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IWM London tells the stories of those whose lives have been shaped by war from the First World War to the present day. Discover in-depth information about IWM London, special content, and discuss and share with others. Our social media house rules can be found here: https://www.iwm.org.uk/corporate/policies/social-media
'Familiar Silhouettes'. This painting by Henry Carr shows three British soldiers standing in front of an illuminated Underground sign, one of them lighting a cigarette.
Carr was one of many British artists whose work documented London's dramatic wartime transformation. Many of these artists had their work either commissioned or purchased by the War Artists’ Advisory Committee.
See more of their art here: https://bit.ly/3ShVf6V
© IWM Art.IWM ART LD 1734
An armoured train manned by a battalion from the Somerset Light Infantry patrols a stretch of the 15-inch gauge railway line in Kent, 1940.
© IWM (AYY 38)
British soldiers pose with one of the fake 'camouflage trees' produced during the First World War to serve as concealed observation posts.
The trees were one of the many battlefield innovations born of the stalemate of trench warfare. Pioneered by the French, the British quickly became enthusiasts of the camouflage tree, producing many for use on the Western Front (one of which remains in our collection).
Watch our video on how the trees were built and installed here: https://bit.ly/3QuXbaH
© IWM (Q 17809)
Haile Selassie returns to Addis Ababa with the British following five years of exile, 5 May 1941. The Emperor had fled the country during the Italian invasion and subsequent occupation, spending much of his exile in Britain.
You can read more about the Italian defeat in East Africa here: bit.ly/45ChU1l
© IWM CET 200
In this clip from War Pictoral News, British workers test newly-produced Vickers, Lewis and Bren and Browning machine guns at a factory, 1942.
© IWM WPN 41
An Ajax chess set produced by MI9 during the Second World War to send escape equipment to prisoners of war. If the game had 'Patent applied for' and a large full stop this indicated the game had concealed escape aids.
M.I.9 – officially Military Intelligence, Section 9 – was established at the start of the war with the task of training servicemen in evasion and escape. To this end, it produced a number of gadgets intended for use by POWs or servicemen in Axis-occupied territories.
M.I.9 produced a huge number of gadgets intended to help servicemen who found themselves stranded or captured, including boots fitted with knives, hairbrushes with compasses and more.
You can read more about M.I.9's history and work on our website: http://bit.ly/3Q0tzQY
The Voices of Service Project is looking for members of the UK Armed forces who served in Afghanistan between 2001 and 2021- as well as their family members - to share their stories.
The oral histories we collect will become part of IWM's permanent collection and will also be used by King's College London for important research, in order to understand and support the needs of military veterans and their families.
Learn more: https://bit.ly/3FgPL4A
© IWM DC 3060
Acts of so-called 'hybrid war' have been waged from Mosul to Mariupol, and from the South China Sea to Salisbury.
Join an acclaimed line-up of speakers at IWM London as they unpack this new concept in our understanding of war and conflict.
Saturday 18 November, 2pm-6pm.
Find out more and book your place: https://bit.ly/3Qln6Sj
The Lightning - developed by English Electric to bring the RAF into the supersonic age, the Lightning was an incredible leap forward in performance and technology, capable of traveling at twice the speed of sound.
Initially designed to guard the V-bomber bases that house the Vulcan, Valiant and Victor fleet, the Lightning went on to see service in Germany and beyond throughout the Cold War.
Watch our Duxford in Depth on the aircraft here: https://bit.ly/3ZZEDCo
© IWM (MIL 178)
The IWM Shop has teamed up with Teemill, a leading, sustainable, UK fashion supplier. Explore this exciting, brand new collection and discover fashion that's stylish, planet-friendly, and inspired by history.
Find out more and shop today: https://bit.ly/3S3Jocj
Following the Armistice, the Imperial German Navy was interned and moored near Orkney whilst the Allies decided what to do with the ships. The British wanted the ships destroyed, while the French and Italians wanted the ships distributed among the Allies.
On the morning of 21 June 1919, anticipating the ships’ surrender, Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter ordered his crews to open seacocks, torpedo tubes and portholes to sink the ships. The British were able to save 22 of the 74 ships, the total losses amounting to some 400,000 tons of material – the greatest loss of shipping in a single day. It also saw the final German casualties of the war, with nine sailors shot and killed.
