Imperial War Museum

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Imperial War Museum
Established	1917
Location	Lambeth Road, London SE1, England
Visitor figures	Imperial War Museum London 865,601 All Museum branches 2,006,765[1].
Director	Diane Lees
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 Southwark, South London, England which documents British and Commonwealth history since 1914, with an emphasis on the causes, course and consequences of conflict. The museum was founded in 1917 and intended as a record of the national and international war effort of the First World War which was still being fought at the time. 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 weaponry, equipment, military vehicles and aircraft, and other artefacts. The museum serves as headquarters of a 5-branch system of related museums, a number of which are based on historic sites.

The Imperial War Museum is partly funded by government grants as well as individual contributions and revenue generation through retailing, licensing income and other commercial activity. The Museum is an exempt charity under the Charities Act 1993 and a non-departmental public body under the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The current Chairman of the Trustees is Air Chief Marshal Sir Peter Squire. Since October 2008, the museum's Director General has been Diane Lees. The previous Director General, from 1995 to 2008, was Sir Robert Crawford, CBE.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Establishment 1.2 Opening 1.3 Relocation 1.4 Redevelopment 1.5 Expansion 1.5.1 Imperial War Museum Duxford 1.5.2 HMS Belfast 1.5.3 Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms 1.5.4 Imperial War Museum North 2 Collections 2.1 Department of Documents 2.2 Department of Art 2.3 Film and Video Archive 2.4 Photograph Archive 2.5 Department of Exhibits and Firearms 2.6 Department of Printed Books 2.7 Sound Archive 3 Directors 4 Selected exhibits at Imperial War Museum London 4.1 Large Exhibits Gallery 4.2 Other exhibits 4.3 External exhibits 5 Visiting the museum 6 Notes 7 References 8 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Establishment

On 27 February 1917 Sir Alfred Mond, an MP and First Commissioner of Works, wrote to the Prime Minister David Lloyd George to propose the establishment of a National War Museum. This proposal was accepted by the War Cabinet on 5 March 1917 and the decision announced in The Times on 26 March. A committee was established, chaired by Mond, to oversee the collection of material to be exhibited in the new museum.^[2][3]

This National War Museum Committee set about collecting material to illustrate Britain's war effort by dividing into subcommittees examining such subjects as the Army, Navy, the production of munitions and women's war work.^[4] There was an early appreciation of the need for exhibits to reflect personal experience in order to prevent the collections becoming dead relics. Sir Martin Conway, the Museum's first Director General, said that exhibits must "be vitalised by contributions expressive of the action, the experiences, the valour and the endurance of individuals".^[5] The museum's first curator and secretary was Charles ffoulkes, who had previously been curator of the Tower of London armouries.^[6] In July 1917 Mond made a visit to the Western Front in order to study how best to organise the museum's growing collection. While in France he met French government ministers, and Field Marshal Haig, who reportedly took great interest in his work.^[7] In December 1917 the name of the Museum was changed to the Imperial War Museum to reflect the contribution of the Empire to the war effort.

[edit] Opening

The museum was opened by the King at the Crystal Palace on 9 June 1920. During the opening ceremony, Sir Alfred Mond addressed the King on the behalf of committee, saying that 'it was hoped to make the museum so complete that every one who took part in the war, however obscurely, would find therein an example or illustration of the sacrifice he or she made' and that the museum 'was not a monument of military glory, but a record of toil and sacrifice' .^[8] Shortly afterwards the Imperial War Museum Act 1920 was passed and established a Board of Trustees to oversee the governance of the museum. To reflect the museum's Imperial remit the board included appointees of the governments of India, South Africa, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.^[9] While the Act was being debated, some Parliamentarians felt that that museum would perpetuate an undesirable war spirit and Commander Joseph Kenworthy MP said that he would 'refuse to vote a penny of public money to commemorate such suicidal madness of civilisation as that which was shown in the late War' .^[10] By November 1921 the museum had received 2,290,719 visitors.^[11]

[edit] Relocation

In 1924 the museum moved to the Imperial Institute (now Imperial College London) in South Kensington. While this location was more central and in a prestigious area for museums, the accommodation itself proved cramped and inadequate^[12] and in 1936 a new permanent location was found south of the River Thames in Southwark.

The building, designed by James Lewis^[13] was the former Bethlem Royal Hospital which had been vacated following the hospital's relocation to Beckenham in Kent. The site was owned by Lord Rothermere, who had originally intended to demolish the building entirely in order to provide a public park in what was a severely overcrowded area of London. Eventually the central portion of the hospital building was retained while its two extensive wings were removed and the resulting space named Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Park, after Lord Rothermere's mother. Sir Martin Conway described the building as '...a fine building, really quite noble building, with a great portico, a distinguishing dome, and two great wings added to it for the accommodation of lunatics no longer required. This particular building can be made to contain our collection admirably, and we shall preserve from destruction quite a fine building which otherwise will disappear' .^[14] The 'distinguishing dome' was added by Sydney Smirke in 1846 and housed the hospital's chapel,^[15] and is now the museum's reading room. The museum was reopened by the Duke of York (later King George VI) in its new accommodation on 7 July 1936.

