The 3 Day WWII Extraveganza

Over the past three days I have had the incredible experience of immersing myself in the lasting WWII exhibitions that London has to offer, fitting being the resident military historian in the family. Over the course of the my historical adventures so far I have been the captain of a warship (a heavy cruiser specifically), sat in the cockpit of a jet trainer and stood where Churchill orchestrated the defense of Britain and the fight against the Nazi's. Throughout these adventures I have collected a variety of guidebooks, books and other bits of WWII memorabilia, enough to probably open my own museum :p It was fascinating, informative and all very enjoyable.

On Wednesday, I shipped out on the HMS Belfast, a WWII era cruiser that is anchored on the Thames and acts as a museum of sorts. Standing in the triple barreled 6" gun turret on the aft deck trying to wrap my head around how 27 sailors jammed themselves in this cramped compartment was something else. This wonderment was short lived as the turret began to shake and fill with smoke as a sharp explosion punctured the silence, a simulated firing! It was awesome!

Our exploration of the ship continued and we soon came across the torpedo flat with a decommissioned torpedo resting on a rack, it was huge, at least 15 feet long. A little later we found ourselves in the bowels of the ship, the boiler and engine rooms were something to see, a marvel of engineering of the times and a testament to the perseverance of will as the fully operational conditions could not have been comfortable by any stretch of the imagination. The rest of the ship was just as cool to see, the galley, mess hall, ammunition storage, a neat little chapel, crew quarters, and a cool little exhibit taking us through the events of the Belfast's service including its role at D-Day at Juno Beach (a cool tie-in as I hope to get out to Juno Beach while in France).

The tour culminated in a stop on the bridge, where we met an old grizzled sea dog who got me to put on a naval greatcoat and captain's hat while dad took pictures, it was a pretty cool feeling. By this time we were pressed for time so we had to quickly zip through the rest of the ship in order to meet up with my siblings on time.     

Thursday took Dad and I on a lengthy ride up the tube to the Royal Air Force Museum, it was definitely worth the trip. We were greeted on the grounds by a Spitfire and Hawker Hurricane, two of the best fighters of the era, very cool start. Things kept getting better, just inside the doors was another Spitfire surrounded by the roundel markings of all the different nations that flew alongside Britain as well as a wall depicting the progression of the British markings. Further in I was in paradise, aircraft from the past to present were everywhere so much cool stuff to look at, examine and take in. There was also a very cool wall showing the history of flight in a well laid out timeline, lot of interesting tidbits and factoids that I was unaware of. Next up was the hall of bombers, these beasts were enormous. My favorite of the collection was the Avro Lancaster heavy bomber, probably due to the fact it's what Canadian aircrews would have flown, it was an absolutely majestic machine. The placard also made me stop and think as it stated that the average age of the 7 man crew was 22, this has stuck with me as I realize had I been born 70 years earlier I could have very easily been one of those Canadian lads flying perilous sorties against Nazi Germany.

A bit further on there was this great wall that told of the all the countries that supplied airmen to the RAF during the war, it stated that the importance of the Canadian contribution to the RAF could not be overstated and some national pride swelled up inside. There was so much cool stuff, WWI bi-planes, allied and German fighters from WWII, modern aircraft including a fully armed Phantom fighter, helicopters and so called "boat" planes. There was also a V2 rocket on display which was cool to look at, finally before heading back we raided the gift store. I easily could have spent as much time in that gift store as Mom and my siblings spent shopping on their excursions.

Today's excursion brought again Dad and I to the Churchill Cabinet War Rooms, like the HMS Belfast this museum/exhibit is the real deal combined with an audio tour. Just standing in the same rooms the Churchill and his cabinet would have as they orchestrated the war effort against Hitler sent shivers up my spine. It was really cool, as they have set up the rooms just the way they would have during the war and left original artifacts in their places. Right smack in the middle of the War Room exhibit is a museum devoted to Churchill, which held a wealth of information, so much so that taking longer then expected still required rushing through this mini museum.While in this Churchill Museum I found more quotes from Churchill praising the Canadian contribution to the war effort, and more national pride swelled up inside. It was an eye opener to realize that some of the staffers lived in this bunker and how uncomfortable it must have been. By this point I had actually hit an overload point of WWII history and information, something I didn't think was possible so I'll take it easy on the family and take a little break before our next history lesson.

A view of Churchill's room in the underground war rooms