London at War

Although they have nice facilities at CAPA, Missouri London Program courses are supposed to "use London as the classroom." So, yesterday, after just one meeting at CAPA, my World War II class hit the streets and made a visit to the Churchill War Rooms. 

My "Grand Alliance" class outside the Churchill War Rooms 

During "The Blitz," from June 1940 to June 1941 the German Luftwaffe bombed southern Britain, including London, without mercy. More than 43,000 civilians were killed, most of them in London. Number 10 Downing Street, where Prime Minister Churchill lived, was, at the time, a 250 years old.  To protect Churchill and his War Cabinet . . . well, I'll just let Winston tell you himself:

"During the last fortnight of September preparations were made to transfer my ministerial headquarters to the more modern and solid Government offices overlooking St. James Park . . . . These quarters were called "the Annexe." Here during the rest of the war my wife and I lived comfortably. We felt confidence in this solid stone building, and only on very rare occasions went down below the armour. My wife even hung up our few pictures in the sitting room, which I thought it better to keep bare . . . . Below was the War Room and a certain amount of bomb-proof sleeping accommodation." Winston Churchill, Memoirs of the Second World War

Statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square

I'm not sure how much protection this "solid stone building" provided the Prime Minister, since during an air raid, if he was not busy in the armoured war room beneath his residence, he was fond of standing on the roof, which, he said, provided a "splendid view."

After the war, the Cabinet War Rooms were closed up and left virtually untouched until 1974, when plans to turn them into a museum began. The cramped spaces, poor light, and glass partitions make it difficult to take good photographs there, but I've posted some highlights below.

This is the actual Cabinet Room, where the full War Cabinet met. The chair with the rounded back, just in front of the map, is where Churchill sat. (Unfortunately, you can see my reflection in the glass on the left side of the picture.)

Although this appears to be a door to the toilet (the latch over the handle reads "occupied") it was actually a closet containing the trans-Atlantic telephone. Churchill made and received many calls from President Roosevelt in this room.

This is the official diary of the War Rooms. It is open to June 6, 1944.  "D-Day" is circled in the middle of the page on the left.

This is the log where visitors signed in. Notice that King George VI signed in on May 12, 1942. (I wonder if he had to show identification?)

This is a corridor leading to the Map Room. Because of a stairway above this portion of the bunker, it was considered a weak point. It was pumped full of concrete and then a tunnel was drilled through it.

The Churchills had living quarters above the War Rooms, but this space was always kept ready in case Winston had to stay below. (Clementine had her own room.)

This map was in the Churchill Museum, which now adjoins the War Rooms.  It was used by Churchill, Truman, and Stalin at the "Big Three" conference in Potsdam. On the plastic covering of the map, they were making preparations for the occupation and partition of Germany.

Some of the other sites my World War II class will be visiting this semester are the Imperial War Museum, the National Army Museum, the HMS Belfast (a WWII-era destroyer that took part in D-Day), and St. Paul's Cathedral. I hope you will join us. Cheers!

This was just too good to leave out!