Imperial War Museum this Summer

Details of events and activities at the IWM this summer

1. People's Stories: Meet the Veterans 

IWM Duxford 27th July 2010 to 30th July 2010

We hear about wars and conflicts every day, but what does it mean to people who are actually involved in them?  During our People's Stories: Meet the Veterans weeks you will have the opportunity to meet men and women who have been involved in conflicts around the world and hear their personal stories of how it affected their lives.

The group includes veterans of the Second World War, The Falklands War and the conflicts in Malaya and Northern Ireland.  Veterans from all of the armed services are represented, as well as some civilians. 

Come and chat to our veterans during People's Stories: Meet the Veterans weeks. They will all have artefacts and photographs with them, and are happy to share them with you to help you understand what their experiences were like.  Try on some uniforms, look at some of the weapons they used and look at the photographs that help them to tell their own stories.

Sessions are included in the standard admission to the Museum and as usual children aged 15 and under come FREE.

Museum admission prices
Children (0-15 years inclusive) FREE
Adult (16-59 years) £16.50
Senior (60 years or over) £13.20
Student £13.20
Unemployed £8.25
Adult, Senior, Student - disabled £9.90
Carer (one per disabled visitor) FREE

Special 20% group discounts are also available

Where    AirSpace

When     11.00am - 1.00pm on each day

More information

For more information on the People's Stories: Meet the Veterans sessions please call 01223 835 000 or email duxford@iwm.org.uk

Information updated on 24 May 2010

2. Stuff That Goes Bang Tour

IWM Duxford 28th July 2010 to 29th September 2010

Following the popularity of its themed tours in 2009, Duxford's Department for Learning announces a new series of tours for 2010.

Stuff That Goes Bang Tour will take place on the following dates:

Wednesday 28 July  11.00am
Wednesday 11 August  11.00am
Wednesday 1 September  2.00pm
Wednesday 29 September  11.00am

Stuff That Goes Bang explores the technical innovation that can be seen at IWM Duxford.  Here at Duxford you will see many military aircraft and vehicles, all of which were designed to do specific jobs. For some of them, their specific job was to cause damage to people or objects using bullets, cannon shells or bombs. We will be looking at three areas around this subject:

What are bullets, cannon shells and bombs?
How do they work?
What effects do they have?

The tour will use artefacts from the Museum's collection to illustrate the talk and help the visitor better understand the subject.

Explore the site during this ninety minute tour and, as the group will not exceed 20 people, there will be plenty of opportunities for questions, debate and personal interaction.

Administration charge £3.50 plus standard admission prices as below:
Children (0-15 years inclusive) FREE
Adult (16-59 years) £16.50
Senior (60 years or over) £13.20
Student £13.20
Unemployed £8.25
Adult, Senior, Student - disabled £9.90
Carer (one per disabled visitor) FREE
Friends of Duxford (all categories) FREE
DAS and IWM Duxford volunteers FREE
Friends of IWM FREE

More information

Booking is essential, allocated on a first come first served basis as only 20 places are available. Book online now or call our advance ticket office on 01223 499 353.

For more information about the tour contact Ivor Warne on 01223 497 215 or email iwarne@iwm.org.uk.

Information updated on 4 June 2010

3. Outbreak 1939

At 11.15am on 3 September 1939, the British public heard Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain announce that Britain and France were at war with Germany.

Seventy years after the announcement that signified the start of the Second World War and changed the lives of millions, this special exhibition explores how being a nation at war shaped the lives of ordinary men and women as well as those who were actively involved in the political negotiations and their aftermath. Historical material and personal memorabilia illustrate the build-up to and preparations for war and an account of the early months of the conflict.

Admission free

Browse their 1939 Poster and Photo Galleries.

4. Remembering Fromelles

In May 2008, after several years of painstaking research and investigation, a number of group burials dating from the First World War were identified at Pheasant Wood, near Fromelles in northern France. A year later, archaeologists from Oxford Archaeology began to excavate the graves and by early September 2009 they had carefully removed the remains of 250 British and Australian soldiers, buried behind German lines after the Battle of Fromelles in July 1916. The British and Australian Governments asked the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to oversee the operation and to create a new military cemetery at Fromelles.

Using specially commissioned photographs, this new exhibition traces the story behind the first new Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery to be built in nearly half a century. It offers a behind-the-scenes look at how the dead of the First World War were honoured and how the work of the CWGC continues to commemorate the 1.7 million men and women of the Commonwealth forces who died in the two world wars.

http://www.cwgc.org/fromelles/

Admission free