The First and Second World War at The IWM

This is the last posting from The Imperial War Museum - you may be glad to hear. The above is the famous Lord Kitchener poster designed by Alfred Leete to persuade young men to enlist. Britain declared War on Germany on 4th August 1914 shortly after the Kaiser's armies crossed into Belgium. By the end of 1915 two and a half million men had enlisted and in 1916 Parliament passed the Military Service Acts which introduced conscription of men aged between 18 and 41.

The way to the "Front Line."

A very telling sign - you cannot but help to be moved by these signs - there is a whole wall of them. So many young men went to their death like lambs to the slaughter.

In the First World War exhibit area there is a walk-through reconstruction of a front line trench on the Somme in the Autumn of 1916 - with special lighting, sound and smell effects. It is a sobering experience.

The conditions were appalling. Living in constant fear of death or serious injury amid the wet and cold, and being crawled over by rats.

This soldier is grateful to have a letter from home.

This photo is very poignant as it shows the men going "over the top". It reminded me of that final scene in Blackadder Goes Forth.

We moved on to the Second World War exhibit area.

The chilling words of Adolf Hitler.

Those immortal words of Winston Churchill - his tribute to the Royal Air Force in the House of Commons on the 20th August, 1940. In July 1940 the Luftwaffe began attacking airfields, ports and aircraft factories in Operation "Sealion." On 17th September Hitler postponed the Operation indefinitely having been defeated in the air and out-gunned at sea.

Our Daughter in an Anderson Shelter.

The War is over - it's time to welcome loved ones home.

It's time for street parties!

We also visited the new exhibition at The Imperial War Museum - Once Upon A Wartime.

It is centred around five childrens books where war is brought dramatically to life:-

War Horse by the wonderful Michael Morpurgo

Carrie's War by Nina Bawden

The Machine Gunners by Robert Westall

The Silver Sword by Ian Serraillier

Little Soldier by Bernard Ashley

It is a very good exhibition and well worth going to.

And finally after many posts we say "Good-bye" to London.

The next posting will be more cheerful as I show you what we got up to at half term.

Until next time.

June.

Covent Garden and Trafalgar Square

There were many street entertainers in Covent Garden including mime artists. This couple were dressed in gold and silver.

They were very happy to pose!

We headed to Trafalgar Square.

Where there was another silver painted mime artsist.

A statue of George Washington outside The National Gallery in Trafalgar Square.

Our Daughter and The Other Half near to the fountains in Trafalgar Square.

There was a protest going on - it was very peaceful. Little did we know then that there was going to be a terrible situation in Libya with the country heading for Civil War.

By this stage having been on our feet for several hours we headed to the nearby Waterstones. We had hoped to grab a quick coffee - all the tables were in use, mostly by students who had their laptops with them and looked as if they were going to hog the tables for a long time!

We therefore had a quick wander around the store - I purchased "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro and "Doctor Zhivago" by Boris Pasternak. Our Daughter wanted "Back Home" by Michelle Magorian - who wrote the superb "Goodnight Mister Tom." "Back Home" is set in 1945 and the twelve year old Rusty is back in England after five years in the USA. It sounds so good that I want to read it ...

I still have some more to show you as the following day we went back to the Imperial War Museum to see the First and Second World War Exhibitions.

I am seriously behind with my blogging as last week it was half-term and we went to Devon where we didn't have access to a computer. There will be plenty to show you from a trip to Lyme Regis, Frome and Forde Abbey. I will also tell you the story of me being told off by a farmer!

Thank you to all those people who follow my blog - I noticed I have a few more!

Until next time.

June.

Covent Garden

We left The Imperial War Museum and made our way to Covent Garden.

The Imperial War Museum has a very good shop. As you can see from the carrier bag we made a few purchases!

We came across the street entertainers. How they stay up on those unicycles beats me. I would be just too scared of falling off to even try!

To then catch things whilst riding a unicycle.

And then juggle - WOW!

There were people making paellas.

There was a man singing "Nessum Dorma".

There was a rock singer.

And this man - the best had been kept till last. He was exceptionally funny and very talented.

Here he is getting help from members of the audience to get on his unicycle.

He also had help from this little boy.

Before juggling and entertaining the crowd. He really was a crowd puller and you can see from peoples faces how good he was!

I still have a few more photos from Covent Garden to show you. We then headed to Trafalgar Square before making our way back to the hotel. We had hoped to go to China Town for our evening meal but having got back to the hotel and had a bath we decided that we were too shattered and had room service. We then watched "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1" on the Pay to View.

The following day we returned to The Imperial War Museum to see the Once Upon A Wartime Exhibition before moving onto the First and Second World War Exhibitions. So there is more to tell!

Until next time.

