Imperial War Museum

One of our most recent British Life and Culture trips was to the Imperial War Museum.  We were a  bit skeptical, as the past few museums we have gone to have been a bust. 

We waited outside of the museum for our professor to show up and take roll.  While we waited, some English folks came over with their pack of dogs, so we quickly gathered around and played with the pups while we talked to their owners.  If there is one thing you should never be afraid to talk to the English about, it is their dogs.  It is a total ice breaker and it translates well for folks on either side of the pond.

Once roll was taken, we got our worksheets out and headed inside.

We were immediately in awe of the dozens of once-working war machines littered throughout the gallery.

Our worksheets had us essentially on a scavenger hunt, it asked us to find and fill in key pieces of information that we would get by reading the various placards.

The museum itself scaled a few stories, and each one had some interesting pieces to pose with

And learn about.

After we completed our worksheets, we headed into the Holocaust gallery.  Unfortunately I didn’t get to see all of it (it was a very extensive look at the Holocaust) as the museum was closing.  What I did see was enough to have me almost in tears.  Visiting the real Auschwitz next Saturday is going to be hard.

The Imperial War Museum was such a pleasant surprise, especially since I am generally not too interested in military history.  I highly recommend it and would love to visit again.