A day out at the Imperial War Museum

Posted on May 30, 2004
Filed Under Culture |

The Imperial War MuseumWell, it’s a bank holiday and Sarah and I have no money (because we do have a lovely new coffee machine) so we’re taking advantage of cheap London activities. There are lots of them, and we started yesterday with the Imperial War Museum. If ever you want to be reminded of the horror of war, go to the IWM. First, let me say, I was shocked to discover how little I actually know about my own country’s history (what *was* I learning at school?). We didn’t manage to see everything there as the place is huge. It also uses multimedia incredibly well. There are sounds and smells to add to the overall impression, and excellent use of models and sets to help you understand what it must have been like.

We went around the exhibitions about the First and Second World Wars. I know very little about the First World War. S and I hadn’t realised how many countries were involved over such a large area. They have this amazing exhibit which is essentially a trench. You get to walk through it and it smells horrible, there are explosions, and it’s dark. At each turn there are life-size models of men talking about different elements of life. So, there’s a guy on the phone at the entrance, talking about tactics. Later, there’s a couple of soldiers talking about what one of them has to do on duty. Another guy is writing a letter home. I suppose I was dumb to not have realised, but in my head, trenches were straight lines. In reality, they were sort of zig zagged. Once you’ve been through that, there are signs out in the main exhibition area from the trenches. ‘Suicide Corner’ and a sign saying ‘Don’t stand here’ which is all shot up. There’s also a really good model of the layout of the trenches on the Western Front. Another striking element in this section was the propaganda trying to get men to enlist and a note from a Girl Guide mistress inviting a man who hadn’t enlisted to come and wash up for the girls. It really drove home the peer pressure that was placed on men to go to the Front.

The Second World War stuff was less of a big deal for me, mostly because it’s talked about so much more and I’m more aware of it. The museum really does a good job at pulling together the links and continuum between the two World Wars, which is scary as you just see the political jostling for power and then the astonishing loss of life. The most surprising thing for me, though, was the V2 bomb. They were huge and flew from mainland Europe to the UK. Truly, truly scary. Also in that hall were some tanks and a small submarine - all of which made me claustrophobic just to look at.

Upstairs, is the Holocaust exhibition. Unlike the rest of the museum, you are told to switch off mobile phones, you can’t take photos and children under 14 are discouraged. We found that all a bit odd, because the reality of the other exhibits are pretty horrendous and serious as well. The section is laid out really well, in chronological order starting with what life was like for Jews in Europe before the Nazis came to power. It was reassuring to see, as well, that the Nazis really had to fight for power. There was so much of this exhibition that was overwhelming and horrendous. The model of Auschwitz for example, shows how the camp was laid out to make killing lots of people really efficient.

We didn’t have a chance to see the pictures or the section about spying, but I reckon we’ll be going back quite soon for that. In all, let’s just say that it’s scary how much initiative and imagination people are able to to put into the science and art of killing other people.

Comments

Comments are closed.

« Socks and sandals

World Parrot Day »