Cabinet War Rooms Reviews (London, England)

Cabinet War Rooms

Metro Manila, Philippines

July 7, 2008

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I find World War II history very moving. The Philippines, my home country, was one of the countries whose history was reshaped drastically by the war. And more than that, the stories of the war are in my blood. Both my grandfathers fought in the ...Read more

From journal A Week in England

Cabinet War Rooms

by callen60

Ozarks, Missouri

June 1, 2008

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Best of IgoUgo Thinking back to 20 years ago, I realized that this was the place that convinced me to go to London. It hadn’t been too long since this bunker/residence/command center had opened as a museum, and I saw a small note in a travel magazine advertising ...Read more Thinking back to 20 years ago, I realized that this was the place that convinced me to go to London. It hadn’t been too long since this bunker/residence/command center had opened as a museum, and I saw a small note in a travel magazine advertising this as one of London’s little-known secret attractions. The chance to see the rooms from which WWII was conducted—just as they were the day the war ended in Japan—was a captivating idea. I was just beginning to catch the travel bug, and reading about this underground museum led to the idea of just what else one might do in London. It took another 10 years, but in 2001 I finally visited this spot.

In the seven years since then, the CWR have gotten even better. These rooms were built in anticipation of an air war with Germany, and construction finished just as war broke out in 1939. They were to provide ample space for the prime minister, his cabinet, and military staff to both live and work, protected from the bombing that devastated London as predicted. Churchill visited this site immediately after taking office as Prime Minister in May of that year, and reportedly announced that “This is the room from which I will direct the war.”

This site is on the west edge of Whitehall, close to both 10 Downing St and the Houses of Parliament. It sits on Horse Guards Road, facing St. James Park, in the lower levels of what is now the Treasury Building. It’s a highly public area, but yet remained a secret throughout the war (that’s easier to understand when you realize the current public entrance didn’t exist until the museum opened). During the war, hundreds of people worked and even slept here, on at least two subterranean levels, accessed only from the interior of the building. The Cabinet Room and the Map Room are the centerpieces of the exhibit, still containing large wall-sized cartography displaying the positions of troops, ships and convoys in every theatre of the war. Other rooms include the small closet from which Churchill talked over a primitive scrambled telephone line with Roosevelt, as well as the recently re-opened ‘Churchill Suite’ that was available for use by him and his wife, Clementine. This area contains bedrooms for each of them, as well as the small kitchen used to cook for him and his staff (this must have been top-flight equipment in 1940, but it reminds of me of what filled the northwoods cabins I remember from the 1960’s).

Churchill is said to have spent few nights sleeping in these quarters, and preferred the more spacious suite on the first floor of the Treasury. To the further consternation of his aides, he frequently went to the top of the building during nightly raids on London. Other rooms contain sleeping quarters for aides, original reports on the impact of bombing and V-1 raids on London, and rooms for Churchill’s private staff (including trusted confidant Brendan Bracken). It’s sobering to realize that, as the exhibits make clear, it wasn’t a certainty that the building could survive a direct hit. Thankfully, this complex escaped the war nearly unscathed, which is a little hard to believe given its location in the heart of Official Britain.

The major change since my last visit is the opening of the large, excellent Churchill Museum, which you encounter halfway through your tour of the War Rooms. This site alone could easily take a half-day to explore, particularly for those interested in Churchill’s life and times. It’s a comprehensive look at his entire life, with some amazing new technology used throughout. At the entrance, a series of 10 or so photographs illustrate some of Churchill’s most famous speeches, and as you step in front of them, directed speakers above you then play these excerpts—which, despite their familiarity, were all the more moving in this context. The centerpiece is a stunning multimedia table, which is actually an electronic file cabinet for each day of Churchill’s life. A touch of the screen in front of you opens a ‘file’ for each month, and another touch can open any day, displaying photos, reproductions of documents, and video clips as well as giving Churchill’s whereabouts and activities. I found this at the very end of my visit, and explored the days in mid-1945 as the war was coming to an end, and Churchill was fighting to keep his Conservative Party in power. Here, as in other places, the Museum stays away from hero worship: the 1945 exhibit analyzes the reasons for his electoral defeat, including his ill-chosen ‘Gestapo’ comments on his perception of the ultimate outcome of Labour’s plans for the country.

40 years after he left this place, Churchill’s fellow Conservative Margaret Thatcher was responsible for opening the site to the public. Action of Parliament had set it aside as an historic site in 1948, but it remained closed and largely unknown until Thatcher’s 1981 decision to make it more public. Britons and others may remain divided on her legacy, but certainly that decision was a sound one.

The site is one of several administered by the Imperial War Museum, but unlike the central museum in Lambeth, it’s not free. Admission is a typical (for London) £12—but that’s fairly reasonable, since it includes an excellent and thorough audio tour that is a must for your walk through the corridors. Even better, this is one of many prime London attractions that honor the 2-for-1 vouchers available to rail passengers and 7-day Travelcard holders at www.daysoutguide.co.uk. Since children under 16 are free, that meant the five of us had admission and guides for a very reasonable £24.

There are several sites in London that help one understand the experience of Londoners and Great Britain during the Blitz and the rest of the War. This is certainly one of them, and it will be on my itinerary whenever I’m fortunate enough to be here.
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From journal London: All That We Could Afford

Cabinet War Rooms

by pchefbev

Canonsburg, Pennsylvania

June 19, 2006

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Best of IgoUgo This was a very worthwhile place to visit, especially if you like recent history—WWII era. When you pay your admission fee, you are given an audio tour guide, so you can pick and choose which exhibits you want to hear about. It was fascinating to ...Read more

From journal A Little Bit of England

Cabinet War Rooms

by dina4

los angeles, California

April 10, 2005

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"Never was so much owed by so many to so few." - W. Churchill The War Rooms were Churchill's underground headquarters for fighting World War II. All the rooms are perfectly preserved, so you become completely immersed in what it was like from 1939 ...Read more

From journal Short but Sweet in London

Cabinet War Rooms

by SoCalDave

Fontana, California

February 7, 2003

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The Cabinet War Rooms are very interesting even to the non-history buff. These rooms were used by Churchill, his cabinet, and military commanders during the Battle of Britain and most of WWII. You tour the facilities with the help of a guided ...Read more

From journal London in January

Cabinet War Rooms

by t_keelan

Fair Lawn, New Jersey

July 24, 2002

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Go back in time to London during WWII and see how Churchill and his aides lived and worked 24 hours a day in the offices below Whitehall. The self-guided tour takes you through the rooms at a healthy pace while giving you sound clips and ...Read more

From journal An American In London

Cabinet War Rooms

by akakd

, Arizona

February 4, 2001

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"There is to be no whistling or unnecessary noise in this passage." So the sign states near the entrance of the Cabinet War Rooms. A second sign reads, "Fine & Warm", giving the weather above ground to those working below. Here, in underground ...Read more

From journal London--above & underground

Cabinet War rooms

by Kathy

Northern Va Suburbs of DC, Virginia

November 3, 2000

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This is for anyone who has any interest in WWII!! And even if you don't, this is a short, self-guided tour. About an hour. They give you headphones in your native language, and you follow the instructions through the rooms. This was Winston ...Read more

From journal London, my favorite destination in the world

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