Directly at the entrance to the grounds of the Imperial War Museum, a small sign informs visitors that here is a place devoted to ”part of your family`s history.” It`s a poignant message, a reminder to all those who enter how deeply the two world wars of this century affected every family in England.
For the older Englishmen who walk through the museum`s vivid exhibits devoted to trench warfare or the London Blitz, there are bound to be memories, painful and nostalgic, of a time when friends and family members by the thousands were caught up in trying and bloody times.
For the youngsters who never knew these wars, but clamber over the old tanks and gawk at the aircraft hanging from the ceiling, this is an up-to-date house of games, dotted with enough programmed television and film attractions to hold the attention of even the most jaded player of computer battles.
For all generations, it is a fascinating excursion into the past.
Established by an act of Parliament in 1920 and opened that same year, the museum was originally set up to house materials relating to the Great War; but with the advent of World War II, its scope was enlarged. Today, in addition to its principal exhibits of the two world wars, it contains smaller sections covering the Korean, Falklands and Persian Gulf conflicts, in which British and Commonwealth troops were involved.
Since 1936, the museum has been housed in the former central section of Bethlem Royal Hospital, better known as Bedlam, the old hospital for the insane.
Exhibit space tripled
Five years ago, the museum underwent substantial redevelopment in a plan worked out by the London design firm of Arup Associates. The first phase of the handsome redesign, now completed, allows three times the former exhibition space and includes a small restaurant and a well-stocked gift shop on the main floor.
The reshaping of the museum, added to its impressive collection, has made it one of the most attractive and inviting institutions in a city that is already bountifully stocked with great museums.
The sight that first greets visitors here is the spacious great hall, which contains an array of planes, tanks, artillery, submarines, rockets and other large machines of war. A Sopwith Camel from World War I and a Spitfire from World War II hang suspended above the first modern tank, an anti-aircraft gun, armored cars and a small fishing boat that took part in the evacuation of British troops from Dunkirk in France in 1940. Each item is clearly labeled, and many have supplementary television sets, activated by a button, showing news films of the war machinery in operation under battle conditions.
Galleries on two floors above house additional large exhibits and a collection of art that shows the heroic and horrific aspects of war in the 20th Century.
Behind the public areas are reference libraries, where, by appointment, one can see the huge collection of documents, photographs, books, films, paintings and recordings the museum also houses. Outside this central headquarters, the museum staff maintains other exhibition sites, including the cabinet war rooms of Winston Churchill in London, a World War II fighter station at Duxford near Cambridge, and the heavy cruiser HMS Belfast, anchored in the Thames River.
Main exhibits
The bedrock materials of the museum, however, are in its lower floor, where a labyrinth of corridors leads the visitor through dozens of exhibition cases that afford a detailed tour of World Wars I and II. Here, in one comprehensive display after another, and augmented by newsreels and recordings, are artifacts of warfare on land, sea and air, as well as reports from the home front. In neatly labeled and mounted displays one can see primitive gas masks, machine guns, toy models, rifles, recruiting posters, medals, manuscripts, helmets, uniforms, photographs, maps, incendiary bombs, a dagger worn by Lawrence of Arabia, and even a life preserver from the Lusitania, the ship sunk by German U-boats in 1914, which brought the United States into WW I.
Capping all these bits of history is a walk-through re-creation of a front-line trench on the Somme in the autumn of 1916. Here, sound, light and special effects envelop the viewer to evoke the sensations of the battlefield. The exhibits focusing on World War II are filled with similar memorabilia: a food ration book and samples of wartime canned goods, a pair of straw snow boots used by German troops on the Russian front, U.S. Air Force leather bomber jackets and a poster warning the folks at home not to fall prey to the ”Squander Bug.”
This area also houses three larger segments of special note: the truck caravan used by Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery as his tactical headquarters in the field, a horrifying view of the German concentration camps (a sign posted outside the area warns sensitive viewers of its contents) and an elaborately designed ”Blitz Experience,” which uses realistic sound and lighting effects to re-create the conditions of an air raid shelter and portions of a bombed London street.
Ironically, this museum, which features so many instruments of death and destruction, is one of the liveliest educational institutions in London.
Alan Borg, the museum`s director general, noting this irony in his introduction to the museum`s catalog, states the case for such a museum with succinct grace:
”There is no one alive today whose life has not been shaped in some way by the great conflicts of this century and if that is a sad comment on humanity, it also suggests that our subject is one that deserves study. The prime role of the museum is educational, but we also know that you cannot educate anyone if you are dull and boring. For this reason we have tried to make the Imperial War Museum as lively and informative as possible. Our job is to tell you the facts in as accurate and objective a way as possible; the conclusions you draw are your own.”
The Imperial War Museum, Lambeth Road, London SE1 6HZ, is a short walk from the Lambeth North or Elephant and Castle stations of the London Underground. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, except Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, the British holiday of Boxing Day in December, and New Year`s Day. Admission is about $6 for adults, with an additional charge of about $2 for the 10-minute ”Blitz Experience.”Reduced rates for children and groups. One could enjoyably spend all day here, but vistors pressed for time should allow at least two hours for a bare minimum tour.
