Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding (right), commander-in-chief of RAF Fighter Command, escorts King George VI and Queen Elizabeth on their visit to his headquarters at Bentley Priory, Stanmore, September 1940. More than any other person, Dowding was responsible for victory during the Battle of Britain, having overseen the creation of a centralised aerial defence network that combined advances in technology with a flexible system of command and control. The 'Dowding system' of radio-based fighter control linked to an effective detection network meant that his squadrons could offer a level of air defence out of proportion to their actual numbers.
