Day off - Imperial War Museum

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Geo: 51.5002, -0.126236

Thursday, August 2

It was half way through my London vacation so I decided to take a day off from the Olympics. I spent most of the day at the Imperial War Museum which is only one block (a very big block) away from where I am staying. This museum, which opened its doors in 1920, was created to show the public the causes and consequences of World War I. It has since then expanded its scope to cover all wars of the 20th and 21st centuries.

The scope of the museum is vast so I only explored sections of it. Of particular interest were the displays about World War I particularly the experience of the foot soldiers. They have an "in the trenches" display which is depicts life on the front. Other displays that were of interest were about genocide and ethnic cleansing, the secret war in Europe during World War II, and the war against terrorism. The museum has some pretty cool toys such as tanks, miniature submarines, artillery, and my favorite, a very low tech folding sea kayak that was used by commandos to infiltrate German held ports to sabotage ships. I heard a lecture on the effects of gas warfare on soldiers.

The Imperial War Museum will soon be closed for two year while its interior is gutted and rebuilt. They have targeted August, 2014, as the opening date, which, of course, is the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I. The curator with whom I spoke said that the interior will be completely different. Since I hope to visit London one more, without the bustle of the Olympics, I look forward to visiting the revamped museum.

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