Wing Commander Guy Gibson with members of his crew of 617 Squadron © IWM (TR 1127)

This week marks the 70th anniversary of the Dambusters raid. Next summer when our new atrium fully re-opens we’ll have a piece of the bar from the Petwood Hotel where the off-duty aircrews involved in the Dambusters raid would relax and socialise. A recent acquisition by IWM, this will be the first time the bar has ever been on public display.

Seventy years ago, on the night of 16–17 May 1943, Wing Commander Guy Gibson led an audacious bombing raid to destroy three dams in the Ruhr valley, the industrial heartland of Germany. The dams were fiercely protected. Torpedo nets in the water stopped underwater attacks and anti-aircraft guns defended them against enemy bombers. But 617 Squadron had a secret weapon: the ‘bouncing bomb’.

We’ve taken some archive footage of a Dambusters bouncing bomb test and turned it into an animated gif.

You can find out more about the Dambusters raid on our website here.

Three civilians soak up the sunshine as they sleep in the sunshine in the comfort of deck chairs in Hyde Park, London. © IWM (D 15939)

As spring slowly rolls into summer the first brave sunbathers, sports teams and locals enjoying the sunshine emerged last weekend, tucking into ice creams in the park alongside the museum.

Although it’s always a bit galling to be able to see people eating ice creams, playing Frisbee and sunning themselves while we’re stuck in the office it has got us all excited about the new café at IWM London which opens in summer 2014.

Located on the west-side of the building the new café will open out into the park so we’ll be able to sit outside and enjoy a nice hot drink or grab a bite to eat before heading into the museum to explore the new galleries and displays.

Merely to remind you that……..TIME FLIES © IWM (Art.IWM PST 3703)

Summer is just around the corner and it is now only three months until we partially re-open on 29 July. To mark the three month countdown here’s a sneak peak what’s on from July at IWM London…

On 29 July our new family exhibition Horrible Histories®: Spies opens. Based on the popular children’s book and TV series, you’ll be able to immerse yourself into the world of Second World War spy-craft including codes and cyphers, disguises, camouflage and gadgets.

We’re also launching IWM Contemporary – our new programme of exhibitions and events by leading artists and photographers whose work is in response to war and conflict. The first exhibition in the programme is Omer Fast’s 5,000 Feet is the Best, a 30 minute film exploring the experiences of a drone operator in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Also opening on 29 July is Architecture of War – a new exhibition which presents artists’ responses to the impact of warfare on landscape and environments. Spanning almost a century of British art, from the First World War to the present day, Architecture of War features works by artists including William Orpen, Ronald Searle, William Scott and Langlands and Bell.

Our Explore History Centre – where you can drop in and access our collections online – will also re-open. Our main research room will remain in All Saints building until Friday 16 August. Following a short closure it will reopen in the museum on Monday 2 September.

From July until summer 2014, visitors will enter IWM London through our side entrance and access around the museum building will be limited with the main atrium and large objects covered from view. Our large objects including aircrafts, tanks and artillery will be on display once again when we fully re-open in summer 2014, along with our new First World War Galleries, atrium, shop and park-side café.

Over the coming months we’ll continue to keep you updated on our new programme of exhibitions and events at IWM London as well as the latest news from behind the scenes as our transformation continues from July 2013 to summer 2014.

Hi, I’m Amelia. I’m currently undertaking a student volunteer placement at IWM London and was lucky enough to join the IWM Youth Advisors Ruben, Elana, Zipporah, Kevin and Josiah for their April meeting. This was a packed day focusing on the changes that the museum is currently undergoing.

We started with an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour led by Geoff Burningham, Senior Construction Manager. It was a brilliant chance to see first-hand the redevelopment of the museum. It was amazing to see how much the museum has already changed and to use our imaginations to picture what it will look like in the future.

A new art exhibition, Architecture of War, is being curated in time for the partial re-opening of the museum in July . The Youth Panel had the chance to work with Art Curator Claire Brenard to select highlights from the exhibition to incorporate into the Youth Panel Highlights leaflet. We had the chance to see images of all the artworks which will be in the exhibition and selected two for our leaflet. Once we had chosen the final two we were all able to go to see them for ourselves in the stores where the art collection is kept. Youth Panel member Elana found this activity particularly enjoyable as she reflected:

Working with Claire was really interesting as I didn’t know much about art but she explained the backgrounds of the paintings which made it much harder to choose between them.

The rest of the day centred mainly on the new First World War Galleries, as we were given special access to the prototype model by Exhibition Manager Becky Wakeford. This was a really exciting opportunity and we made the most of it by raising important questions about how the public will interact with the design, which we were all very impressed with.

Following on from this, the panel took part in another exhibition workshop with James Taylor, Lead Curator for the First World War Galleries. We discussed the text that was being written for panels in the exhibition to tell the stories of the war and describe artefacts that would be on display. Youth Panel member Ruben found this especially valuable:

 I really enjoyed having the chance to look at the text for the First World War Galleries again as we saw the real progression from the last time we did a workshop with James.

I really enjoyed my day with the Youth Panel as it was fascinating to hear their opinions of the redevelopment and see how important these are for the museum. From the sounds of their discussion at the end of the day they have plenty of equally exciting plans for the future.

How did I become involved as a volunteer? I have always loved IWM and found out about the student volunteer placements when I was looking on the website for ways that I could become involved and gain experience, as I am hoping to pursue a career as a Learning Officer within museums.

This term IWM Young Reporters from local Archbishop Sumner School and Oasis Academy Johanna have been making exclusive behind-the-scenes podcasts about Transforming IWM London.