With the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, the museum began to collect material documenting the conflict.^[16] The museum initially remained open but was closed for the duration in September 1940 with the onset of the Blitz. On 31 January 1941 the museum was struck by a Luftwaffe bomb which fell on the naval gallery. A number of ship models were damaged by the blast and a Short Seaplane, which had flown at the Battle of Jutland, was destroyed.^[17] In October 1945 the museum mounted a temporary exhibition, its first since the end of the war, which showcased technologies developed by the Petroleum Warfare Department. These included the submarine fuel pipeline PLUTO, the fog dispersal method FIDO, and flame weapons such as the Churchill Crocodile and Wasp Universal Carrier.^[18] However, due to bomb damage to both the building and exhibits, the museum was obliged to reopen its galleries piecemeal. The museum reopened a portion of its galleries in November 1946.^[17][19] A third of the galleries were opened in 1948 and a further wing opened in 1949.^[20][21]

In 1953, with Commonwealth forces engaged in Korea and Malaya the museum began its current policy of collecting material from all modern conflicts in which British or Commonwealth forces were involved.^[17]However, despite this expansion of remit, the early postwar period was a period of decline for the museum. Dr Noble Frankland, the museum's Director from 1960 to 1982, described the museum's galleries in 1955 as appearing 'dingy and neglected' and in a 'dismal state of decay' the museum's 'numerous stunning exhibits' notwithstanding.^[22]

[edit] Redevelopment

In 1966 the Museum's Southwark building was extended to provide collections storage and other facilities, the first major expansion since the Museum had moved to the site. The development also included a purpose-built cinema.^[23] Two years later in 1968 a pair of 15-inch naval guns were installed in front of the Museum. Both had previously been mounted in Royal Navy warships (one from HMS Ramillies and the other mounted on HMS Resolution and later HMS Roberts) and had been fired in action during the Second World War.^[24]

Later that year on 13 October the Museum was attacked by an arsonist, Timothy John Daly, who claimed he was acting in protest against the exhibition of militarism to children. He caused damage valued at approximately £200,000, not counting the loss of irreplaceable books and documents. On his conviction in 1969 he was sentenced to four years in prison.^[25][26]

A further major redevelopment programme for the Southwark site, costing £16.7 million, was started in 1986 and opened by the Queen on 29 June 1989.^[27] This work included the development of what was previously the hospital's courtyard as a Large Exhibits Gallery. This gallery featured tanks, artillery pieces, vehicles, ordnance and aircraft from the First World War to the Falklands War, and for some years the museum was marketed as 'The new Imperial War Museum'.^[28] This atrium, with its concentration of military hardware, has been described as 'the biggest boys' bedroom in London'.^[29]

In September 1992 the museum was the target of a Provisional Irish Republican Army attack against London tourist attractions. Two incendiary devices were found and caused minor damage.^[30][31]

A second stage of redevelopment was completed in 1994 and a third stage in 2000. The latter expansion, the Southwest Infill, was partly funded by a £12.6 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund^[32] and provided 5,860m² of gallery space and educational facilities over six floors^[33] The development included the installation of the museum's Holocaust Exhibition which was opened by the Queen in June 2000. This was the first permanent exhibition dedicated to the Holocaust in a UK museum, and had taken five years at a cost of £5 million.^[34]

[edit] Expansion

From the 1970s onwards the museum began to expand onto other sites.

[edit] Imperial War Museum Duxford

The first of these sites was a former RAF and United States Army Air Force airfield at Duxford in Cambridgeshire, which had been a fighter station during the Second World War. A historic airfield, Duxford had been used for military flying since 1916, when the site was used by the Royal Flying Corps, and played a prominent role in the Battle of Britain. The last operational flight at Duxford was made in July 1961. The Ministry of Defence declared it surplus to requirement in 1968 and sought to dispose of it. The museum applied for and received permission to use one of the site's hangars as temporary storage for part of its aircraft collection. By cooperation with private groups such as the Duxford Aviation Society (many of whose members were unpaid volunteers), and Cambridgeshire County Council, the museum was able to mount its first air display in 1973. Further displays followed and in 1976 a Duxford air show attracted an audience of 45,000 people. As a result, the museum sought to acquire the entire site for its use, and permission was granted in February 1976.^[35][36]

Imperial War Museum Duxford, as the site is now known, houses the museum’s aircraft and military and naval vehicle collection. The aircraft collection includes types such as a British Aircraft Corporation TSR-2 and the only SR-71 Blackbird on display outside the United States of America. The military vehicle collection includes command caravans used by Field Marshal Montgomery.^[37] The naval collection includes an example of an X-craft midget submarine^[38] and the Vosper motor torpedo boat MTB-71.^[39][40] The site provides accommodation for a number of regimental museums (including those of the Parachute Regiment, named Airborne Assault,^[41] and the Royal Anglian Regiment), and also provides additional collections storage. The site remains an active airfield and hosts regular air displays.

