Don't go to the British Imperial War Museum

[bwanek1]

...to see authentic SS uniform items. Here are a few gems from their collections:

http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30092508

http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30091051

http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30095596

http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30091096

I am sure there are other cringe-worthy examples, but I had to stop after seeing these.

[krikke1980]

Yes,

museum quality!

[Stossgruppe3]

How dreadful . . . What a joke
Regards David

[N.C. Wyeth]

How disappointing . . . and I have plans for a visit there, this coming Fall. May have to change those plans now, if the rest of the show is similar. Anyone else have a report of similar discovery?

[NickG]

Wow really bad...pigeon head eagles on really bad caps...Early pink piped Army wrapper with SS insignia....Yikes!

Still a great museum to visit!

[enorepap]

For that matter, then I have to remember when more than twenty years ago I went to visit the National Army Museum of London and in the room of the Sicily landing there was a flag with a caption that said it had been ripped after a furious and fierce melee with a Blackshirts unit. The writing on the flag instead said it came from a Sicilian elementary school ...

[Erich B.]

Those Sicilian kids can be pretty tough!
Erich

[August]

My God, who in the world is their curator ?!?

[scotty1418]

Sorry to see such black marks in what is a legendary collection.

I've been several times and the enormity and gravity of the collection is absolutely worth a visit.

My main interest in visiting was for the ww2 period and the first time I didn't get past the WW1 section!

[HAF]

i was in this museum if we talk abaut London ,ok it was years ago abaut ten or so ,but most of the stuff was good looking back them.

[FrenchVolunteer]

Hi,

Those Sicilian kids can be pretty tough!

ahah nice one.

I heard from a big UK collector that in the past decades, the IWM was flooded by fakes, and originals may have "disappeared".

See You

Vince

[istra63]

Maybe the originals have been hocked off to
furnish some curators purse?

[Laurence]

I visited the IWM in 2009 and found despite its small size to have some incredible quality.
I returned in late 2013 and couldn't be more disappointed, many of WW2 uniform/equipment areas and WW 1 trench system had been removed.
Replaced by extra gift shops, cafes , art work and modern interactive displays .
About only thing worth visiting again for me was the VC section

[Ian Hulley]

Yes,

museum quality!

'Representative pieces'

We are only 160 miles away yet I haven't been there for 20+ years ... the last time there was a large 'Liberating Belsen' interactive display if that helps to date it ... possibly 1993 when our friends from the States came over.

Of real interest is that one of the gun barrels outside the museum came from my Dad's ship HMS Resolution.

Ian

[chrischa]

The WW1 trench system was fantastic, the smells created of frying bacon in one of the dugouts, looking through the trench periscope, etc.

Also memorable was the mosquito bomber run ( I think targeting Danish gestapo HQ?) in which the audience were thrown around in line with the screen. Or the blitz experience inside a shelter with the outside noises, vibrations and voices. The section where you could listen to veterans talking about their experiences via headphones with a screen in front of you used up a lot of my time.

I've not been for many years and it's a shame to read some of the iconic displays have been removed. But don't let the lesser items put anyone off. If you're in London it's a better visit than many rip off attractions.

The replacement of certain items by unscrupulous staff and then sold is also a rumour I have also heard...