World War I & II / MILITARY MUSEUMS

There are a wealth of museums, battle fields and personality homes associated with WW II. Most of these are in the UK and Europe.

The Imperial War Museum in London covers both World Wars and has an extensive collection of everything relating to the battles, including tanks, aircraft, guns, recordings, and detailed historic information. There is even a bomb shelter that simulates a WW II bombing.

The Cabinet War Rooms in London have been carefully preserved to take you back to the days when Churchill ran his war cabinet from here as the bombs rained down on London. Recordings let you hear the great man as you observe the area in which he directed the war effort.

The Duxford Aviation Museum near Cambridge, England is the home of Europe's premier aviation museum. As an active airfield throughout the Second World War, it has preserved the hangers, control tower and Operations room from that era. In the 85 acre complex planes from Britain, Germany and America are prominently displayed and could also be flying during your visit. Top exhibitions include the Battle of Britain, the American Air Museum, and the Land Warfare Hall. Before you go check their site for scheduled air shows which are world-renowned.

The British D-Day Museum, Portsmouth, England, commemorates the Allied invasion of France on 6th June 1944. Many of the British, American and Canadian troops sailed from Portsmouth and surrounding harbors and the invasion was planned at nearby Southwick House. The museum houses an extensive collection of D-Day exhibits to reconstruct the sounds and sights of the largest amphibious invasion in history.

Chartwell, in Kent, England, has become synonymous with Churchill. From here he waged his lonely war against the rise of Fascism in the 1930s. After leading Britain through 5 years of war, he returned to Chartwell to spend much of his retirement, writing and painting. A visit here will give you a deep insight into what made Winston Churchill tick.

Broadlands, in Romsey, England, was the magnificent historic home of Lord Mountbatten. Lord Mountbatten was a key figure in winning the war in Southeast Asia in WW II as well as planning the D-Day invasions. His long military career is detailed in the Mountbatten Exhibition which is a highlight of a visit to Broadlands.

The Bovington Tank Museum, in the New Forest, has the largest collection of World War I tanks. This collection has 300 vehicles of armoured land conflict ranging from knights in armour to the latest troop carries. Also displays of equipment and effects, especially the walk-through exhibition of the Somme trenches of 1916.

Dover Castle boasts the longest history in England as a fortress. Sitting on the point in England with the shortest distance to the continent, it has been a vital strategic center since the Iron Age and served as defence from Napoleon and Hitler. Today you can tour the underground tunnels that served as the command center for the OPeration Dynamo which accomplished the evacuation of Dunkirk. A guided tour takes you through the operation center and miliatry hospital housed in those tunnels complete with sight, sounds and smells. A real gem of a World War II experience.

The Channel Islands off England were the only part of the UK occupied during World War II. As a result there is a wealth of WW II sites to see from museums to the German bunkers and gun emplacements. The museums include the German Occupation Museum and the German Underground Hospital. The former recreates life during the occupation and includes an exhaustive collection of Nazi memorabilia, with an informative audio visual experience as well. The latter is a subterranean network of tunnels built with slave labor used as a hospital in 1944 to receive the wounded from the fighting in the D-Day landings.