After walking the short distance from Lambeth North tube station and through the sleepy autumnal streets I arrived at the Imperial War Museum and was surprised when I stepped into the main atrium to see just how busy it was for a Tuesday afternoon. Of course, the long line of coaches parked up outside should have been an indicator as there were many school parties in the museum, ranging from primary to secondary schools and even a class from a London drawing school.
Walking into the museum really is a feast for the eye with exhibits literally all around, from the myriad of tanks on the ground floor to the aircraft hanging majestically above. Looming immediately overhead as visitors come through the archway is the earliest aircraft on show, a First World War Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2c, a type which carried out numerous roles and became a fighter, light bomber, trainer and reconnaissance aircraft. I found it fascinating how daylight from the glass roof above was filtering through the thin wings, illuminating them and highlighting the wooden structure within.
Just above the classic shape of the World War One Mark V tank there is a rather strange exhibit which often puzzles onlookers as to what it is; “Is it a bomb?” “Is it a barrage balloon?”. It is actually an observation car from a German Zeppelin airship. The car would have been dropped from the airship on a long cable in order to attain location fixes when there was cloud cover, with an occupant relaying instructions to the Zeppelin via telephone. Of course, Zeppelins regularly carried out bombing raids on London and other cities across the country during the First World War, amounting 51 raids and killing over 2000 people in the process, something which is often forgotten about the Great War. Interestingly, hanging just across the atrium is a Zeppelin downing machine, a Sopwith Camel 2.F1. On the 11th of August, 1918, Flight Sub Lieutenant Stuart Culley intercepted and shot down Zeppelin L53 after taking off from a barge towed by HMS Redoubt.
Another bombing related artefact on display from the First World War is an example of the largest bomb of the conflict, a staggering 1650lb British bomb. This type of bomb was dropped by Handley Page O/400s of the Independent Air Force in a raid on the German city of Kaiserslautern in October 1918.
Surely the most iconic shape resident in the museum is that of the Supermarine Spitfire, one of the RAF's most prominent fighters, alongside the Hawker Hurricane at the spearhead of RAF Fighter Command, that defended London and the rest of the country from Luftwaffe attacks during the Battle of Britain 70 years ago. It is a shame that there is no exhibit representing the Hawker Hurricane and its role in the battle at the Imperial War Museum in the capital city though. Interestingly this early Mk.Ia Spitfire wears a late war paint scheme of grey and green as opposed to the more commonly associated green and brown camouflage. There is some wreckage of a German type of the period too, a Messerschmitt Me-110. However this wreckage, a fuselage section featuring the prominent Balkenkreuz along with a single Daimler-Benz DB601 engine, is not the result of a dogfight with RAF fighters but something much stranger. The aircraft was used by Rudolf Hess, Adolf Hitler’s deputy, in an attempt to flee from Germany to Scotland after Hitler ordered him to be killed. Hess bailed out of his aircraft near Eaglesham and was captured.
Whilst on the third floor I wandered around the 'Breakthrough' war art gallery where there are a multitude of works by some of the most important British artists of the last century including Paul Nash, Henry Moore and John Piper. One painting that stood out for me was 'Battle of Britain' by Paul Nash, an oil on canvas completed in 1941. The painting depicts yet another wave of Luftwaffe aircraft looming over the English countryside with a tangled ball of contrails in the sky as Luftwaffe and RAF fighter aircraft twist and turn in a dogfight, an occasional plume of black smoke extending towards earth, standing in contrast against the blue sky; a sight of incredible beauty and menacing turmoil. Nash was famed for bringing home the full horrors of the First World War as a member of the Artists’ Rifles during the conflict. However, during the Battle of Britain this changed completely as the conflict was ongoing in full view of the inhabitants of Great Britain and it is this viewpoint which the painting takes, conveying vividly the feelings that one would have felt as they stood watching the scene unfold, it was after all painted right after the battle, as the fate of the free world hung in the balance in the late summer skies over the English countryside.
Moving later into the Second World War, two other legendary fighters and old adversaries hang from the ceiling, a North American P-51D Mustang and a Focke Wulf Fw-190. The Mustang is positioned at the head of the atrium with the Fw-190 banking and diving away from the Mustang, conjuring up thoughts of a dogfight. The Mustang is painted to represent ‘Big Beautiful Doll’, the machine flown by 357th Fighter Group ace Lt.Col. John D Landers from Duxord. Another legendary fighter, this time Japanese, is represented on the second floor by the cockpit and wing roots of a Mitsubishi A6M Rei-sen, or ‘Zero’ as it was known by the Allies. It is always interesting to see an aircraft in this rather untouched state, much like the similar section of Zero at IWM Duxford or the Hurricane wreck at the RAF Museum Hendon; they are like time capsules right back to the day that they crashed!
With all of the different levels available to wander around, visitors are able to view the hanging exhibits from all manner of heights and angles and I spent a good few hours doing just that. It is wonderful to be able to ascend up towards the glass roof, leaving the din of visitors on the lower floors behind, to find yourself among such iconic aircraft such as the Spitfire, Mustang and Fw-190 and being able to admire the machines at close quarters from angles unattainable at other museums.
There are two of Hitler’s vengeance weapons on display, weapons that targeted British and European cities during the latter stages of World War Two, striking fear into the hearts of the inhabitants. These are of course the V1 flying bomb and the V2 rocket. Many would dread hearing the buzz of the bomb overhead cut out which would mean the engine cutting out and the bomb falling to earth. Two noses of classic British bombers take their place on display too, a Lancaster and Halifax, and visitors can also walk through the Halifax nose which is great fun for families visiting the museum!
One very interesting aircraft at the museum is the Heinkel He-162 A-1 Volksjäger. The Salamander, as it was also known, was a late war Luftwaffe jet fighter rushed into design and manufacture to try and stem the ever advancing tide of the Allies. He-162s only entered service in mid-April 1945 however they were not very successful and operational losses caused by flameouts and structural failures showed the downsides of its hurried creation.
Finally, another late war weapon on show is the casing of a ‘Little Boy’ atomic bomb, the type that was dropped from Boeing B-29 Superfortress ‘Enola Gay’ over the Japanese city of Hiroshima on the 6th of August, 1945. Downstairs there is a chilling reminder of the effect that this weapon had - a single charred piece of roof tile from Hiroshima. Alongside Hiroshima, a ‘Fat Man’ atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of Nagasaki, prompting the Japanese to surrender, thus ending the Second World War.
It was recently announced that the museum is to undergo a major £71m rebuild to tie in with the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War. It is planned that the First World War galleries will double in size along with the creation of a new atrium before a new sunken entrance is created and the west side of the building is transformed. The work, which will be phased from 2014 to 2019, will give the museum more of a chronological layout helping to guide visitors through a century of conflict. Technology will also be utilised to bring the museum to life with a more interective experience. This news is all the more poingnant as we lost the last Great War veterans last year.
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