Churchill War Room Museum
In 1874, Winston Spencer-Churchill was born into a family of Dukes of Marlborough, a branch of noble Spencer family. His leadership qualities during the Second World War made him the greatest leader of the 20th century. The cabinet war rooms provided the top secret headquarters for the core of British government through the Second World War. In 1938, the White Hall building was selected for the War Rooms. From 1940-1945 a great number of men and women spend there their most important hours.
These were the war time bunkers which saved the Churchill and his staff during the Second World War. These historic rooms witnessed the strategies and planning of the war. Churchill War Room’s museums are also a branch of the Imperial War Museum. During the Second World War a group of basements served as war rooms and one of them is Churchill War Room which was the room allocated for Prime Minister of that time, Winston Churchill. Due to air raid fear from First World War, Britain developed a strategy to use basements as offices to avoid causalities. These basements were facilitated with broadcasting, map rooms and ventilation to accommodate ministers and Army personnel for discussing strategies. The new Public Office Building was selected for building these War Rooms because it was a strong building with steel frames and large basements. The War Rooms were fully operational on 27 August 1939, a week before Britain declared war on Germany. The Cabinet War Rooms remained in used for 24 hours a day until 16 August 1945. In 1984, The Imperial War Museum opened the War Rooms for public and in 2005 Queen opened the Churchill Room through in which you can examine the life of legendary the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill.
During the operational life two of the War Rooms were significantly important, one was the Map Room which was continuously visited by the Army, the Navy and the Air Force personnel to report to the prime minister. The other room was the Cabinet Room in which all ministers, along with the prime minister, discussed their agenda and planned their action. Churchill’s office bed room included BBC broadcasting equipment and he made four war time broadcasts from the War Rooms. Churchill rarely slept underground although his office was furnished with a bed. Mostly he preferred to sleep in a flat in the new Public Offices, located directly above the Cabinet War Rooms. His daughter used to sleep in the room allocated to Mrs. Churchill in the War Rooms. Churchill War Room’s museum includes many of the objects that depict his personality and tastes. Those include one rattle that he used in his childhood, a drawing remembering Churchill’s 80-th birthday and many other things.
Today, you can look back in history by visiting this museum and learn what were the reasons that lead Germany to kneel before Britain. Maps, documents, charts, books, colour coded telephones all witness of great history. The Transatlantic Telephone Room witnessed the secret conversations between Churchill and the US President Roosevelt.