Imperial War Museum
The Imperial War Museum ( Imperial War Museum ) is the British military museum that was created after the First World War. It opened in 1920 on Sydenham Hill, moved to South Kensington later and, finally, in 1936 it ended in the district of Southwark and it is there where it remains since then.
It should be noted that the Imperial War Museum is the main headquarters of the museum but there are other facilities spread throughout the rest of England that can also be visited, such as:
- Imperial War Museum of Duxford, located in Cambridge.
- Imperial War Museum North, located in Manchester.
- HMS Belfast, located in London, directly opposite the Tower of London s
- Churchill War Rooms, located in the Westminster area
If you are going to spend more than 3 days in London and you are interested in its history, the Imperial War Museum is, without a doubt, a must see.
What to see in the Imperial War Museum
Despite being a military museum, the focus of everything shown inside is more social and tries to show the hard blow that the war meant for the British population, the experiences of the soldiers and the losses that took place after the First World War.
Well, this museum already impresses from the entrance door where you will find cannons pointing right towards the door. It is quite common to take a picture right in this entry.
The Imperial War Museum is spread over three different floors:
Main room Low level
The first room you'll find in the museum is full of tanks, weapons and military aircraft that hang from the ceiling. Some tanks keep their doors open and can be seen inside, which is quite curious.
Each object or weapon has a presentation sheet that indicates where and when the object in question was used.
One of the most peculiar objects of this room is the atomic bomb.
Rest of rooms. First, Second Floor and Third Floor
The rest of the rooms are less focused on armaments and focus more on history, the consequences and how the war was lived by non-military citizens.
On the first floor you will find everything related to the espionage that took place during the war, being essential that you see the famous typewriter with which encrypted messages were sent indecipherable by the rest of the combatants.
On the second floor you will find many photographs, extracts of videos and a variety of objects and peculiar stories that anyone should know to remember or be aware of what a real war is.
Apart from all this, there are also a series of exhibitions that attempt to reconstruct certain war scenarios, such as the famous war trenches.
Finally, on the third floor there is all the material related to the Holocaust and the horror that this war time caused for the population.
Location, time and prices
The Imperial War Museum is located on Lambeth Road and the truth is that there is nothing interesting in its vicinity. The nearest subway stop is Lambeth North but Waterloo and Southwark are also relatively close.
The museum is open every day from 10 in the morning until 6 in the afternoon. It takes a few hours to see it thoroughly so we recommend you go from the first hour.
Needless to say, the entrance to the museum is free.