Read more about the scuttling of the German fleet here: https://bit.ly/3FhbqcY
Here, British M4 Sherman Crab Mk 2 flail tanks advance down a snowy, tree-lined road in the Ardennes during the Battle of the Bulge, 1944-5.
You can learn more about the battle in our episode of IWM Stories: https://bit.ly/3RzjexW
© IWM WPN 198
American Douglas C-47s (or Dakotas) drop the 1st Parachute Brigade over Renkum Heath on the first day of Operation Market Garden, 17 September 1944.
More about the Operation: bit.ly/3Es8Pw9
© IWM A70 168-2
British soldiers man a water-cooled Vickers .303 machine gun during the Burma Campaign. The clip comes from a government newsreel following the Chindits - specially-trained troops who fought behind Japanese lines in Burma.
Read more about the Chindits and the war in the Far East: bit.ly/455kNqn
© IWM JFU 89
Crowds welcome Churchill in Bristol, 1941. During his visit he surveyed damage from air raids and bestowed honorary degrees to the Prime Minister of Australia and the US Ambassador at the University of Bristol.
© IWM WPN 21
A man demonstrating a steel cap for wearing under an ordnance cap, French splinter goggles (vision is obtained through thin slits in goggles) and a steel dagger gauntlet.
© IWM Q 30161
A British cameraman attaches his camera to a B-17 ahead of a bombing run over on Wilhelmshaven and Rouen, 1943. The narrator comments: 'The American air force is hitting hard and continuously. Good targets and happy landings'.
© IWM WPN 110
Troops of 3rd Battalion Parachute Regiment es**rt a captured Egyptian soldier on the beach at Port Said, November 1956.
Taken during the Suez Crisis - learn more about the short conflict and its consequences here: bit.ly/46plWKE
© IWM MH 23512
Dummy heads - crafted during the First World War in special workshops, these papier-mâché heads were used to draw snipers' fire, forcing them to reveal their positions.
Visual deception was an important part of the war - a subject explored in our new, free exhibition 'Spies, Lies and Deception'. Learn more here: https://bit.ly/3r3coWd
© IWM Q 2488
Splatter masks - these masks were worn by tank crews during the First World War to protect the wearer from ‘splash’, hot metal fragments ricocheting inside a tank created by the impact of bullets on a tank’s exterior.
The second photo shows a soldier modelling a splash mask in France, 12 October 1918.
© IWM Q 93249 / © IWM EQU 1654
“Yes, we have NO bananas”
A fruit vendor informs his customers of the banana shortage during the Second World War. The phrase comes the eponymous 1922 song by American singers Frank Silver and Irving Cohn, inspired by a Greek fruit vendor Silver encountered in New York. During the war it became an ironic slogan.
Read more about day-to-day life in wartime Britain: bit.ly/46jpRJr
© IWM HU 63736
A British soldier participates in chemical warfare training in Norway, 1985.
© IWM CT 372
A British paratrooper demonstrates the ‘Welbike’, a lightweight, foldable motorcycle produced during the Second World War.
© IWM AMY 349
'A French Highway' by Paul Nash, 1918, showing British soldiers and French cavalrymen marching together during the First World War.
John and his brother Paul worked as official war artists during the war. See more of their work: https://bit.ly/3ZejYKt
© IWM Art.IWM ART 1162
In this photo from 1915, a soldier prepares a meal in a rest camp, possibly at Cape Helles, during the Gallipoli Campaign.
Plagued by flies and illness, meal preparation could be quite a chore for soldiers during the campaign. It's for this reason - among many others - that veterans remembered Gallipoli as one of the worst places to serve during the war.
Learn why here: https://bit.ly/3PyNC9b
© IWM Q 13312
Spies, Lies and Deception opens today at IWM London!
This new, must-see exhibition explores the history of deception and espionage from the First World War to the present day.
Find out more: https://bit.ly/3r3coWd
Free admission. 29 September 2023 to 14 April 2024.
"Plan Ahead - Allow for Growing"
During the Second World War, clothing in Britain was rationed and distributed through a coupon system. This poster urges parents to account for their children's changing clothing needs.
Children's clothes had lower coupon values in recognition of the fact that they would need new clothes more often as they grew. From 1942, all children were allocated an extra ten coupons.
Learn more about wartime clothes rationing in Britain: bit.ly/3rrrs0s
Tonight HMS Belfast lights up blue for !
