Churchill Museum, Cabinet War Room
Explore British "Command Central" of World War II
The Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms give visitors a historic peek into the major events and strategic high command in London during the dark days of World War II.
One of the first things Winston Churchill did when he became the United Kingdom's prime minister in June 1940 was tour the basement of the Office of Works which was being renovated into the Cabinet War Rooms. The Battle of Britain was about to begin and, according to the Imperial War Museum, the building "offered the strongest structure of any in Whitehall and was conveniently situated between Parliament and the Prime Minister's office-residence at Number 10 Downing Street." Today you can visit some of these rooms, which have been painstakingly re-created to appear just as they were when the fight against Hitler and the Nazi war machine ended in 1945.
Cabinet War Rooms
The entrance to the museum is located across from St. James Park on King Charles Street, London. One ticket provides admittance to both the Cabinet War Rooms and the Churchill Museum. As you walk through the underground chambers, listening to the free sound guide*, you learn what life was like in WWII's "command central." Of special note are:
- the Cabinet Room where many of the major decisions of the war were made
- the Map Room with walls of charts and maps of the Atlantic and Pacific war zones, full of push pins indicating strategic points of interest
- the broom-closet sized Transatlantic Telephone Room, where Churchill made scrambled calls to his ally in Washington, American President Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Churchill's bedroom, where the great man ate, slept, and held meetings until the wee hours of the morning
- the small galley kitchen with its large pots for the ever-ready bowls of soups and stews.
Churchill Museum
The end of the tour leads directly to the Churchill Museum. Hundreds of mementoes from Winston Churchill's ninety years of life are on display, including his famous military overcoat. You can read correspondence between Churchill and heads of state, and personal letters from his wife, Clementine, who offered advice and support -- both of which he deeply cherished. You can sit and watch war-time newsreels, featuring King George VI and a young Princess Elizabeth, and see the television coverage of Churchill's 1965 funeral at St. Paul's Cathedral.
One of the most fascinating exhibits is a wall map that highlights Churchill's travels during the war. For example, a line appears across the Atlantic from London to Newfoundland and then to Quebec City to indicate his journey to the 1943 First Quebec Conference. Behind the line are photographs and videos of him meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King and American President Roosevelt. There is also a speeding odometer keeping track of the long distances he covered. It is a most effective visual presentation of the tirelessness of the man.
Special Interactive Displays
In the middle of the museum is a fifteen metre-long interactive table which acts as a computerized ‘filing cabinet'. Touching a date on the table top activates animations and sounds to illustrate various events in Churchill's life, his career, or in the world. If you stop in front of a photograph along one wall, an overhead sensor activates a sound recording of one of his famous BBC broadcasts or speeches in the British Parliament. Beside one of the few remaining Enigma cypher machines is a clear-plastic display which, through the magic of technology, shows how messages are coded and decoded.
After a visit here, you will undoubtedly agree with Churchill that "this was their finest hour."
* Available in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Hebrew, Dutch and Mandarin.
