if families leave 15 minutes later than the child curfew. Occasionally there is bad behaviour from the parents too. Recently a few dads brought a group of eight or so children of various ages to spend a sunny day inside watching a football match they were clearly not interested in. Naturally they all charged around the pub like horses in a western, barging into people and knocking over glasses. But I think we can accept there will be bad examples of every demographic and that this group would have had a great time at the park. It isn't just that one pub. There was a story recently about more pub landlords, facing a tough climate in the midst of the cost of living crisis, choosing to ban young children from pubs to manage this tension. I empathise with the difficult position they feel they have been put in. But to me it feels like a choice they shouldn't have to make. Quite often now, too, when I'm in restaurants or cafes, if a parent enters with a child or a pram, people start tutting and muttering, or rolling their eyes. God forbid if the baby starts to cry, as babies do. It strikes me as very rude and also counterproductive. If you greet an adult in a hostile way you won't get the best out of them. Why would it be different for a child? Even as someone not primarily affected by all this tutting and muttering I find it tiresome. It feels melodramatic, joyless and, dare I say, also quite childish. Consider too that, in general, women still do the bulk of childcare. What do we expect them to do? Sit in the house all day wearing black, pushing their babies back and forth in one of those metal Victorian prams with the big spokes, so the rest of us needn't be troubled by their existence? Is it really such a big deal to hear a baby briefly cry in the afternoon in a pub? If that is the price to pay for their mum being out and about in the world I think it's a more than fair one. It feels strange, to me, to draw us all into two camps of 'has children' or 'doesn't have children'. Those labels cover such a vast array of different lifestyles and choices, as well as circumstances which are sadly forced, rather than chosen. But whether or not we end up having children, it serves us well to consider how we welcome families of young children into our public spaces. After all, few of us end up living a life completely 'free' of children. My own isn't. As I come into my 30s the women around me are having children. I already have two godchildren. I have a feeling I might end up with 10 or so. And if I'm ever rich, maybe I will hire them all a holiday villa when they turn 18 and they can bond over the honour of having me for a godparent. I imagine I'll end up with nieces and nephews too. Or stepchildren. Who knows? Time brings all kinds of different, unexpected relationships into our lives. The children I see about in the cafes or pubs in my neighbourhood are a part of the community like anyone else. The idea of public spaces cleanly absent of children seems to speak to a fantasy of a world where the lives we live are totally detached from the lives of the people around us. But of course they aren't. And if this fantasy were reality, our lives would be very small and boring. Rachel Connolly is the author of the novel Lazy City
The Sun
11 hours ago
- The Sun
Divorced mum ordered to pay her ex-husband half the £160,000 cost of his trans surgery in legal first
A DIVORCED mum has been ordered to stump up £80,000 for her ex-husband's gender swap surgery - even though it tore their marriage apart. The furious 60-year-old mum-of-two split from her husband after he revealed he wanted to start hormone therapy in 2022. The couple, who married in 2002, led a "very international lifestyle living in several countries in different continents and purchasing properties in various countries". But a judge at Brighton Family Court ruled that splitting the cost of his transition was 'reasonable' because it was a 'need' not a 'whim'. The wife claimed her husband's decision to transition led to the breakdown of the their marriage. And so, she said it was unfair for her to pay £80,000 for the procedure. Her 58-year-old ex claimed his wife "always knew" he was trans, and told the court: 'Denying my request is like saying someone who had cancer should not have the surgery.' He also claimed he couldn't afford child support - despite blowing £14,000 of shared funds in a single month on 'clothing, nails, jewellery and restaurants.' In 2024 the husband, who was retraining as a masseuse, splashed £160,000 on the transition – using cash from the couple's £3million joint pot, even though they'd been separated for two years. The court battle racked up an eye-watering £1million in legal fees. His ex-wife 'was adamant that she was not aware the respondent wished to transition until the end of the marriage'. She began divorce proceedings after her husband announced he wanted to live as a lesbian woman instead. The judge admitted the husband 'showed no understanding' of how his choice affected others - but still ruled the funds must come from shared assets. He displayed a "striking lack of empathy", the judge said. The husband had declared: 'You marry a trans person. You live with a trans person. You benefit from a trans person.' 1