If you're walking along the Thames this evening, be sure to look out. During the Second World War, Belfast es**rted merchant convoys in the Atlantic and, more famously, the Arctic.
Learn more here: https://bit.ly/48HobuOTon
"From a tear-gas fountain pen to lakes disguised as factories, a fascinating look at the tricks, and dangers, of espionage"...
★★★★★ 5/5
The Telegraph reviews IWM London's new Spies, Lies and Deception exhibition. Opening this Friday 29 September.
From a tear-gas fountain pen to lakes disguised as factories, a fascinating look at the tricks, and dangers, of espionage
Eighty years ago today, on 26 September 1943, a 14 year-old Jack Kagan escaped from Novogrudok ghetto through a tunnel dug by Kagan and 250 other fellow Jewish prisoners.
Jack and his family had been imprisoned in the ghetto shortly after the German occupation of their hometown of Novogrudok, then Poland, now Belarus. The ghetto operated as a labour camp and Jack and his father worked as ‘specialists’ making saddles for the German army.
After his incarceration, Kagan joined a secret committee intent on a mass break out. They spent months digging a tunnel stretching out to a nearby forest, where many intended to join the partisans.
The operation included a few close calls, including fears that the weight of tractors above may cause the tunnel to collapse. One hundred and seventy surviving escapees joined the Bielski partisans – anti-N**i, predominantly Jewish partisans that operated out of the Naliboki forest, later made famous in the film Defiance.
You can read more of Jack Kagan’s astonishing story in full here: bit.ly/3sZ2PJ1
Images: The first photo shows the young Jack (third from right) with his family before the war began. The second photo shows Kagan's father pictured as a young man. The third shows tools used to dig the tunnel, now preserved at the Museum of Jewish Resistance in Novogrudok, Belarus. The fourth shows the entrance of the tunnel as well as Kagan demonstrating the tunnel’s size.
A Dutch man watches as Churchill tanks drive through Tilburg, October 1944.
© IWM A70 187-2
"This little pig stayed at home"
A British cartoon from the First World War shows a conscientious objector lounging at home while the rest of his family contribute to the war effort. Drawn by Frank Holland, the cartoon was one of many to appear in the British press ridiculing conscientious objectors - or COs - as layabouts or cowards.
Learn more about their experience during the war here: bit.ly/461WtGI
Paul Nash's surreal 1942 painting 'Follow the Fuhrer Above the Clouds', showing a massive shark accompanying a squadron of German aircraft soaring above the clouds.
Along with his brother, Nash had made a reputation for himself as a creative and unique painter working as an official war artist during the First World War. With the coming of the Second World War, Nash realised that propaganda now required a new form of presentation, and his style grew more experimental. This work was ultimately rejected by the Ministry of Information, much to Nash's disappointment.
See some of Paul and John Nash's First World War paintings here: https://bit.ly/3ZejYKt
© IWM Art.IWM ART LD 7226
Renowned cartoonist David Low talks viewers through some Soviet World War Two-era cartoons in this British government newsreel.
A sundry selection that includes unflattering portraits of N**i leaders, Napoleon chastising his inattentive student Hi**er, N**i hypnotists helping famished Germans imagine their bellies full, and more.
© IWM UKY 452
Churchill tanks of 9th Royal Tank Regiment during an exercise at Tilshead on Salisbury Plain, 31 January 1942.
© IWM H 16962
In this episode of Duxford in Depth, we take a look at the cancelled strike and reconnaissance aircraft that would have been one of the most advanced of its time - the British Aircraft Corporation TSR-2.
Watch in full on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3PzVs3u
The Battle of Crete began in May 1941.
Launched shortly after Germany's conquest of the mainland a month earlier, the Germans aimed at quickly capturing the airfields of Maleme, Rethymno and Heraklion so that reinforcements could be flown in by air. The first photo shows German paratroopers dropping from Junkers Ju 52s over Crete, 20 May 1941.
The Germans lost 150 transport aircraft during the initial operation but ultimately won control of the island after Major-General Bernard Freyberg VC - commander of the Allied forces in Crete - and his fellow commanders miscalculated and sanctioned a withdrawal instead of assaulting the Maleme airfield. The second photo shows Freyburg gazing over the parapet of his dug-out during the German advance.
Freyberg ordered an evacuation once the Allied position became untenable. In the third photo, Maori troops line up on the quayside at Alexandria in Egypt following their evacuation from Crete.