June.

The 1940's House - Imperial War Museum

A continuation of yesterday's post where we were in The Children's War exhibition at The Imperial War Museum.

I love the blue tile surround to the fireplace and the gold eiderdowns / bed covers. My grandma had a similar fire surround but in beige in the parlour but with a real fire.

I love the black and white simple style of the bathroom and the Lloyd Loom laundry basket. I also like the shade of green paint - a colour which was all the rage in the 1940's.

I would love to have a butler's sink but if I did have one I would probably have to put a plastic bowl in it as I am a bit heavy handed with crockery and they would end up chipped!

I love the pastry table with its green legs.

Doesn't that sitting room look cosy. I far prefer the description sitting room to lounge.  I suppose that is what most people do these days lounge about in their lounge in front of the telly. Sitting room on the other hand sounds far more refined and implies somewhere where you will sit and do something like read a book or relax listening to the radio.

My grandmother used to swear by "VIM" as the best cleaning agent. I remember she would scour away with VIM which came in a powdery form with some warm water and a small brush. It's funny the things that you remember from childhood.

There were many posters encouraging children to drink milk and orange juice and to take cod liver oil.

I liked this photograph of a young child doing just as she'd been told!

My grandma used to swear by cod liver oil and used to take a swig of it straight from the bottle every morning as well as eating an orange every day - harking back to what she had been told in the 1940's perhaps. She did live to be 90 with hardly any illnesses that I can re-call, not even a cold.

With the War going on - love seemed still to be in the air for this young couple. I wonder what happened to them?

I love the hope in this photograph -  through the despair of her surroundings this woman has a smile on her face and I like the dress too!

Well, that pretty much sums up what we saw in The Children's War Exhibition. Tomorrow I will move on to show you some photographs of where we went next - Covent Garden - to see the street entertainers!

Until next time.

June.

The Children's War - Imperial War Museum

A continuation of yesterday's post from the Imperial War Museum. After our lunch we headed towards "The Children's War" section.

One of the first things you see is this wonderful sculpture of a young boy playing with his toy aeroplane. I liked the shadow created by the lighting on the wall behind the sculpture.

These mannequins dressed in their Sunday best with gas masks brings home the message how indiscriminate war is. Everyone had to be protected not just the people who went to fight but those that stayed at home.

I would like to think that these two young children had been evacuated to a loving home in the country.

The trauma of separation must have been exceptionally painful for all concerned. I cannot imagine for one minute leaving Our Daughter at a train station to go and live with complete strangers.

There were many posters about the evacuation of children from the cities to the country. My Grandma looked after some evacuees on a short-term basis until they could find homes in which to stay for a longer period. They were evacuees from Liverpool. My Grandma and Grandad rented a small holding on Angelsey in North Wales. It was an idyllic place. My Grandad had converted two train carriages - one as a garage and one as a workroom. These were located in a field with plum trees on one side and gooseberry bushes the other as well as many tall trees. A wonderful place to play as a child.

There was an old hayloft where the feral cats would have their kittens and my Grandma would take me to have a peek at them before their eyes opened. I remember my Grandma telling me that we would have to be very quiet and that I had to be on my best behaviour otherwise the mother cat would get frightened and carry the kittens away to a new home.

My Grandma was a lovely lady. She never got cross or raised her voice to anyone. She would always be dressed in a pinny or overall to protect her clothes as she was constantly cooking and baking.

Anyhow, I digress - I want to tell you a story that my Grandma told me about the evacuees that came to stay.  On the very first day that they arrived she put them all to sleep together in the only spare bed which she had which was a double bed. When it was time for her to go to bed she went to check that the children were alright. She opened the bedroom door and found the bed empty. She thought that the children had run away and was pretty scared as to what to do and how to explain to the authorities what had happened. She woke my Grandad up and they went looking for them - to no avail. When they got back home they double checked the bedroom again and found the children fast asleep under the bed!

The children had been used to sleeping under the bed at night as it was safer should there be a bomb raid.

Another evacuation poster.

Our Daughter outside an Anderson Shelter.

A painting that is very much of its time of a Despatch Rider.

If you didn't get the subtle message that your child was safer in the country - then here is the less than subtle poster!

Another poster telling mothers that children were better off in the country. The children have worried expressions as if to say "Send us to the country -  It's not safe here."

Did you know that over the course of the Second World War 1,000,000 children were evacuated from their homes and that a further 16,000 were sent abroad.

Did you know that 7,736 children died as a direct result of enemy action - so the propoganda was probably right - Send your children to the Country. Keep them away from the horror of the Blitz.

Tomorrow I will show you some photographs of the 1940's house before moving on to where we went after we had finished at the Museum - Covent Garden!

Until next time.

June.