picture of family at imperial war museum

Easter Family Events at the Imperial War Museums

W/C 4 APRIL 2022 – EXHIBITIONS, EVENTS & DIGITAL ACTIVITIES AT IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUMS

©IWM. Easter family activities are running across IWM sites from Monday 4 April.

EASTER AT IWM

IWM North, IWM Duxford and IWM London | Story Seekers: Chocolate Edition | Daily, 4-18 April

Free (included in price of admission to IWM Duxford)

Featuring hands-on activities, families are invited to explore IWM this Easter with our special chocolate themed Story Seekers adventure. Most of us know how delicious sweet treats can be but what can the classic chocolate bar teach us about the Second World War? Visitors will learn about the importance of chocolate both as a morale booster and a taste of home for the troops, how rationing played an important role during the Second World War, plus unwrap more secrets (and their very own chocolate treat as a reward for taking part).

IWM Duxford | We Were There: Tales of Chocolate | 6 and 7 April

IWM London | We Were There: Tales of Chocolate | 9 and 10 April

IWM North | We Were There: Tales of Chocolate | 14 and 15 April

Free (included in price of admission to IWM Duxford)

This Easter, families can meet eyewitnesses to conflict and gain first-hand insight into the impact of war on people’s lives through the lens of chocolate. Our special guests across IWM will share memories of chocolate in the time of rationing, and illustrate how important such simple and sweet pleasures can be in difficult times. Visitors will hear personal stories, recollections and nostalgic tales of chocolate and learn about how eagerly anticipated chocolate deliveries were during the Second World War.

IWM Duxford | Chocolate and the Second World War – presented by CBBC’s Ben Shires |5 and 6 April

IWM London | Chocolate and the Second World War – presented by CBBC’s Ben Shires | 9 and 10 April

IWM North | Chocolate and the Second World War – presented by CBBC’s Ben Shires | 14 and 15 April

Free (included in price of admission to IWM Duxford)

With a brand new interactive and educational live show from CBBC’s Ben Shires, families can get a taste for how important chocolate and other sweet treats were to so many people during the Second World War. Live and up-close, Ben will both entertain and educate by highlighting chocolate themed collection items, historic photographs and immersive maps. This fun activity for all the family will teach about the rationing of confectionery, how ingredients could change when in short supply and how important chocolate was to the troops both as a morale and much needed energy booster.

IWM North | Chocolate Tastings with IWM’s Chef Tony | 14 and 15 April

Free

IWM North’s Chef Tony will be hosting drop-in workshops and culinary chocolate sessions, demonstrating how sweets made during the Second World War often used sugar beets to sweeten them due to rationing. Get hands on with the chocolate making process, compare the unique taste of wartime chocolate to today’s, and learn how to make your very own sweets to eat on your way home from the museum.

HMS Belfast | We Were There | 15 April

Free (included in price of admission)

This Easter, visitors can meet eyewitnesses to conflict and gain first-hand insight into the impact of war on people’s lives. Our special guests across HMS Belfast will give an opportunity for all visitors to hear their personal stories of life at sea, and what it was like to grow up during the Second World War.

HMS Belfast | Family Activities | Weekends, and daily 4-18 April

Free (included in price of admission)

There's lots of family fun to be had at HMS Belfast this Easter. Travel back in time to D-Day 1944 with the storytelling experience Family Mission, or learn how to keep the iconic warship in tip-top condition and take charge of HMS Belfast in our interactive family activity Sea Legs. Activities vary, we recommend checking details at the admissions desk on arrival.

IWM Duxford | Family Activities | Weekends, and daily 4-18 April

Free (included in price of admission)

There's plenty of fun at IWM Duxford with free family activities to enjoy. Head to the American Air Museum to build your very own bespoke cockpit in Cockpit Control. Based on the technological developments seen in the American Air Force in the late 1940s, this activity explores how engineering and maths helped cockpit designers improve flight safety and open opportunities for future pilots. Activities vary, we recommend checking details at the Visit Planning Point upon arrival.

40TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FALKLANDS CONFLICT

IWM London | Falklands Conflict Exhibit | Until 14 June 2022

Free

To mark the 40th anniversary of the Falklands Conflict at IWM London, brand new exhibits include never-before-displayed items from IWM’s rich collection. Images taken by professional photographer Paul RG Haley, who covered the conflict for Soldier Magazine, are on display, many for the first time. His photographs reflect the varied experiences of British and Argentinian forces on the Islands and capture pivotal moments in the campaign, such as the landings at San Carlos and the advance to Port Stanley. In addition, drawings by Linda Kitson, who was the first female artist commissioned by IWM to accompany troops into conflict, are displayed alongside clothing, equipment and testimony of her time following British forces.

IWM North | Falklands Conflict Exhibit | Until 14 June 2022

Free

Falklands 40 displays at IWM North focuses on the stories of those who served with British forces during the conflict, including objects relating to Bolton resident Corporal Neil Maher, who served as a signals specialist with No. 656 Squadron, Army Air Corps. Maher set up ship-to-shore communications for crewmen of the damaged RFA Sir Tristram after the ship was bombed at Fitzroy on 8 June. Images by photographer Paul RG Haley, who covered the conflict for Soldier Magazine, are also being projected in the galleries at IWM North, as part of a series of large-scale, newly digitised photos and film, telling a visual story of the Falklands Conflict.

Online | Spotlight talk: Falklands 40 | 5 April 2022

Free

From April to June 1982, Britain and Argentina were involved in a short but brutal conflict over the Falkland Islands. In the 40 years since the end of the conflict the land campaign has come to dominate the public memory of the conflict. However, without the combined efforts and sacrifices of Britain’s Royal and Merchant navies the British victory could not have been achieved. Hear more about the importance and reality of the naval war, in a talk and Q&A with IWM expert John Beales.

Online | Falklands Conflict
Free

The story and legacy of the Falklands Conflict will be explored through a series of five films for IWM's YouTube channel, the first of which is out now, and an episode of the Conflict of Interest podcast with celebrity guest Katherine Parkinson airing 18 May.

TALKS AND TOURS AT IWM

Online | Art That Made Us: Exploring Creativity in Conflict | Friday 8 April

Free

BBC's Art That Made Us is a major new cultural history festival of the British Isles, exploring how pivotal works of art, literature, design, and music have helped shape our creative story. As part of this festival, members of IWM's War and Conflict Subject Specialist Network and Second World War and Holocaust Partnership Programme are hosting a talk, spotlighting some of the unique objects and artworks in collections across the UK and around the world. Discussing a host of objects, from JRR Tolkien’s First World War service pistol to Peter Howson’s Bosnian paintings, this talk will analyse creativity as a response to conflict.

IWM Duxford | The Inside View: The Lancaster | Every Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday

Tickets £10

Join one of our expert IWM guides in a behind-the-ropes exploration of the iconic Avro Lancaster. Starting with the design of the aircraft by Roy Chadwick, be guided through the bomber’s illustrious history, from the Dams Raid to the controversy of ‘area bombing’ under Bomber Harris. Then enter the rear of the fuselage and learn about the heroism of the young men in Bomber Command and the harsh conditions they faced in combat.

IWM North | Ten Minute Talks powered by Volunteers | Every Wednesday and Sunday

Free

Join our expert volunteers for an introductory talk at IWM North. Talks cover a range of subjects exploring the personal stories behind IWM North’s displays, such as the story of Tom Boardman and his ukulele. Tom served in the army during the Second World War before being taken prisoner by the Japanese after the fall of Singapore in 1942. Throughout the 3½ years of his captivity, Tom kept his ukulele safe and by his side. Discover the personal history of Tom’s ukulele, and other items of IWM North’s collections with these fascinating talks.

