Imperial War Museum

• Location: England

England's Imperial War Museums cover Britain's involvement in wars from World War I to the present. Their five branches include the main Imperial War Museum in London; the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms in Whitehall; the HMS Belfast, moored in the Pool of London; the Imperial War Museum Duxford near Cambridge; and the Imperial War Museum North in Trafford. This article relates to the museum's main branch on Lambeth Road in London.

The museum's exhibits show how the military and civilian personnel experience war. Causes and consequences of war are studied here, as well. Over 15,000 works of art; 30,000 posters; aircraft, armored vehicles, naval vessels, weapons, uniforms, badges, medals and personal artifacts; a library of 155,000 items; tapes and videos; photographs; and historical sound recordings are all housed in the museums. The museum hosts a permanent Holocaust exhibition, using historical documents, photos, artifacts and film to show how the Nazis persecuted and slaughtered the Jews and other groups during WWII, as well as the ways in which people collaborated and resisted. There is an exhibit on espionage and covert operations in wartime; a display about genocide and ethnic violence, including a 30-minute film called Crimes Against Humanity; and an exhibit devoted to the life and career of Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery. Other new exhibits include a look at the home front through the eyes of children, a presentation on the ways that camouflage was used in the war and later in popular fashion, and a 25th-anniversary exhibit of the Falkland Islands.

How to get there:

• By tube:
  The nearest stations are Lambeth North (Bakerloo Line), Waterloo (Bakerloo, Northern and Jubilee Line), Southwark (Jubilee Line) and Elephant & Castle (Bakerloo and Northern Line).
• By train:
  The nearest train stations are Waterloo and Elephant & Castle.
• By bus:
  Bus lines serving London's Imperial War Museum include numbers 1, 3, 12, 45, 53, 59, 63, 68, 100, 159, 168, 171, 172, 176,188, 344 and C10.
• By car:
  There is limited metered parking on Lambeth Road. Remember that the museum is located inside the London congestion charge zone; there is a daily £8 fare for driving within the zone.

The museum is fully handicapped-accessible.

The museum is open every day (except for December 24-26) 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Admission is free, though there may be a fee for certain special exhibits.

This article is about the Imperial War Museum in London. For the museum in the Salford, Greater Manchester, see Imperial War Museum North.

Imperial War Museum
Established	1917
Location	Lambeth Road, London SE1
Visitor figures	712,000 (2006) [1]
Director	Sir Robert Crawford
Nearest tube station(s)	Lambeth North, Waterloo, Southwark, Elephant & Castle
Website	www.iwm.org.uk
Imperial War Museum network Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms · HMS Belfast · Imperial War Museum Duxford · Imperial War Museum North

The Imperial War Museum is a museum in London featuring military vehicles, weapons, war memorabilia, an extensive library open to the public Monday to Saturday, a photographic archive, and an art collection of 20th century and later conflicts, especially those involving Britain, and the British Empire. This location is the headquarters of a 5-branch system. The other locations are listed at the end of the page. The museum is partially funded by the government, but also relies on individual contributions and revenue generation through retailing, licensing income and other commercial activity.

The Imperial War Museum houses a large collection of oral recordings of interviews with people who were affected by war in the 20th Century. The sound archive has been used for a series of radio programmes and books, called Forgotten Voices, about war in the 20th century, including Forgotten Voices of the Great War and Forgotten Voices of the Holocaust.

Since 1995, the museum's Director General has been Sir Robert Crawford CBE.

History

Originally located inside the Imperial Institute (now Imperial College), the Imperial War Museum was moved temporarily to the Crystal Palace, located atop Sydenham Hill. The Museum was founded there in 1917 to commemorate those who had died in World War I (which was still being fought at the time). When that building burned down on 30 November 1936, a new location had to be found, and a building in Lambeth Road, Southwark, was settled on. That building, designed by Sydney Smirke, had originally been a psychiatric hospital, Bethlem Royal Hospital (otherwise known as "Bedlam"), located in St. George's Fields. In 1939, the Museum began including things relating to World War II, and then finally in 1953 it began its current policy of including memorabilia from all modern British conflicts.

Visiting the museum

Entrance is free, though there may be charges for special exhibits. Donations are encouraged. It is open daily, 10.00 am – 6.00 pm.

Other branches

The Museum also has several other branches in the United Kingdom:

• The Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms [2]

Located in the bunker which was operational nerve centre of the British government during World War 2.

• HMS Belfast [3]

A light cruiser moored in the Thames.

• The Imperial War Museum Duxford, Cambridge [4]

An aerospace museum, including many military aircraft.

• The Imperial War Museum North (Manchester) [5]

Opened in 2002 to provide access to the people of the North to the museum's collections.

Selected exhibition items

Fragment of the Berlin Wall	A replica of the Colditz "Cock" Glider	P-51 Mustang	M4 Sherman tank
Heinkel He 162A-1	Jagdpanther tank destroyer, frontal view	An exhibit on espionage	A Korean war exhibit

See also

• Forgotten Voices of the Great War
• Forgotten Voices of the Holocaust
• Forgotten Voices of the Second World War
• Forgotten Voices of the Blitz and the Battle of Britain
• Forgotten Voices of the Falklands

External links

• Imperial War Museum official website

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Imperial War Museum

• Map
• Historical picture of Bethlem Royal Hospital (current location of the IWM)
• 1999 - Mario Petrucci becomes the Museum's first poet in residence
• Information on the 15" guns outside the museum's main entrance
• The Forgotten Voices website

Museums and galleries in London

Apsley House · Barbican Art Gallery · British Museum · Burgh House · Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms · Percival David Foundation · Design Museum · Dulwich Picture Gallery · Estorick Collection · Foundling Museum · Freud Museum · Geffrye Museum · Guildhall Art Gallery · Handel House Museum · Hayward Gallery · HMS Belfast · Hogarth's House · Horniman Museum · Imperial War Museum · Institute of Contemporary Arts · Kenwood House (Iveagh Bequest) · London Transport Museum · Museum in Docklands · Museum of London · National Army Museum · National Gallery · National Maritime Museum · National Portrait Gallery · Natural History Museum · Petrie Museum · Queen's Gallery · Ranger's House (Wernher Collection) · Royal Academy of Arts · Royal Collection · Saatchi Gallery · Science Museum · Serpentine Gallery · Sir John Soane's Museum · Somerset House – Courtauld Gallery, Gilbert Collection, Hermitage Rooms · Sutton House · Tate Britain · Tate Modern · Victoria and Albert Museum · V&A Museum of Childhood · Wallace Collection · Whitechapel Art Gallery

Coordinates: 51°29′45″N, 0°06′30″W

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