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Imperial War Museum

The Imperial War Museum has occupied, since 1936, the central building of the former psychiatric hospital Bethlem Royal Hospital (known as Bedlam), in the Lambeth district, south of the Thames. Its copper dome, the work of Sydney Smirke, was added in 1846 over the hospital’s old chapel. The museum was founded in 1917 to document the British war effort of the First World War and today covers the conflicts of the 20th and 21st centuries in which the United Kingdom has taken part. In the central atrium hang a Spitfire fighter and a Lancaster bomber, next to a V-2 rocket almost 14 metres tall set upright. The upper floors house the First and Second World War galleries and the Holocaust Galleries, reopened in 2021 after a complete refurbishment, with restricted access for under-14s in some rooms. The building was damaged by bombing in 1940, 1941 and 1944 and was repaired before reopening in 1946.

Things to do at Imperial War Museum: 4 missions

• Listen to a testimony in the Holocaust GalleriesIn the Holocaust Galleries, stop at one of the screens with a recorded testimony from a survivor.
• Identify the Spitfire and the LancasterFind the Spitfire Mark IA fighter and the Avro Lancaster bomber hanging from the atrium ceiling and note the squadron code painted on the Lancaster's fuselage.
• Look for traces of the old BedlamFind the information about the original Bethlem Royal Hospital (Bedlam) building and its copper dome, added in 1846 by Sydney Smirke.
• Size up the V-2 rocket by eyeFind the German V-2 rocket, almost 14 metres long, standing in the middle of the atrium, and look for the plaque explaining its range and its use against London in 1944.

Near Imperial War Museum

Source: Web oficial de Imperial War Museums