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IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM-London-uk

Credit- Flickr

IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM

Opening Times  10am – 6pm daily. More deatils

ADDRESS

IWM London, Lambeth Road, London, SE1 6HZ, Location

NEAREST TUBE STATIONS

Lambeth North Underground

Elephant & Castle Underground

BUS ROUTES:  3, 59, 159, 344, and 360

FACILITIES

  • Designated wheelchair accessible public toilet
  • Audible alarm system
  • Information available in audio format
  • Assistance dogs welcome
  • Wheelchairs available free of charge
  • Accessible baby changing rooms
  • Gift shop
  • Public toilets

TIPS

  • There are both locker facilities and buggy locks available, however, the museum is unable to store any large items of luggage or suitcases, and they will have to be left at Waterloo Station (a ten to 15-minute walk away).
  • Tibetan piece garden is 2 minutes’ walk from the museum where you can chill out with family and children.
  • There is a restaurant at the museum: which serves different food including sourdough pizzas, burgers, children’s meals and salads, and there is even a Tea Room open during the museum’s busy periods as well.

HISTORY:

Imperial War Museums is the world’s leading museum of war and conflict. Founded while the First World War was still raging, it gives voice to the extraordinary experiences of ordinary people forced to live their lives in a world torn apart by conflict.

From the moment you step into the iconic atrium, to the countless discoveries awaiting you in the award-winning galleries, IWM London examines the continuing influence of war on our world.

Hear extraordinary true stories of ordinary people’s experiences of conflict across the museum’s six floors – stories that have the power to move, inspire and transform.

THINGS SHOULD NOT MISS:

The guns in the front:

The iconic 15-inch guns - IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM
The iconic 15-inch guns : CREDITS-Wikimedia Commons

The iconic 15-inch guns from HMS Ramillies and HMS Resolution outside IWM’s Lambeth Road building were installed and unveiled to the public in 1968. The removal was carried out by Robert Wynn and Sons at a cost of £2,575 for the move and £700-£800 for mounting the guns

German V2 Rocket from World War II- Wikimedia Commons

V1 flying bomb and V2 rocket

These huge missiles were invented at the end of the World War Two and were hailed by the Nazi regime as wonder weapons that would undermine British morale and turn the tide for Germany.

V1 rocket- By one estimate of the 7,488 which crossed the English Channel, 3,957 were destroyed and 2,419 reached the London area. Secondary targets were Southampton, Manchester, and Gloucester. The people of Britain called the V1 missiles ‘Buzz Bombs’(because of its sound) or ‘Doodlebugs’. The first was dropped at Swanscombe in Kent on 13 June 1944 and the last one at Orpington in Kent on 27 March 1945. Of these, causing 5,475 deaths, with 16,000 injured.

V2 rockets: Hitler’s ‘vengeance’ rocket, the V-2, was the world’s first ballistic missile, and the first man-made object to make a sub-orbital spaceflight. Over 1400 were launched at Britain, with more than 500 striking London. Each hit caused devastation. About 5,000 people died in V-2 attacks, and it is estimated that at least 10,000 prisoners from the Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp died when used as forced labour in building V-2s at the underground Mittelwerk factory.

At the end of the war, WERNHER VON BRAUN, creator of the V2, was arrested and taken to America where, as part of ‘Operation Paperclip’, he put the techniques he had learned to a new use – his efforts eventually resulted in the first moon landing.

Sherman Tank USA : CREDIT-Wikimedia Commons

The American Sherman

The M4 Sherman, officially Medium Tank, M4, was the most widely used medium tank by the United States and Western Allies in World War II. The M4 Sherman proved to be reliable, relatively cheap to produce, and available in great numbers. Tens of thousands were distributed through the Lend-Lease program to the British Commonwealth and Soviet Union. The tank was named by the British after the American Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman.

The M4 carried a crew of five—commander, gunner, loader, driver, and codriver/hull gunner. The vehicle weighed about 33 tons, depending on the series. The M-4 was the second most popular tank in World War II, due in large part to its reliability. Somewhere between 40,000 to 50,000 of these tanks were produced by the United States. These tanks came at a price tag of $33,000, which is equivalent to $550,000 USD in today’s money.

