The Imperial War Museum documents British and Commonwealth war history since 1914. Founded during the First World War in 1917, the museum was intended as a record of the war effort and sacrifice of Britain and her Empire. Today The Imperial War Museum's mission is 'to enable people to have an informed understanding of modern war and its impact on individuals and society'. The museum's collections include archives of personal and official documents, photographs, film and video material, and oral history recordings; an extensive library, a large art collection, and examples of military vehicles and aircraft, equipment and other artefacts.

The Imperial War Museum is housed in the former Bethlem Royal Hospital building on Lambeth Road, it used to be a well-known asylum, 'Bedlam' which is where the term is derived from. Pugin - one of the architects of the Palace at Westminster, including the Clock Tower housing Big Ben, spent some time here shortly before his death. The stress of the project was reputed to have destroyed his sanity.

The reception as you're offered the option to buy a guide for the museum at the entrance can be imperious in tone. I understand their motivation, but it's not practised by other museums (and was based on 3 separate visits). When entering the main exihibit hall, drink in all that antique hardware. It's laid out over several galleried layers, which will take an hour or two to view.

Be mindful however, that for my money the best exhibition is downstairs. Head to the back where the lifts are - then down a level. This has a World War I, World War II and Cold War section. Full of weapons, uniforms, newspapers, documents and paraphenalia from throughout the conflicts.  In addition there are tannoy broadcasts, film reels and telephone conversations to enhance the atmosphere: "this is not the end. It's not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end... of the beginning." [Churchill after El Alamein]

 

Film and Video Archive

The Film and Video Archive is one of the oldest film archives in Britain and preserves a range of historically significant film and video material. The collection includes the official British film record of the First World War and the 1916 feature film The Battle of the Somme, which is inscribed on UNESCO's Memory of the World register. The collection also includes the official British film record of the Second World War, amateur film and film of other conflicts since 1945. Material from the collection was used to make a number of well-known TV documentary series including The Great War and The World at War.

Photograph Archive

The Photograph Archive preserves the official British photographic record of both World Wars and conflicts since 1945. It currently holds more than 6,000,000 images and the Second World War collection includes the work of photographers such as Bill Brandt, Cecil Beaton and Bert Hardy.

Both the Film and Photograph Archives are official repositories for material produced by the Ministry of Defence and so include material from contemporary operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Sound Archive

The Sound Archive, originally named the Department of Sound Records, administers a collection of over 56,000 hours of historical recordings and was opened to the public in July 1977. The core of this collection are oral history interviews with people who were affected by war in the 20th century. This collection has been used for a series of radio programmes and books, called Forgotten Voices, covering impact of war on ordinary people in the 20th century.

It is perhaps these sound archives, that for me reveal the most telling and insightful views of what wartime London was like. They are oral histories, which means they're derived from ordinary people, who although not able to handle a pen, or express themselves in a written form, give very moving accounts of what the experience was to everyday folk. Their stories, from stray doodlebugs, to first loves, arguments, unpatriotic behaviour, getting drunk and wandering through a full-scale bombing raid by the Luftwaffe - somehow manage to capture the authentic detail, often absent from academic accounts or film dramatisations.

Opening times:
Open daily (except 24, 25 and 26 December) 10.00am - 6.00pm

Admission:
Free. (NB: special exhibitions may charge an admission fee)

 

 

Imperial War Museum London, Lambeth Road, London SE1 6HZ

Lambeth North or Elephant and Castle Tube.

Call:    +44 (0)20 7416 5320

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