In the trenches

So while her flatmates were being tourists at the Tower of London, Biz and I decided to be geeks and visit the Imperial War museum. As we walked through the main floor of submarines and tanks, we realized we were the only girls our age among the adult war buffs and families. Oh well.

Our first display was all about submarines and how they were first used in the American War for Independence. (a.k.a the revolution) But then we went upstairs to the displays about the World Wars, which was the reason we really came.

Besides my usual fascination with the World Wars, it was a really interesting to see the displays from the British perspective. The uniforms were mostly British, not the American ones were used to seeing in displays. Plus it wasn’t until almost the end of each display that it would say, “America enters the war.” There is so much of the World Wars that happened before we became a part of it. And I didn’t realize that there was such a big evacuation of children from London to the countryside and to the U.S. to keep them safe.

But the best part was the two experience displays. First was the trench experience from WWI. Walking into the trench, it smelt horrible and it was tight and crammed. As we went through it, we heard people yelling and lights flashing as the bombs went off. There were all kinds of tunnels extensions with model soldiers inside that were writing or being medics.

When we walked out the two us were so dazed, it took a while to get over it. But then we were more prepared for the WWII blitz experience. We started out with a group in a bomb shelter and then ventured out into the destroyed city. Afterward, we went to the Holocaust display before leaving to explore the area nearby.
We found an Iceland store (a.k.a Five Star) and then went to the tube station were we got off at King’s Cross to walk back to Farringdon, we thought it was a good idea until Danielle called and invited us to meet them for burgers at the Pub. So we walked a little faster.