RUSSIAN T34 TANK: credit-wikimedia commons

Russian T34

With a total of 80,000 produced during and after World War Two, the T-34 was the most popular tank, becoming an icon of the Soviet Union.

The Tracks design was based on a wristwatch. A simple pin holding separate pieces together. This meant most soldiers could replace the part, you didn’t have to rely on an engineer performing a complicated task.     

 Another simple addition was this wooden pole which was useful in muddy land.       

The spitfire-UK: credit-The Geograph

The spitfire

The Supermarine Spitfire is one of the most iconic aircraft of all time. Between 1937 and 1947 over 20,000 of them were built and in those 10 years, Spitfires changed dramatically from the Mk 1 to the Mk 24. More powerful engines, new wing shapes, different armaments, and more were added to the Spitfire to maintain its edge over enemy aircraft. The Supermarine Spitfire was the only Allied frontline fighter in complete and continuous development all the way through the Second World War.

The Spitfire’s name is often assumed to derive from its ferocious firing capabilities. But it likely owes just as much to Sir Robert McLean’s pet name for his young daughter, Ann, who he called “the little spitfire”. It was one of the first planes to feature retractable landing gear. Each Spitfire cost £12,604 to build in 1939. That’s around £681,000 in today’s money

The spitfire in this museum had 57 compact missions in 1940 by 13 different pilot, sadly only 6 were survived.

13-POUNDER NÉRY GUN

This gun served in the 1914, but it only lasted a week. It was used by L Battery of the Royal Horse Artillery. This was a time when soldiers relied on horsepower in battle.

Nery is a town in Northern France, a place where 200 soldiers had spent days marching towards, feeling that they had a safe distance between themselves and German forces. However, on 1 September at 5.30am, they suddenly awoke to shell fire. The Germans had 12 guns. Britain had 3 which quickly fell to just one, this one, over the next few hours

44 men, one quarter of  L Battery’s troops were killed in this battle. Three of the most senior; Captain Bradbury, Sergeant Nelson and Sergeant Dorrell were awarded the Victoria Cross for their bravery. Bradbury received his posthumously, his last moments came while lying against this gun.

In a sense then, this object has become a memorial to everyone who lost their lives in the First World War, its own battle wounds still clearly visible.

Bagdad car: Credit-Wikimedia Commons

BAGHDAD CAR

Without the label, it was hard to guess the original function of this object from its mangled remains. On 5 March 2007, this car was destroyed in a suicide blast within an historic book market in Baghdad, Iraq. This wasn’t the car containing the bomb, yet it’s disfigured almost beyond recognition.38 civilians died.  Seeing the damage done to metal, it’s heart-breaking to think of the fragility of the human body in comparison. It’s a stark reminder that in our modern world it’s civilians, not soldiers, who are often targets of war.

AVRO LANCASTER: Credit-Wikimedia Commons

Avro 683 Lancaster Mk 1

The four-engined Avro Lancaster heavy bomber was designed and built by AV Roe & Company for the RAF during the Second World War. Entering service with RAF Bomber Command in 1942, it soon became their main heavy bomber. Although the Avro Lancaster was primarily a night bomber, it excelled in many other roles including daylight and precision bombing raids. In the latter role, some were adapted to carry the 12,000 lb Tallboy and ultimately, the 22,000 lb Grand Slam Earthquake bombs. In March 1946, an Avro Lancastrian of BSAA flew the first scheduled flight from the then new London Heathrow Airport with other routes stretching as fa as Australia.

This aircraft in the foreground was destroyed in a crash-landing at Woodbridge Emergency Landing Ground after returning from the ill-fated Nuremberg raid of 30/31 March 1944 on two engines. Its crew survived the crash but were all killed in action later.

DESERT HAWK III DRONE

With a 360° camera fitted on board, this drone was tacked with surveillance mission across Afghanistan. Able to film in day and night mode it’s virtually undetectable. For me it symbolised the huge shift in modern warfare that we’ve seen in the last 50 years.

