The Cabinet War Rooms
I was so pleased to read the recommendation that visitors to London include the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms in their itinerary. (See TTS, April 2009.) I agree … this is a fascinating place and an important part of the history of all of us.
I'm dropping this line to TTS on 27 August because I've just learned that a new exhibition has today opened at the War Rooms to commemorate its 70th anniversary from the date it became operational in August 1939, the week before WWII was declared. The exhibition, entitled Undercover - Life in Churchill's Bunker examines the daily tasks and lives of the people who worked there in the following dark years.
The website www.iwm.org.uk ex-plains that the exhibition will focus on the personal accounts of the men and women who worked in the War Rooms during those tumultuous year. "Images, artifacts and the first-hand oral accounts of those who worked [there] bring the working conditions in Churchill's secret underground headquarters vividly to life. What was it like working a 14-hour shift in the typing pool when bombs were going off over London's skies? Thought to be "bomb-proof" by the men and women who worked there, what was the real state of affairs?"
If anyone is wondering how I heard about this exhibition on the very day it opened, it's because I subscribe to the (free) BBC on-line news and I've seen in their photo gallery for today a most charming photograph. The caption reads: "Myra Collyer sits behind a typewriter insider the bunker of the Cabinet Warr Room in central London, where she worked during World War II." Don't miss this fascinating place if London is in your plans.
Again quoting from the website: "If you've never visited Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms, make this the year that you walk in Churchill's footsteps for a truly memorable day out. From expert speakers to learning activities for kids, there's something for everyone at the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms." The special exhibition is due to run until 30 September 2010.
Dorothy Jones
Toronto, ON
Thanks for telling us about this Dorothy. And soon we'll be bringing readers a story about visiting Chart-well, Churchill's country home in Kent and now part of Britain's National Trust
- Ed.
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