On one trip to London a visit to the Churchill War Rooms was a total surprise and again one of those wonderful unexpected experiences.
Located beneath the Treasury building the Cabinet War Rooms were constructed in 1938 and were operational by 1939. In 1940, shortly after becoming Prime Minister, Churchill stood in the War Cabinet Room and declared, “This is the room from which I will direct the war”.
It was amazing to stand in that room and listen to Churchill’s recordings. Talk about stepping back into history---and to my childhood. The day my dad sat my sister and me down and told us about Pearl Harbor is as clear today as it was 70 years ago!
Operational all during W W II, the rooms were abandoned in 1945 after the surrender of Japan. Shelter from Britain’s wartime blitz was no longer needed and fortunately someone with foresight realized the rooms had historical value.
It was pretty awesome to wander the maze of hallways as air raid sirens sounded and recordings of bombs exploding over head painted images in our minds. In the Map Room books and charts remain exactly as they where were left in 1945.
Today the War Rooms are part of the Imperial War Museum that also includes the Churchill Museum, a biographical museum exploring his life.
These preservations became the responsibility of the Ministry of Works and later the Department for the Environment. In the early 1980s the Imperial War Museum took over the administration and the Cabinet War Rooms were opened to the public in April 1984.
Not as well known as other landmarks in London, these rooms and exhibit are certainly well worth a visit.
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