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BERLIN WALL: Credit-Wikimedia Commons

A piece of the berlin wall.

The 155-kilometer-long Berlin Wall, which cut through the middle of the city centre, surrounded West Berlin from August 13, 1961, to November 9, 1989. The Wall was designed to prevent people from escaping to the West from East Berlin.

Section of the Berlin Wall from a street called Leuschnerdamm in the Kreuzberg district of Berlin. One side of the wall section is covered in graffiti, including the inscription ‘CHANGE YOUR LIFE’, by the artist Jürgen Grosse, known professionally as ‘Indiano’. The dramatic fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 signalled the end of the Cold War, triggering the reunification of Germany, the subsequent dissolution of the USSR and the reshaping of Europe. Explore the story of one of the most iconic and defining moments of the 20th century.

Snatch Land Rover Mk.1

During June 2006, this vehicle served with 38 Squadron, 26 Engineer Regiment in Basra during the Iraq War. The vehicle’s design has been the subject of severe criticism because of a number of IED attacks in Iraq and Afghanistan, gaining the nickname of the “mobile coffin”. The Snatch was adapted for the weather and terrain of Iraq but was not suitably armoured to protect against IEDs. It was replaced in 2020 with the Foxhound vehicle which provided better blast protection.

Motorcycle

This motorbike was captured from the Taliban in Afghanistan on 4th May 2011. Members of 1st Battalion, The Rifles encountered two insurgents riding the motorbike on a track in Nahr-e Saraj (South). As the insurgents tried to get away from the soldiers, they lost control of the bike, dropping it and disappearing into the nearest village.

Motorbikes like this one were frequently used by Taliban scouts who observed and reported on the movements of ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) troops. Motorbikes gave them freedom of movement in the Afghan countryside and helped them to blend in with the local population.

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SADAM MURAL: Credit-Flickr

The Saddam Tile Mural

A tiled mural removed from a wall at the entrance to Umm Qsar port in Iraq  by 17 Port & Maritime Regiment, Royal Logistic Corps, commanded by Colonel Paul Ash. This mural was removed at the end of March 2003 after the US-led international coalition invaded Iraq. The mural was removed at the request of locals who were insistent that it and all other similar symbols of Saddam Hussein were either removed or destroyed

Letter to Lord Kitchener

As a cabinet minister at the beginning of World War I, Lord Herbert Kitchener was one of the few in office to foresee a long war. He organised the largest volunteer army the world had ever seen and his iconic recruitment posters are still familiar today. The response to the campaign was overwhelming: more than half a million men signed up in the first few weeks. This letter is from a nine-year-old boy from Dublin, offering his services to ‘Lord Kitchner’ as a ‘despatch ridder’. He says he can ‘ride jolley quick on my bycycle’, claims to be ‘a godd shot with a revolver’ and able to ‘win a fight with lads twice as big as mysels’. The War Office replied to thanking Alfie for his letter but informing him that he was not quite old enough. (Many boys lied about their age and were successfully enlisted, especially when the rush to join up began to die down in 1915.)

WORLD TRADE CENTRE STEEL WORK: Credit- The Geograph

Steelwork from the World Trade Centre

Section of twisted and rusted steelwork from the collapsed World Trade Centre in New York; the piece comprises of beams from the external walls of the building and was originally located somewhere around one of the two impact zones.

One of the castings from the “Little Boy”-Atom bomb

A spare casing for the “Little Boy” atomic bomb which was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on display in the Imperial War Museum’s Cold War gallery in November 2015

Two American atomic bombs ended World War II in August 1945, and the devastation will be forever remembered. In an instant when the first bomb was dropped, tens of thousands of residents of Hiroshima, Japan were killed by “Little Boy,” the code name for the first atomic bomb used in warfare in world history.

Bronze eagle which once stood on the roof of the Reichstag.

Bronze Eagle from the German Reich’s Chancellery. Sculpture of a Nazi style Reichsadler with Swastika (Third Reich national symbol). Photo of WW2 Soviet troops on the Reichstag, Berlin 1945.The Reichstag a historic legislative government building on Platz der Republik in Berlin, is the seat of the German Bundestag.

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