[edit] HMS Belfast

In 1967, the museum sought to preserve a 6-inch naval gun turret to complement its pair of 15-inch guns. After a visit on 14 April 1967 to HMS Gambia, then awaiting disposal in Portsmouth, the possibility was raised of preserving an entire ship. Gambia had already deteriorated beyond preservation, and so attention turned to the possibility of saving HMS Belfast, a Royal Navy Town-class light cruiser. Belfast was a notable vessel. Launched in March 1938 she served throughout the Second World War. In December 1943 she participated in the Royal Navy's last capital ship gun action at the Battle of North Cape, assisting in the sinking of the German battlecruiser Scharnhorst. In June 1944 she supported the Normandy landings, firing some of the first shots of Operation Overlord. She later served in the Far East and during the Korean War. Built in the 1930s under the Washington Naval Treaty and continually refitted to keep pace with the rapid technological advances of her period, Belfast was, in Frankland’s view, capable of representing 'a whole generation of [historical evidence]'.^[42] A joint committee was established by the Imperial War Museum, the National Maritime Museum and the Ministry of Defence, which reported in June 1968 that preservation was practical. However, in early 1971 the government decided against preservation.^[43]

Despite this, a private charitable trust was formed to continue preservation efforts. The HMS Belfast Trust was established with Rear-Admiral Sir Morgan Morgan-Giles, a former captain of Belfast and Member of Parliament, as chairman and Frankland as his deputy. Following their efforts the government agreed to release the ship. Having been brought through Tower Bridge and moored in the Pool of London she was opened to the public on Trafalgar Day, 21 October 1971. By the late 1970s, however, the trust's financial position was marginal and permission was sought to merge the trust with the museum. On 19 January 1978 the then Secretary of State for Education and Science, Miss Shirley Williams, accepted the proposal stating that 'HMS Belfast is a unique demonstration of an important phase of our history and technology' .^[44] The ship was transferred to the museum on 1 March 1978.^[45]

[edit] Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms

In 1984 the Cabinet War Rooms were opened to the public as a branch of the museum. The War Rooms are an underground complex that had been used as a command centre by the British government throughout the Second World War. Located beneath the Treasury building in the Whitehall area of Westminster, the facilities were constructed before the war in anticipation of extremely destructive aerial bombing of London. They became operational in 1939 and were in constant operation for the duration of the war. The complex was abandoned in August 1945 after the surrender of Japan. The historical value of the Rooms was recognised early on, and the public were able to visit the War Rooms by appointment. However, the practicalities of allowing public access to a site beneath a working government office meant that only 4,500 of 30-40,000 annual applicants to visit the War Rooms could be admitted.^[46]

During the 1970s the Cabinet Office and the Department for the Environment, which was responsible for the Rooms after 1975, raised the possibility of the museum taking over the War Rooms. The museum was reluctant due to its new commitments related to Duxford and HMS Belfast, but agreed in 1982.^[46] The scheme was keenly supported by the then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, an admirer of Churchill, and she opened the War Rooms in April 1984. Following a major expansion in 2003, the War Rooms were reopened in 2005 as the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms, with the additional space developed as a biographical museum exploring the life of British statesman Winston Churchill.

[edit] Imperial War Museum North

In January 1999 a project was launched by the then Culture Secretary Chris Smith to construct a branch of the museum in Trafford, Greater Manchester, the site being chosen after consideration of 71 sites offered by 36 local councils in the north of England. The new building was the first of the branches to be purpose-built as a museum, and the first to be located outside of south east England. Designed by architect Daniel Libeskind, it was his first building in Britain. Libeskind’s building, opposite The Lowry and Mediacity:uk and overlooking the Manchester Ship Canal at Salford Quays, was based on the concept of a globe shattered by conflict into shards and reassembled. These shards, representing earth, air and water, give the building its shape.^[47] Originally budgeted at £40 million, the museum was eventually completed for £28.5 million after anticipated funding was not forthcoming. The museum was funded by local, national and European development agencies, by private donations and by Peel Holdings, a local transport and property company which contributed £12.5 million.^[48][49] Imperial War Museum North was opened on 5 July 2002.

