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During my stroll around the four floors plus basement of this impressive monument to British military successes, jam packed with memorabilia and historical documents it made me realise what it is truly like to finally understand our position in Europe, after all I reflected on the fact that our cheese eating surrender monkeys across the channel would struggle to muster one floor of military success stories, after all once you have devoted a floor to Napoleon where do you go from there, and even he was beaten by a block whose main claim to fame was designing a rubber boot. Anyway I kept my jingoistic thoughts to myself especially as the first two floors that we had visited had really served to highlight the pure awfulness of what man can do to man, any romantic ideas on the purity of war firmly squashed and cast asunder.
The Imperial War Museum is located south of the Thames on the corner of the Lambeth Road and George Street, there are a number of tube stations that it is close to, as we were on the Northern Line we got off at Elephant and Castle for the five minute walk to the museum. The approach is very impressive, two huge naval gun turrets point towards you protecting the rather grandiose building behind them, there are some green areas around the museum, good for enjoying picnics in the sun but hardly picturesque in their rather shabby demeanour. Unfortunately the photo opportunity of the building was spoilt somewhat by the scaffolding covering half the building.
Entry
to the museum is free, some of the special exhibits could incur a charge however on our visit the two special displays did not so we were free to enjoy everything the museum has to offer. Upon entry there is a cleverly laid our entrance queuing system where after the bag check they try and sell you a guide book, smile, say hello and walk on as in the next open area there is an information desk where you can get a map for free. There is also a free cloak room and toilets down some stairs.
Surrounding the information desk is an impressive display of large exhibits, tanks and artillery guns rub shoulders with missile launchers and eve a double-deckerbus, the most impressive exhibit for me was an old WWI tank and also the Jaeger tank with part of the side cut away so you can peer in. From the ceiling are suspended various aircraft while at the back of the room there are some submarines, all in all an impressive opening to the museum and very popular with people of all ages.
We decided to head up to the two special exhibits first located on the top two floors. The first is a 30 minute film titled “Crimes against humanity”. Be aware this is not open to children under 11 and not recommended for under 16 year olds, having said that my 13 and 15 year old watched it and there was little on it that they have not seen on news clips. More upsetting are the words being said rather than the visual stuff. It covers many atrocities particularly the more recent ones in Rwanda and the states that formerly made up Yugoslavia, not surprising I guess given the availability of modern media footage. For me the most upsetting was not actually the voices of the victims of the violence rather the voices of two individuals, one a 14 year old male and the other a 20 something woman whose testimony was how they were forced to take part in the massacre or face death themselves.
On the third floor is The Holocaust Exhibition, again there is no entry to under 11 and it is not recommended for under 14’s. This was the most impressive exhibit in the museum, a comprehensive account of the events leading up to and during the Holocaust. I loved the way that it is set out, taking you on a journey throughout the period and explaining the history of anti Semitism, it uses a range of displays from audio visual screens, models of Auschwitz including a timeline of prisoners from arrival at the camp to their appointment in the gas chambers and documents and artefacts to demonstrate the human face of the whole horrible passage of history. We spent a good hour in this exhibit and it was jam packed with information and personal testimonies from survivors, it is quite graphic in places but nothing too extreme and certainly it held the attention of my two children and had them asking lots of questions. As I walked through this it did stir the feelings of revulsion I have for those who deny or talk down the holocaust and reminds me of why I despise the BNP and its supporters with such a passion. The exhibit actually ends on the second floor such is the extent of the exhibits.
On the first floor there are some more large exhibits including the walk through cockpit of a WWII bomber and a full size excocet missile that gained notoriety during the Falklands War. The most interesting display on this floor though is Secret War a history of espionage during the wars and up to the present day, in particular counter espionage work and forces like the SAS, there is even a film of the Iranian Embassy siege and the SAS going in which bought back memories of watching The Professionals as a youngster only for it to cut away to something far more interesting when this event took place.
The ground floor and basement are given over to the permanent exhibits on the first and second world wars. The Terrible Trenches exhibit is excellent and very hands on, you get to walk through a mock up of the trenches with some audio playing the sounds of war and some snatches of conversation. There is also the Children War an account of childhood during WWII which has some interesting information on the evacuations to the countryside and also a mock up of a 1940’s house.
At first I thought the rest of the exhibits on the Lower Ground Floor were a bit confusing however they actually follow a quite well organised flow, however by this time we were becoming a bit jaded and also the exhibits are rather crammed in and there is a danger of overload, as my son commented on when he moaned about another case of guns to look at. To be honest this section was probably best left for another day as we were “exhibited out” by that stage.
In terms of other facilities there are only one set of toilets located in the lower ground floor so go before you venture up to the fourth. On the ground floor there is a café that is open all day until 17.30, it sells rather expensive sandwiches, £3.50 for a tuna mayo which attempted to justify the price tag with the observation that the bread was sour dough and the mayo contained chives, but neither added to the culinary experience. It also has some hot options like pie and mushy peas and a kids menu of pigs in blankets (sausage in a pastry wrap) both of which looked pricey and not great value. Next time I will buy at the Tesco at Elephant and Castle and eat in the park.
The museum has good access for the disabled however the 1940’s house has stairs so access is restricted and involves a certain amount of back tracking, also on the bottom two floors the walkways are rather cramp making wheel chair access tight and there are some uneven floors for those who are unsteady on their feet.
Overall I have been impressed with our visit, there is plenty to do and see with a full range of mediums used and enough hands on exhibits to entertain the kids. I would definitely visit again when the next lot of special exhibits arrive after the summer and the museum is a pretty full day out if you want it to be.
For more information and to check opening times have a look a www.iwm.org.uk.
I've attempted to visit this place on four occasions now with like minded friends when in London...we tend to get stuck in the pub across the road though (does lovely a reasonably priced food and is family friendly).
mt0902 09.06.2009 05:00
great review
arnoldhenryrufus 12.04.2009 21:36
I think it is very important that we remember our history, however bad it is, I will have to visit here one day -lyn x
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Advantages: excellent exhibitions, well presented, informative, good combination of evidence and artefacts displayed Disadvantages: can be a bit depressing
Advantages: excellent exhibitions, well presented, informative, good combination of evidence and artefacts displayed Disadvantages: can be a bit depressing
Apr 9th, 2009
exceptional by (12%):
very helpful by (88%):
