micbinks - UK holiday, leisure & tourist attraction images

UK Tourist & Leisure Attractions

Belinda and Mike - follow our tourist travels in the UK

Imperial War Museum (IWM), London

Our first visit in 2008 was to the Imperial War Museum in London where we toured the various intriguing galleries and viewed the awesome collections of wartime related hardware and material.  We also visited the 'For Your Eyes Only' exhibition taking place at the IWM.
 

Outside the Imperial War Museum in London
Quite an imposing sight on arrival at the Imperial War Museum with those two big guns pointing out!  The IWM is in Lambeth just south of the Thames, nearest tube is Lambeth North.

The Imperial War Museum's Large Exhibits Gallery
The museum entrance leads into the main Large Exhibits Gallery with war aircraft suspended overhead plus tanks, rockets and other weapons and vehicle collections.
 

Large guns at the Imperial War Museum
Up in the elevated galley at the Imperial War Museum, we found the big guns awesome.  Wouldn't want to be the receiving end though!

Bomber aircraft fuselage at the IWM
Here's the fuselage remains of a bomber which we also entered to see its innards, all affording pretty basic levels of comfort for the crew.
 

The V2 rocket in the Large Exhibits Gallery
In the Large Exhibits Gallery we see the V2 rocket and a very old London bus.  The queue was for tickets for the temporary Ian Fleming exhibition which we visited too.

Large Exhibits Gallery at the Imperial War Museum in London
Now looking to the other side of the Large Exhibits Gallery at the Imperial War Museum and a navy rocket, some more air weapons, tanks and aircraft.
 

IWM catering
We visited the museum's cafe which was adequate but not too exciting.  There's an extensive park area outside for eating on a suitable day, the weather wasn't conducive on our visit though!

Talks and demonstrations at the Imperial War Museum
The Imperial War Museum runs talks throughout the day.  We also visited the 'For Your Eyes Only: Ian Fleming and James Bond' exhibition, devoted to the life and work of James Bond's creator.
 

German Enigma machine in the Secret War Gallery at the IWM
Venturing into the Secret War Gallery at the museum we found an original German Enigma cipher machine used for sending secret coded messages during WWll.
 

Film equipment used by soldiers during WWll
During wars regular soldiers are tasked with recording the battles on film.  Here's the sort of kit they used, somewhat crude by today's standards of course.  No, Mike doesn't want one, he's quite happy with his modern digital camcorder!  Wouldn't want to have to lug that bulky camera around during battle!

Imperial War Museum display stands
More gallery areas at the Imperial War Museum, this shot shows an example of the various displays exhibited.

Many links to our visits are on our UK tourist links page.

First World War gallery at the Imperial War Museum
The First World War Gallery had a fascinating walk-through re-creation of a front line trench on the Somme with effective lighting, sound and smell effects.  This section was similar to the one at the Tank Museum we've previously visited.
 

Second World War Gallery at the Imperial War Museum, London
Now in the Second World War Gallery, here's Belinda reading up on how the wartime pilots navigated to their target!  What, no Sat Nav?

Second World War gallery at the IWM
Still in the Second World War Gallery Belinda admired the men in uniform with their huge weapons!  The Blitz Experience was particularly interesting.
 

Can I have a go?
We also went round the extensive Holocaust Exhibition which was rather shocking, sad and moving.  Here's Mike posing against some of the exhibits in the Large Exhibits Gallery on the way out.  The IWM website is on our tourist links page.

Mike and Belinda recording their visit
Typical tourists taking pictures of everything!  We certainly enjoyed our visit to the Imperial War Museum, if visiting do allow a full day as we ran out of time to see everything, what with taking in the Ian Fleming exhibition too.  IWM entrance is free.
 

You may also be interested in our visits to HMS Belfast, the RAF Museum, Fleet Air Arm Museum and Bovington Tank Museum.