IWM Duxford | In the Cockpit: Avro Vulcan | 7 and 17 April 2022

Tickets £45

Join one of IWM’s expert guides in a unique opportunity to sit behind the controls of IWM’s iconic Avro Vulcan, XJ824. The most famous of the "V bombers", the Vulcan was the cornerstone of Britain's airborne nuclear deterrent during the Cold War.

IWM Duxford | In the Cockpit: Spitfire N3200 | 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17 April 2022

Tickets £45

Join one of our expert IWM guides in a unique opportunity to sit inside the cockpit of our airworthy combat veteran Spitfire Mark 1, N3200. Get a sense of how it felt climbing into the pilot's seat before this very aircraft was flown over Dunkirk with 19 Squadron in 1940. Based at Duxford, the same airfield this aircraft took off from before it was shot down and crash landed on a beach, N3200 has been recovered and restored to become a treasured item in IWM's collection.

EXHIBITIONS

Churchill War Rooms | Wartime London: Art of the Blitz | Until 24 April 2022

Free (included in price of admission)

Explore the Second World War’s impact on London life with a unique art exhibition housed in the secret command centre where Winston Churchill and his inner circle directed the Allied effort. This carefully curated selection of artworks shines a new light on the experiences of ordinary people forced into new patterns of living by Nazi air raids. At the heart of the exhibition are newly acquired drawings from one of the most significant British artists of the twentieth century, Henry Moore, as well as works from other British artists from IWM’s world-renowned collection: William Matvyn Wright; Eric Ravilious; Ernest Boye Uden; Mabel Hutchinson; Evelyn Gibbs; and Leila Faithfull.

IWM North | Poppies

Free

The iconic poppy sculptures from Poppies: Wave and Weeping Window, which toured to IWM North and IWM London in 2018, have been combined and permanently returned to IWM North. The dramatic artwork, titled Poppies, comprises thousands of handcrafted ceramic flowers which cascade 30 metres down and pool within the unique architecture of IWM North’s Air Shard. Poppies: Wave and Weeping Window were originally part of the 2014 Tower of London installation, Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red. Poppies reconnects visitors with the poppies both as a contemporary artwork and as a way to reflect on the very human cost of war.

IWM Duxford | The Ops Block: Battle of Britain

Free (included in price of admission)

Opened in September 2020, this exhibition grants the public access to newly transformed and previously unseen historic Second World War rooms at IWM Duxford. Visitors can step foot into the former nerve centre of RAF Duxford to discover accounts of those who lived and worked here and immerse themselves in a multi-sensory recreation of the Ops Room, experiencing the tension felt on the ground on 15 September 1940. Visitors can explore three dedicated ‘people stories’ rooms and learn about the Women’s Auxiliary Airforce, controllers and pilots who served at RAF Duxford.

SECOND WORLD WAR AND THE HOLOCAUST GALLERIES

IWM London | Second World War and The Holocaust Galleries

Free

Three times the size of IWM London's award-winning First World War Galleries, this £30.7 million project has been six years in the making. With the Second World War and The Holocaust soon to pass out of living memory, these Galleries preserve the first-hand experiences and amazing stories of those who witnessed this seminal period in global history. Over 3,500 objects, personal stories and in-depth interactive displays help visitors to understand the most devastating conflict in human history and the genocide that became known as The Holocaust.

ONLINE

On YouTube, audiences can go behind-the-scenes and learn more about IWM’s exhibitions, anniversaries and collections with hundreds of videos that tell stories of those who have lived, fought and died in conflict, from 1914 to the present day. Visitors to IWM’s website will also be able to browse our world-class collections online where more than 800,000 items including artworks, documents, objects, photography, film and oral histories are available alongside stories written by IWM’s subject-leading experts.

Audiences can also listen back to past episodes of the IWM Institute’s podcast, Conflict of Interest, which pairs IWM curators and witnesses to war with celebrity guests, from actress Carey Mulligan to TV presenter Rick Edwards and stand-up comedian Jamali Maddix. Together, they explore some of the world’s most complicated contemporary conflicts in under an hour.