London - A Day at Two Museums

Imperial War Museum

Today was spent at a couple of museums.  The first was the Imperial War Museum.  It’s quite large, with a beautiful rose garden and some huge guns that maybe used to be on a war ship.  It was an amazing place.  Neither of us recalls seeing that much machinery or weapons in some of the Washington DC museums, but maybe we missed it.  Anyhow the main floor has quite the assortment to keep a child young or old fascinated.  They had a few exhibits especially for children that these old kids enjoyed just as much like the submarine and how it was for those sailors to live, and what type of things they kept in their “ditty box”.  One of the photos is of the “Monty” (Lt General Montgomery), the American made tank that gave Britain the edge over the Germans in Africa.  It became instantly recognizable by its 75mm gun

Check this out.  These are the instructions posted above the toilet on a submarine : 

1.    Charge air bottle and open sea and N.R. Valves.

2.    Open Flush inlet valve with extreme care.

3.    Free lever and bring to pause.

4.    Bring lever to flushing.

5.    Bring lever to discharge

6.    Bring lever to pause

7.    Return lever to normal and lock.

8.    Close all valves..

Another part of this exhibit focused on the First World War.  I really didn’t know much about it and wanted to gain a better understanding since my grandfather Rowland served in France.  My grandmother Sadie said he wasn’t the same man afterwards and my mom believed he suffered from post-traumatic stress.  There was one part that was set up like the trenches they spent so much time in.  They had been reconstructed, and they smelled nasty even before we entered.  (If you can imagine a boys locker room after a serious game…….well, you get my drift.  Ick.)  I snapped a few photos in the dark to remind myself.

Churchill War Museum

After lunch we headed to the Churchill War Museum in Kensington.  You walk through the front door and immediately go down a flight of stairs.  This entire exhibit is underground, the exact same space Prime Minister Winston Churchill and self-appointed Secretary of Defense and his teams worked during world war two.  They used original furnishings, documents, and mannequins the made you feel like a ‘time traveller’.  It was fascinating.  There were also some interviews done with some of his co-workers (I listened to a secretary) that shared how it was to actually work with the man.  Apparently Churchill had a speech impediment of sorts and could be difficult to understand until you got used to it, didn’t like paper clips on his documents but preferred a “Klop” (one hole punch) and a tag, and of course expected perfection from his clerical staff mostly due to the pressure he was under. Here is a photo of one of the rooms and on the right hand side there is a blackboard that still has the statistics for 15 September, 1940: