Don't go to the British Imperial War Museum

[Jerry Burney]

the real stuff has been put into storage below ??? No... went into eBay storage.

[Winterdan]

I visited after the grand re-opening I think two years ago and barring the WW1 displays most of the items I remembered from years back have been removed....the two photos above were taken before the so called improvements, I'm not sure who on earth was responsible for those improvements but it certainly has not been improved, in fact I found it extremely disappointing to say the least, without sounding blasé I fail to understand why on earth the IWM has a Holocaust exhibition, this I feel would have been better placed at another venue.
The FW 190 in the photo above is no longer on show....I think this may have been moved to the RAF museum in Cosford , the Jagdpanther is gone along with a huge number of other WW2 items, I heard that a new WW2 area was being planned but with the lack of space at the museum I fail to see how they will accommodate it.

[NickG]

That's a shame. I remember the museum like that with those artifacts...
I also remember a WW1 trench diorama with mannequins and even rats, which was very realistic!
The FW190 might have gone to Cosford (or Hendon or Duxford) much better locations for it!

[fldjr]

Wonder if they still have the Das Reich tunic and smock shown in the old Ballantine book "SS Regalia"?

[fldjr]

Smock

[N.C. Wyeth]

Bummer

This does happen at other places I know of, so why would it not happen here.

It happened at our local NH Museum as well - packed full of Native American artifacts . . . so I suppose it is reasonable to say, why not almost anywhere else?

[N.C. Wyeth]

It's still a long way off . . .

The museum is amazing...
Don't let a couple of bad apples change your mind and not visit! I have been twice!
If you are into the "larger implements of war" there is a lot of things to see!
Here some web images!

Thanks for the encouraging pics, NickG - after all the bad rap, they help re-ignite our enthusiasm for making the journey.

[johann mor]

The old Imperial War Museum was fantastic, I went many times as a child and latter as an adult. Then there was a large gap and I went back after it had been refurbished. To be honest I was really fed up, sad and angry that such a good, fascinating and informative museum had been changed in such a way, words fail me. Why there is a Holocaust centre there is a mystery to me, it has no place in the IWM, I wouldn't even enter it. I think the FW190 went to Hendon, which I visited at the same time, that is before the current redevelopment and that WAS a really good museum. The big BUT there, is that it is being redeveloped and I have read some where, that it will have a lot of interactive sh.t. As most of the good stuff has gone to RAF Cosford, I shan't bother going back to Hendon. And, if you really want to see a bad museum, go to the Imperial War Museum North or better still DONT Go.

There are rumours that the land war fare hall at Duxford is for the chop as well.

On the other subject of original items going west, an aquaintence of mine has been offered items from the Staffordshire museum, so it is happening.

Jon

[Barry Brown]

Smock

That was way back in the day when Laurie Milner was a curator at the IWM.

[luger 41]

Jagdpanther gone, possibly now at Bovington or do they have there own.

[Winkelman]

.

[olpan]

Article relating to IWM selling off items

Here is an article in The Times UK, relating to IWM selling off items.

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/wa...-off-6hqjf9f90

[Winterdan]

The IWM FW 190 is now at Cosford....the Hendon FW 190 is a two seater training version if I recall correctly.