Let's not repeat such tragedies (Imperial War Museum (London))

Name: weebagpuss

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Product:	Imperial War Museum (London)
Date:	19/05/01 (107 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fascinating exhibitions, well presented, The trench and the blitz experience, Friendly and helpful staff

Disadvantages: a little depressing, not necessarily suitable for children

The Imperial War Museum is dedicated to all the wars from the beginning of the century, with a strong focus on the Second World War. It is situated in Lambeth Road, London, in a domed building which used to be a hospital for the insane, known as Bedlam. The nearest tube stations are either Elephant and Castle, or Lambeth North. It is also possible to walk from Waterloo mainline. Personally I think it's slightly easier to travel via Lambeth North - especially if you go alone, as round Elephant and Castle there are some rather 'dodgy' subways.

It costs £5.50 for adults to get in to the Imperial War Museum, and for students it's £4.50. Children get in free however. I don't think that for London, these admission prices are very high at all, they seem extremely reasonable, and when you buy a ticket there is usually a coupon on the back for money off your next visit. If you've been to somewhere such as the Cabinet War Rooms you may also get some money off. However, I do feel that if children get in for free then the student rate could be a bit cheaper.

When you get into the Imperial War Museum, it seems very spacious, as you walk into the large exhibit area first of all. This contains military vehicles from both world wars, including my personal favourite, a tank called 'Willie Pusher'. There are also some missiles - the huge Polaris being the most noticeable. (No Freudian analysis here please!) However, if tanks etc are not really your thing, and to be honest, they are not my main reason for visiting the museum, you can and look round some of the other exhibitions.

Permanent exhibitions here include those on both the first and second world war. They contain readable histories, outlining the military, political and social aspects of the wars. These information boards are well presented, using photos, timelines, maps and diagrams to make the information accessible to all. There are also many artefacts from the
wars, including uniforms, weapons, letters, and items from the home front, such as posters and ration books. But the museum is not simply a traditional 'items in glass cases' one. There are two main 'experiences' here - firstly the trench experience, where you can walk through a first world war trench, on the Somme in 1916. This, whilst being interesting, can never give you a true insight into the soldiers' experiences, the model here is sanitised and lacks the terrible muddy conditions and the feelings of fear they would have experienced, however, it is educational nevertheless, and you look into the soldier's dugout, see the rats, and smell some of the bully beef they might have been eating.

The other main experience, which unfortunately does often have long queues, is the Blitz experience, from the second world war. In this you begin by sitting in an air raid shelter - hearing the bombs dropping, and conversations around you - surprisingly realistic. It's very dark in there, so maybe small children would feel scared. There's also a bit of a surprise whilst you sit in the shelter - but you'll need to go and see for yourself what that is, I don't want to ruin it for you! After this, you get taken out into a recreation of a bombed street in London, round past the gasworks, past bombed out houses, and to the WVS tea van. I enjoyed this - partly because I like reading novels set in the second world war, and this helped me to imagine the conditions in which these novels were set.

Also of interest in the Imperial War Museum is the relatively new Holocaust exhibition, which has taken four years to create. You need to book a time to enter this at reception to prevent it from becoming too crowded, which is useful as it means you can have a proper look on all that is on display. They advise you that you are likely to spend an hour in here, but when I went with my Dad, we didn't emerge from this exhibition until
three hours later. I would certainly not recommend taking under 12s in here, it is full of horrific images, video and stories, and gave me nightmares. It was a very moving experience, tracing the history of the holocaust from the beginning until the end. It is a very fitting memorial to the holocaust victims, informing future generations of this terrible event in history, in order to try to prevent a reoccurence. You can see photos, diaries, and video footage, of those who perished, and also those who survived. The exhibition ends on a more positive note, with footage of survivors. Yet even so, this is a disturbing exhibition, and you need to make sure you have plenty of time to look round it. In fact, if you are serious about looking round here, then I would recommend that you take a separate day just for the Holocaust exhibition, as it can take a lot out of you emotionally.

In the Imperial War Museum there is an exhibition dedicated to post 1945 wars, which is important, as many of us forget that major wars still went on even after WWII ended. Wars featured here include the Falklands, the Vietnam and the Korean Wars.

There is also an exhibition dedicated to 'secret war'. This is fascinating, and enjoyable - makes a change from some of the heavier topics examined in the museum. Budding James Bond's can try their hand at code cracking with some of the interactive exhibits, and you can find out some fascinating facts about espionage in wartime. I particularly enjoyed looking at some of the artefacts here - the silk handkerchiefs with maps on for example. This exhibition has been designed with all ages in mind - highly recommended.

There is now a new exhibition at the museum based on the '1940s House' television programme. I have not yet got round to seeing this one, but apparently you can go inside a replica of the house as seen on tv. In holiday periods they even have dressed up wartime characters to tell you about th
e home front in war time.

The staff here are very helpful, I used to visit quite regularly and had some fascinating conversations with some of them, once being shown a gun which fired round corners, and being shown the three instances they have of Hitler's signature. If there's something you want to know, then the staff do seem to have most of the answers.

You might want to stop for lunch here, or a drink, and there is a cafe on the main floor. However, it's very expensive, and not very big. If the weather's nice, I'd recommend taking a picnic to eat in the grounds, where there's usually an ice cream van too, or taking sandwiches to eat in the packed-lunch room of the museum.

To sum up then, I highly recommend this museum, but don't expect it to be the most enjoyable visit to a museum you'll ever experience. War can be a depressing subject, and you'll leave this museum with a lot to think about. Children may enjoy visiting, but for the very young, I wouldn't recommend it. If you decide to visit arrive early since you'll almost certainly be able to spend a whole day here looking around.

© weebagpuss

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