A History Lesson, London-Style

LOCATION:

London, England

 

I can't tell you how, when, or why it happened - but I have somehow managed to turn into a bit of a WWII history geek. One of my favorite days in London included visits to the HMS Belfast and Winston Churchill's War Rooms. The first stop, the Belfast, was cool because you were able to wander all around the royal navy ship, and imagine what life might have been like during war times.

There she is, with the Tower Bridge in the background!

 

I learned a little about the fighting power of the ship - the six main gun turrets on the front could each fire eight rounds per minute, and could reach a target 14 miles away! The ship also played a part in the Normandy D-Day landings, firing almost 2000 rounds during the five weeks it spent off the coast of France. The interior of the ship was set up as it might have been like during battle including a look at kitchens, sleeping quarters, medical facilities, and space where soldiers relaxed during free time. There were wax figures depicting life on board and - though the intentions were good - they were actually a little scary. I think it would be a super funny joke to have real people here pretending to be wax figures - you could really freak some people out!

Gun turrets.

Mighty big bullets!

See, this guy is scary!

Scary guy, and scary cat in the background!

This is one of the larger state rooms - and is about the size of my first New York apartment!

Captain, that's right.

 

The next stop on the history tour was Churchill's war rooms. I spent two hours here but wish I had gone earlier - they had to kick me out at closing time! I knew pretty much nothing about Winston Churchill prior to my visit, but learned a lot about him as well as what life was like for parliament members during WWII. The first stop was the Cabinet War Room, where Churchill led many meetings. The wooden chair at the middle of the table was his, and supposedly there are scratches on the arm rests from the many stressful times he sat there.

More wax figures, less scary though.

 

Another cool stop was the transatlantic telephone room, where Churchill had secret conversations with Roosevelt. The outside of the door looks like a bathroom stall, with the lock rotated to "engaged" - most people who worked for the Prime Minister never actually knew what happened in that room.

Looks like a bathroom.

 

Another highlight for me was seeing some of the offices and sleeping quarters people occupied, working round the clock for nearly six years. There was also a section of the roof cut away, so you could see the thick slab that was installed as an attempt to make the bunkers bomb-proof. Some of the rooms also had gas masks sitting on the table, in case of gas attacks. I can't imagine what it must have been like down there! The main room on the tour was the map room, which looks just like it did when they turned off the lights in 1945. You can see the many phone lines, maps on the walls, and pin holes marking progress of enemies and allies.

One of the larger officers rooms.

A secretary at work - she has a bed and gas mask right next to her desk!

The map room.

 

Overall, these two exhibitions were great, and I highly recommend doing them in the same day to get a better perspective on what the war meant for the UK. Though there is much to learn about the war from a European point of view, my next mission is to investigate the role the United States played a little bit more (history was not a favorite subject of mine in school!). As an end point to the day, I came across this monument honoring the women of the war. It was a good reminder that everyone, not just government officials and soldiers, is affected by war.

 

 

 

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