Imperial War Museums

The Imperial War Museums reopened on Saturday, to mark the centenary of the World War One, after completing the first phase of its plan. We had to wait six months but the £40 million project, designed by the architects Foster and Partners, is concluded. 

Prince William and David Cameron officially opened the IWM and the new "First World War Galleries" last Thursday.

IWM, formerly called the National War Museum, was founded on the 5th of March, 1917, and the museum was opened in the Crystal Palace by King George V, Prince William great-great grandfather, on the 9th of June, 1920. The Duke of York, later known as King George VI, reopened the IMW on Lambeth Road, its present location.

Thanks to the new arrangements, there are 60 new objects on display that have been never been seen before. The impressive atrium houses the "Witnesses to War". "There are nine iconic objects including a Harrier jet, Spitfire aeroplane and a V-2 rocket suspended from above. These dramatic displays also feature as a T-34 tank, the wreckage of the car in Jeremy Deller’s Baghdad, March 5th 2007 and a Reuters Land Rover damaged by a rocket attack in Gaza. These objects introduce themes from the First World War to the present day and reveal how they have shaped our understanding of war and conflict today."

In the second phase of the redevelopment, the Holocaust Gallery will be moved and the staircase will be out of the atrium. Everything will be ready ahead of 2025.