Sixty Year 5 students took on different roles including researchers, technical assistants, interviewers, roving reporters and presenters.  They worked together with IWM learning officers to plan and present a series of six exciting podcasts and even recorded their own jingle!

With the masterful support of eight Lambeth College radio production students and their dynamic course leader Sheila Smith, the podcasts were recorded and edited over two very exhausting and thrilling days at Lambeth College’s recording studios.

About working with IWM London on the Young Reporters’ podcasts, Sheila Smith, Lambeth College Vox Radio course tutor said:

It was great working with the Young Reporters who came to the studio enthusiastic and the radio students got a lot from passing on their skills and experience to the young people.

The podcasts included exclusive interviewees with some of IWM’s leading historians, curators and exhibition managers. They also interviewed members of IWM’s local community to learn about what other people think about IWM London and all the changes taking place.

First World War Curator Laura Clouting said:

It was brilliant, if a little scary, to be interviewed by the Young Reporters!  They were all very professional and broadcasting naturals.  They are going to be our future visitors so it was really important to talk through our plans for the new exhibition with them over the airwaves.

And now an exciting chance to get a sneak preview!  The Lambeth College radio students featured one of the IWM Young Reporters’ interviews 35 minutes into their weekly VOX Radio show about motivation.  The interview is featured just after the song Don’t Stop Me Now.

Listen now.

Update: The podcasts will be released in weekly instalments later this year via our Facebook page. Make sure to like us on Facebook if you haven’t already!

An octagonal kitchen building at Royal Bethlem Hospital, early twentieth century. Courtesy of Bethlem Art and History Collections Trust (LSC-210)

As work gets underway on the transformation of IWM London and the Large Exhibits Gallery specifically, we thought it might be good to take a look at how that particular space has evolved over the years.

The Imperial War Museum moved  to Lambeth Road in 1936, taking over the central section of the former Bethlem Royal Hospital. The building, completed in 1815, was constructed around a courtyard where the Chief Physician had his garden.

As the number of patients grew, the garden was replaced by an octagonal kitchen building, shown above in the early twentieth century. Before IWM moved in, the kitchen was demolished to make way for three single storey exhibition galleries.

The galleries under construction in 1935 by Hubert John Williams © IWM (Art.IWM ART LD 509).

Air raid damage to the Naval Gallery. © IWM (MH127)

The Museum was closed to the public for most of the Second World War,  and in January 1941, these galleries took a direct hit  and a number of exhibits, including the Short Seaplane, were damaged. The galleries were repaired after the war and the Museum reopened in 1946.

Although a significant improvement on the cramped conditions at the Museum’s former home in South Kensington, the galleries were still not spacious enough to house the increasing number of exhibits acquired after the Second World War. Plans were made for their replacement as early as the 1960s, but they remained unchanged until major redevelopment of IWM in the 1980s.

Demolition of the galleries at IWM London, 1986. © IWM (IWM 86 44 64)

The first phase of the 1980s redevelopment saw the infill of the courtyard, replacing the old single storey galleries with a new structure and large exhibits hall. During the construction the foundations and a well from the Bethlem kitchen block were uncovered. Once the building work was complete, the  Museum was closed for four months  (November 1988 – March 1989) while the large exhibits were installed and new Second World War galleries fitted out.

IWM London Large Exhibits Gallery, 2008

The new IWM was opened by HM The Queen on the 29 June 1989 and between then and 2012 more than 14 million visitors have walked across it.

An early version of the proposed floorplan of IWM London’s transformed Atrium space with our notes included.

When it came to modelling which objects would be selected for our transformed Atrium and where they would be displayed, it soon became clear that neither glue or tape or tack would work.  

An early version of our proposed plans for the transformed Atrium at IWM London which has since been revised.

We needed to move objects and stories around to demonstrate groupings and connections; try out new ideas and look at different options for interpreting our collections; to see what would fit.  We needed something that would enable us to layout the cut-outs of the Atrium collections onto the architect’s floor plans. The cut-outs had to be easily adjustable but also hold their positions as they were taken from office to architects, from home to designers.  The conventional methods of holding the objects in place were either too sticky or not sticky enough. It felt like Goldilocks all over again, but where was baby bear when you needed him? The final straw was losing the Atom bomb under my sofa due to a lack of effective adhesive.

An early Fuzzy Felt version of our proposed plans for placement of our large exhibits in the Atrium. Our plans have since been revised.

I can’t remember who first mentioned Fuzzy Felt:  it was the obvious solution but with nothing in the shops it had to be re-invented for this project.  I chose a radiant red felt and marked out the architectural and structural elements.  All the objects were redrawn to a new scale, cut out and fitted with Velcro sticking strip.  Now the project had an effective working tool to help us with new discussions to illustrate the stories.  And now, whether it was in a quiet chat or a presentation to the trustees, it was hard not to be cheered by this Luddite but engaging technology.  In fact, it was just right.

Alas, their day is done : the leftover scraps of felt were cut into Christmas trees and then distributed to the project team, with rejected objects as presents.  Farewell.

IWM London is now temporarily closed until July 2013 as we begin the first phase of our major transformation project.

Di Lees, our Director-General,  speaks about our major redevelopment project, Transforming IWM London. Watch the video above to hear about our future plans.

This temporary period of closure is allowing us to safely and securely deliver the most disruptive construction works needed to transform our museum.

We will partially reopen in July 2013. You can look forward to our major new family exhibition Horrible Histories®: Spies, launching in July 2013.  We will also have an exciting new programme of art and photography exhibitions in the autumn. The Lord Ashcroft Gallery: Extraordinary Heroes, The Holocaust Exhibition, Secret War, A Family in Wartime and our Explore History Centre will be reopening.

Tell us what updates from behind the scenes you’d most like to read about while we’re closed.