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Churchill War Rooms
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COMETH THE HOUR, COMETH THE MAN
There are many places to visit in the United Kingdom that recall Britain’s long and varied history, and leaders of those times are remembered in the many statues that can be found, particularly in London. Queen Boudica, Sir Walter Raleigh, Lord Nelson, the Duke of Wellington are but four of Britain’s leaders who fought against those who invaded or sought to invade our island. But in more recent times there is one leader who stands above all those who preceded and have since followed him – Winston Churchill.
A statute of Sir Winston Churchill stands in Parliament Square, but there is a far more important and interesting place to visit that recalls not only Churchill’s leadership of the nation during the Second World War, but his life’s history. It is located a three minute walk from 10 Downing Street, the official residence of the UK’s Prime Minister, at Clive Steps, King Charles Street, London SW1A 2AQ, and is named the Churchill War Rooms.
There are two elements to the Churchill War Rooms, the war rooms themselves and the Churchill Museum. There was a moment in history when the destiny of Europe, and perhaps the world, was played out in this underground bunker from where Churchill led the nation’s war effort against Nazi Germany, particularly during the period between September 1940 and May 1941, when German bombers attacked London day and night. From here, then known as the Cabinet War Rooms, Churchill and his War Cabinet planned Britain’s defence against an impending invasion.
Churchill became Prime Minister on 10th May 1940, and addressed his new War Cabinet with the words “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat”.
There were those in the War Cabinet who wanted to sue for peace with Hitler, notably Lord Halifax. As you look through the glass window into the original Cabinet War Room you can imagine the arguments between Churchill and Halifax which continued until Churchill’s famous “We shall never surrender” speech in the House of Commons when he gained the support of Parliament to oppose and fight Hitler’s Nazi Germany.
The Cabinet War Room was not just for meetings with the War Cabinet, they were also used by the Chiefs of Staff for their own meetings and by the Defence Committee chaired by Churchill.
From the Cabinet War Room you visit the Map Room, the strip lights of which were never switched off from the time a handpicked team of officers took up their duties until six years later. Here, intelligence information was displayed by colour coded pins, threads and miniature flags which helped the Joint Planners assess daily military situations around the world and plan courses of action. Improvisation at its best.
Many of those who worked at the War Rooms, and there many secretaries, cleaners and cooks who supported the military staff, often lived there in an area known as the Dock, or the Dreaded Dock. This was located beneath the War Rooms. Every night dozens of staff ducked their way down the steps carrying their sheets for any free bed they could find. The air supply system was noisy and did little to reduce
the heat and humidity or clear the smoky atmosphere. Mice and bugs were common. Some staff preferred to risk a journey home during Germany’s bombing blitz, but staying in the Dock made it easier to work the long hours that were necessary, sometimes fifteen hour shifts. The many typists, clerks and administrative staff had their desks located in the Dock. Heat, noise and vermin were part of their everyday lives.
In early 1941, the Cabinet War Rooms were expanded to provide a bedroom for Churchill’s wife, Clementine, a kitchen and a dining room for the couple’s private use. Concerned for her husband’s safety, Clementine once made Churchill promise to go to bed in his underground bedroom. A few hours later he got under the covers, then promptly climbed out again. He had gone to bed downstairs as promised, but now he was going upstairs to sleep! Senior military personnel and administrators also had their own bedrooms with desks and telephones, and Churchill’s two detectives shared a room with bunk beds.
On 13th June 1944, a week after D-Day, the first V1 flying bomb hit London. On 19th June, the War Cabinet met at the Cabinet War Rooms for the first time that year and it continued to do so until 9th September 1944, when the V1 threat began to dwindle in the face of more effective defence measures. However, on your tour you will see an original log of ‘Flying Bombs’ from 16th June to 22nd August 1944. This records 7,369 such bombs of which 2,359 were aimed at London; 3,400 were destroyed by RAF fighter planes and 1,291 by anti-aircraft fire. The devastation caused by these unmanned bombs is shown in the number of recorded casualties – 4,918 fatal and 14,625 seriously wounded.
However, over the winter of 1944-45 the V1 flying bombs were gradually superseded by V2 rockets which once again drove the War Cabinet underground for most of its meetings. The meeting of the War Cabinet in the Cabinet War Rooms on 28th March 1945, turned out to be the last occasion on which it took place underground. It was the 115th War Cabinet meeting to be held on the site out of a total of 1,188 held between September 1939 and July 1945.
Following a tour of the Churchill War Rooms you move to the Churchill Museum which divides the story of Churchill’s life into five chronological ‘chapters’, beginning with the period most relevant to the Churchill War Rooms – his time as War Leader 1940-1945.
There were many pivotal events during the course of the Second World War in which Churchill played a leading part. The rescue of some 300,000 British troops marooned on the beaches at Dunkirk as France fell to the Germans. His “No surrender” speech in Parliament. The RAF’s victory in the Battle of Britain after which Churchill said “Never in the course of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few”. His appointment
of General Montgomery to command the Eighth Army in North Africa where Britain achieved its first major victory, defeating Rommel’s Africa Corp at El Alamein, after which Churchill said “This is not the beginning of the end, but it is perhaps the end of the beginning”. Much of Churchill’s leadership involved his use of the English language. At a formal dinner in the City of London when there was still the possibility of a renewed air bombardment he concluded his speech in a reference to Hitler with the words “You do your worst, we will do our best”.
Churchill did not spend all his time in the War Rooms. Indeed, during the course of the war he flew in excess of 60,000 miles to meetings in America, Europe, the Middle East and elsewhere, gaining agreements and support from allies. He also toured Britain with his customary trilby hat, cigar and V for victory hand sign encouraging the British people, and visited Britain’s military personnel where they were stationed abroad.
The museum then covers the period between 1945 and 1965, termed ‘Cold War Statesman’, when, during a visit to America in March 1946, he gave a speech in which he used what became the famous phrase “iron curtain” to describe the geopolitical split that had descended on Europe at the end of the war. After losing the General Election in July 1945, Churchill was re-elected as Prime Minister in October 1951, but after a series of strokes he retired in April 1955, five months after his eightieth birthday. He remained an MP until October 1964, a month before his ninetieth birthday and sixty four years after entering Parliament.
Churchill died on 24th January 1965, and was given a State funeral at St Paul’s Cathedral. Speaking in the House of Lords the day after Churchill died, Clement Atlee, Churchill’s wartime deputy Prime Minister and leader of the Labour Party said, “The greatest Englishman of our time – I think the greatest citizen of the world of our time” – praise indeed from his political opponent. Queen Elizabeth II also referred to Churchill as “The greatest Briton”.
The museum then heads back to ‘Young Churchill’ 1874 – 1900. From 1895 to 1900, Churchill served as a young officer in Cuba, India and the Sudan, after which he covered the Boer war in South Africa as a journalist for the ‘Morning Post’. He was captured by the Boers but made a dramatic escape and was given a hero’s welcome on his return to Britain.
The next stage is termed ‘Maverick Politician’ and covers the years 1900 – 1929. When the First World War broke out in 1914, Churchill was First Lord of the Admiralty. He was blamed for the disastrous attack on the shores of Gallipoli in Turkey and was forced to resign. In 1916, he commanded a battalion on the Western Front. He returned to government as Minister for Munitions and then became Secretary of State for War and Air in July 1917. His experiences from 1895 to 1918, may well have given him military insights, including mistakes as well successes, that served him well in 1940 to 1945.
The final chapter is entitled ‘Wilderness Years’, and covers the period 1929 to 1939, during which time the Conservatives were voted out of office and Churchill was also out of office. During this period Churchill published speeches, some of which were critical of the government’s policy of appeasing Hitler, works of history and biographies. At the outbreak of the Second World War Churchill was brought back into government as First Lord of the Admiralty.
If readers of this article have an interest in modern history and in an individual who changed the course of that history, then a trip to the Churchill War Rooms is an exciting and informative place to visit. Visits must be pre-booked and hour long private tours for up to ten guests are available; these can even take you behind the glass and into the Cabinet War Room itself.
Open Wednesday to Sunday (except during school holidays and half term, when they are open seven days a week. Also open bank holidays): 9.30am – 6pm. Last admission 5pm.
Admission including voluntary Gift Aid donation: £27.20 Adults; £24.75 Concessions (Senior, Student, Disabled); £13.75 Child (5-15); Free Child (under 5); Family Tickets available; special rates for groups of ten plus. Free for Members. Audio guides are included in the admission price.
