Imperial War Museum

I have a week off due to the schooling system here. To be honest, I'd rather work, but a vacation is a vacation. As I'm trying to save money I'm hitting all the free things London has to offer. One such attraction is the Imperial War Museum. In fact, most of London's museums are free. At least the best ones are. Go figure.

(please remember all pictures can be clicked on for larger versions)



It would take a better man than me to explain everything in this museum. I can say that there was a huge amount of authentic items from V2 rockets to colonial kitsch.











These guys are representations of the world's major powers in WW1.








It goes without saying (though I'll say it anyway) that everything behind these glass windows is authentic. Reminds me of a sketch show I just saw. Two Nazis are sitting around in a bunker and one says to the other:







"Fritz? You think we might be on the wrong side?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well it's our hats."
"Our hats? What about them?"
"Well, it's just that...they have skulls on them."
"Right."
"Well, aren't skulls for the bad guys?"
"Hmmmmm..."



(see, that's what I'm talking about)





A real Enigma machine. Basically, the Germans had this machine which would send and receive coded messages that seemed impossible to decipher. Eventually, through extreme effort on the part of the British, the codes were cracked and the Enigma was defeated. There's a movie about it, simply named Enigma. Also Mick Jagger is said to own one of the machines, so if you happen to see him you might be able to have a look.




OK, I really should have spent more time on this one. First of all, it's a real Molotov cocktail. But that just means a glass bottle filled with gas that's lit on fire. Why didn't this one explode? Secondly, it says that it's Finnish. What were the Fins up to? What section was this in? Bah, this shouldn't be here.







I'll just keep quiet about this one.



















As the Japanese conquered locations in WW2 they began to issue their own currency.





Old-school Mahjong pieces.





There was a small section on Indonesia's role in WW2.






There are hobbies, and then...



















This particular model was really interesting because of that thing on his chest. I'm really interested to know if anyone has any idea what it might be. Looks like a radio but I'm not sure.




















Finished up the day with a walk over the Thames and through the general Westminster area. Ended up in Chinatown/Soho and walked back home. Took about two hours but was fun to see how the city changed from busy downtown to the suburbs.

Of course, there was a pub on nearly every corner.