Read more about the battle here: https://bit.ly/3P54Lqx
© IWM (A 4154) / © IWM E 3020E / © IWM (E 3373)
The destruction of the monastery at Monte Cassino, February 1944.
Believing the Germans were using the monastery as an outpost, the Allies bombarded the building from land and air. This clip from a British newsreel shows the monastery's destruction. Learn more about the Battle of Monte Cassino and the decision to bombard the monastery here: https://bit.ly/3PyWw7E
© IWM S15 42
Discover what a difference a legacy gift can make, as we mark Remember A Charity Week.
As a charity, we are more reliant than ever on private support. By remembering us in your will, you are pledging vital support. By remembering us in your will, you are pledging vital support to allow us to continue to tell important personal stories of modern war and conflict for future generations.
Learn more: https://bit.ly/3ZcjfcK
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An armoured train manned by a battalion from the Somerset Light Infantry patrols a stretch of the 15-inch gauge railway line in Kent, 1940. © IWM (AYY 38)
Haile Selassie returns to Addis Ababa with the British following five years of exile, 5 May 1941. The Emperor had fled the country during the Italian invasion and subsequent occupation, spending much of his exile in Britain. You can read more about the Italian defeat in East Africa here: bit.ly/45ChU1l © IWM CET 200
In this clip from War Pictoral News, British workers test newly-produced Vickers, Lewis and Bren and Browning machine guns at a factory, 1942. © IWM WPN 41
The Lightning - developed by English Electric to bring the RAF into the supersonic age, the Lightning was an incredible leap forward in performance and technology, capable of traveling at twice the speed of sound. Initially designed to guard the V-bomber bases that house the Vulcan, Valiant and Victor fleet, the Lightning went on to see service in Germany and beyond throughout the Cold War. Watch our Duxford in Depth on the aircraft here: https://bit.ly/3ZZEDCo © IWM (MIL 178)
Here, British M4 Sherman Crab Mk 2 flail tanks advance down a snowy, tree-lined road in the Ardennes during the Battle of the Bulge, 1944-5. You can learn more about the battle in our episode of IWM Stories: https://bit.ly/3RzjexW © IWM WPN 198
American Douglas C-47s (or Dakotas) drop the 1st Parachute Brigade over Renkum Heath on the first day of Operation Market Garden, 17 September 1944. More about the Operation: bit.ly/3Es8Pw9 © IWM A70 168-2
British soldiers man a water-cooled Vickers .303 machine gun during the Burma Campaign. The clip comes from a government newsreel following the Chindits - specially-trained troops who fought behind Japanese lines in Burma. Read more about the Chindits and the war in the Far East: bit.ly/455kNqn © IWM JFU 89
Crowds welcome Churchill in Bristol, 1941. During his visit he surveyed damage from air raids and bestowed honorary degrees to the Prime Minister of Australia and the US Ambassador at the University of Bristol. © IWM WPN 21
A British cameraman attaches his camera to a B-17 ahead of a bombing run over on Wilhelmshaven and Rouen, 1943. The narrator comments: 'The American air force is hitting hard and continuously. Good targets and happy landings'. © IWM WPN 110
A British paratrooper demonstrates the ‘Welbike’, a lightweight, foldable motorcycle produced during the Second World War. © IWM AMY 349
A Dutch man watches as Churchill tanks drive through Tilburg, October 1944. © IWM A70 187-2
Renowned cartoonist David Low talks viewers through some Soviet World War Two-era cartoons in this British government newsreel. A sundry selection that includes unflattering portraits of Nazi leaders, Napoleon chastising his inattentive student Hitler, Nazi hypnotists helping famished Germans imagine their bellies full, and more. © IWM UKY 452
In this episode of Duxford in Depth, we take a look at the cancelled strike and reconnaissance aircraft that would have been one of the most advanced of its time - the British Aircraft Corporation TSR-2. Watch in full on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3PzVs3u
The destruction of the monastery at Monte Cassino, February 1944. Believing the Germans were using the monastery as an outpost, the Allies bombarded the building from land and air. This clip from a British newsreel shows the monastery's destruction. Learn more about the Battle of Monte Cassino and the decision to bombard the monastery here: https://bit.ly/3PyWw7E © IWM S15 42
