The IWM London was given a major, £30 million refit in recent years, with new 3000 square metre Holocaust and World War II galleries opening in autumn 2021 after six years of renovations. In its new, modern guise it has devoted a lot of attention to making sure the exhibits and temporary exhibitions tell a well-rounded, big picture of war, looking at the human side of conflict with a rich programme that takes in everything from war and its impact on mental health to the role soldiers from across the world played in WWI and WWII.
Visitors to the Lambeth landmark arrive in the Central Hall, an attention- grabbing repository of major artefacts: guns, tanks and aircraft, including a Spitfire used by West Riding RAF Squadron on 57 missions, to the wreckage of a Land Rover operated by press agency Reuters on the Gaza Strip.
Extensive World War I galleries occupy the rest of the ground floor, and feature over 1300 objects encompassing weapons, uniforms, diaries, keepsakes, film and art. The new World War II galleries are even larger, displaying 1500 items, while the first floor leads into new World War II galleries.
The museum’s third floor space is dedicated to temporary exhibitions, while the fifth floor Lord Ashcroft galleries display the world’s largest collection of Victoria Crosses alongside accounts of the individuals who earned them in a permanent display called ‘Extraordinary Heroes’.
To get a full and rich picture of the conflicts that have shaped our world.
On the second floor, the harrowing Holocaust galleries (not recommended from under-14s) tell the individual stories of some of the six million Jews murdered during the deadliest genocide in history via 2,000 photos, books, artworks, letters and personal objects. It‘s hard-hitting, but an essential visit.
Daily 10am-6pm, peak times at weekends.
Free, some temporary exhibitions may be ticketed.
Look out for the museum’s brilliant programme of festivals and talks. They delve into a whole rage of topics from ‘Britain’s Black Airmen’ to the ‘Ethics of Drone Warfare’.
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