[edit] Collections

The Imperial War Museum maintains an online database of its collections named Collections Online.^[52]

[edit] Department of Documents

The Department of Documents holds private papers such as letters and diaries from both individual soldiers and civilians to high-ranking officers such as Field Marshals Bernard Montgomery,^[53] Sir John French^[54] and Henry Maitland Wilson. Also of note are manuscripts by war poets Isaac Rosenberg and Siegfried Sassoon. The Department holds the official British records of the Nuremberg and Tokyo War Crimes Tribunals and a variety of other official records.

[edit] Department of Art

The Art department holds much of the work of official war artists from both world wars, and contemporary art from after 1945. As early as 1920 the art collection held over 3,000 works^[55] and included pieces by John Singer Sargent, Wyndham Lewis, John Nash and Christopher Nevinson. The collection expanded again after the Second World War, holding around 70% of the 6,000 works produced by the Ministry of Information's War Artists Advisory Committee.^[56] The collection also includes a large number of propaganda posters from many countries and periods.^[a] In 1972 the museum's Artistic Records Committee was established to commission artists to cover contemporary conflicts.^[57][58]

[edit] Film and Video Archive

The Film and Video Archive is one of the oldest film archives in Britain^[59] 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.^[60] 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.

[edit] 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^[61] 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.

[edit] Department of Exhibits and Firearms

The Department of Exhibits and Firearms is responsible for the care of the Museum's collection of three-dimensional objects. The cores of the collection are the firearms collection, collections of artillery, ordnance and vehicles, and medals and decorations such as the Victoria Cross and George Cross. In addition to the Museum's own collection of these medals, in 2008 it was announced that Lord Ashcroft's private collection of 152 VCs will go on public display at the Museum.^[62] Many of the department's larger exhibits are on display and can be seen in the photographs below. Other exhibits include artillery pieces whose crew won the Victoria Cross,^[63] a Lee Enfield rifle used by T. E. Lawrence,^[64] and a Colt 1911 automatic pistol owned by Winston Churchill.

[edit] Department of Printed Books

The Department of Printed Books is responsible for the Museum’s collection of printed materials including books, maps and ephemera. When the Museum was established the distinguished historian Sir Charles Oman was given responsibility for the library.^[65] In 1922 the library collection contained a reported 20,000 items^[66] and 60,000 items in 1953.^[67] Today the Museum gives the size of its library collection as 270,000 items.^[68]

[edit] 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.^[69] 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, about war in the 20th century. The collection also includes historic broadcasts, and actuality sound effects recorded during conflicts.

[edit] Directors

Directors of the Imperial War Museum
Sir Martin Conway	1917–1937
Leslie Bradley	1937–1960
Dr Noble Frankland	1960–1982
Dr Alan Borg	1982–1995
Sir Robert Crawford	1995–2008
Diane Lees	2008-present

[edit] Selected exhibits at Imperial War Museum London

[edit] Large Exhibits Gallery

The Large Exhibits Gallery was formerly the courtyard of the Bethlem Royal Hospital.

P-51D Mustang	M4A4 Sherman V tank	Heinkel He 162A-1	Jagdpanther tank destroyer, frontal view
Focke-Wulf Fw 190	V-2 rocket	Supermarine Spitfire Mark IA	"Ole Bill", a LGOC B-type bus
An M3 Grant tank, used by Bernard Montgomery as a command vehicle	QF 25-pounder Mk II	The gun at which Jack Cornwell won his Victoria Cross	The Néry Gun, a 13-pounder used in a VC-winning action in September 1914
A Sopwith Camel biplane fighter	An Ordnance QF 18-pounder field gun	An 88mm Flak 18 anti-aircraft gun	A British 9.2-inch heavy howitzer

[edit] Other exhibits

An exhibit on espionage

A Korean war exhibit

A replica of the Colditz "Cock" Glider

[edit] External exhibits

A fragment of the Berlin Wall (west face)

Two 15-inch (381 mm) guns from HMS Ramillies (left) and HMS Resolution and HMS Roberts (right)

[edit] Visiting the museum

Admission is free to both Imperial War Museum London and Imperial War Museum North, while an admission fee is payable at HMS Belfast, Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms, and Imperial War Museum Duxford. Admission for children under 16 is free at all sites. Full details can be found at the external links below.

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Imperial War Museum

• Official website of the Imperial War Museum
• Location map from streetmap.co.uk
• Information on the 15" guns outside the museum's main entrance
• Through My Eyes website (personal stories of war and identity from the Imperial War Museum's archives)

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Coordinates: 51°29′45″N 0°06′30″W / 51.49583°N 0.10833°W / 51.49583; -0.10833