Churchill inspects building damage in East London following an air raid at the start of the Blitz, 8 September 1940. See more footage of London during the Blitz: https://bit.ly/3EjqjuI © IWM AYY 32A
‘Rout out rats!’ This British film from 1942 advises citizens how to battle the rats who ‘under the cover of the blackout are profiting from ruined buildings and are forming the menace of an enemy within our gates’. © IWM NPB 11904
Wing to Wing – a short film produced by the British government in 1951 celebrating the air forces of Britain and NATO. One of the first aircraft featured is the Gloster Meteor, Britain's first jet fighter. Learn more about it here: https://bit.ly/3YHOBYA © IWM COI 651
'A little water has to go a long way' - British soldiers freshen up in the desert during the Sinai and Palestine campaign, 1917. © IWM 17
Troops of the Royal Navy don protective clothing and test their hand-held flamethrowers on a range during the First World War. Listen to the experiences of those who witnessed the use of flamethrowers first-hand during the conflict: https://bit.ly/3qHUIj9 © IWM (IWM 604)
‘Democracy Lane’ – British soldiers make some modifications to an Italo-German traffic sign in Libya, 1941. Taken from an edition of the British official newsreel "War Pictorial News" produced shortly after the Siege of Tobruk. Read more about the siege on our website: bit.ly/3DBUa0Q © IWM WPN 35
German prisoners are marched by a cafe in France, July 1944, providing the patrons with some amusement. © IWM A70 105-6
British troops of the 1st Battalion Seaforth Highlanders arrive by landing craft in Batavia, then-capital of the Dutch East Indies, September 1945. British troops were deployed to Java to take the surrender of Japanese forces and recover prisoners of war, though quickly came into conflict with Indonesian nationalists who were battling Dutch rule. © IWM JFU 385
British soldiers escort German prisoners across a bridge on the Menin Road, near Ypres, ca. 1917. Learn more about the Third Battle of Ypres: https://bit.ly/3PJqkMn © IWM 127
Here Churchill Crocodile flame-throwing tanks train at Eastwell Park, Kent in April 1944. The Crocodile was one of a variety of specialised vehicles developed under Major-General Percy Hobart, known informally as "Hobart's Funnies". Learn more about Hobart's Funnies: https://bit.ly/45jo4Tr © IWM A70 11-1
British soldiers during the Battle of Kohima, filmed around May 1944. The battles of Imphal and Kohima, fought in 1944, are among the lesser-known battles of the Second World War. Learn more about them here: bit.ly/42FHHoc © IWM (MGH 88)
2 August marks Roma Holocaust Memorial Day. This Saturday 5 August, join us for a very special live performance at IWM London, where British-Polish Roma Music Action International artists, Sindy and Ben Czureja will perform this original song, inspired by a poetry book written by a teenage Austrian Roma, Johann Stojka. Learn more: https://bit.ly/3rR9vrL
HMS Belfast was stationed in the Far East during the Korean War, seeing considerable action during the conflict - far more than during the Second World War. For some 18 months, HMS Belfast was in active combat, mostly bombarding North Korean and Chinese ground positions. Find out more about HMS Belfast’s service in the war here: https://bit.ly/3XPgFc2
In the winter of 1943, the Germans in Italy withdrew to the fearsome Gustav line. In their wake they left thousands of mines like this S-Mine, also known as the "Bouncing Betty". Our series on the Italian Campaign is sponsored by Company of Heroes 3. Watch the whole episode in full: https://bit.ly/421Lk6p
How have war video games shaped society? Game creators and specialists will explore this and many other questions at War Games Live, a half-day festival of talks and performances at IWM London. With John Romero, Brenda Romero, Eímear Noone, Elle Osili Wood, Stephen Bush and many more. Sponsored by World of Tanks. Book now: http://bit.ly/3CUWLDX
In this film from Armistice Day 1920, King George V places a wreath on the coffin of the Unknown Warrior, recently journeyed from France by ship, train and finally by gun-carriage. The King then unveils the newly-constructed Cenotaph monument, before placing a subsequent wreath at its base. Learn more about the design and symbolism of Whitehall's Cenotaph: bit.ly/3UjGfn7 © IWM (IWM 505)
London Museum of Water & Steam
Green Dragon Lane
The Last Tuesday Society & The Viktor Wynd Mu
Mare Street
The Royal Air Force Museum London
Grahame Park Way
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