Cabinet War Rooms/Churchill Museum

The Cabinet War Rooms were restored and opened to the public in 1984, as a branch of the Imperial War Museum (Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms 19). The Cabinet War Rooms were necessary during the Second World War when Germany was bombing England in order to terrorize her into submission. In 1941, most Europe had been conquered and it was feared that England would be next, especially when the London Blitz started (Chittock). This is when the Cabinet War Rooms would have been most useful because the constant bombing during the Blitz would have made meeting on ground level dangerous. The Cabinet War Rooms had been used for storage in the basement of the Office of Works and the Board of Trade (Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms 2). Designed to be a “central emergency working refuge” for the members of the War Cabinet and the other Chiefs of Staff in case of an air attack, the Cabinet War Rooms were in these particular buildings because they had an unusually strong structure (Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms 2). In order to get to the Cabinet War Rooms, one would use the entrance across from St. James’ Park and then take a staircase down to the Rooms (Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms 5). The Rooms were so effective in being a secret shelter that it seems as though the Nazis had no knowledge of them; the words “Cabinet War Rooms” do not show up in any of the documentation from the Nazis that has been found (Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms 8). On August 27, 1939, the Cabinet War Rooms became fully operational, which was just in time because the War broke out one week later (Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms 2).

The Cabinet War Rooms are made up of different rooms that each served specific purposes. For example, Winston Churchill, the Prime Minster during the War, conducted 115 meetings in the Cabinet Room even though he did not like meeting in the shelter (Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms 5). This room is where the most crucial decisions were made. The Transatlantic Telephone needed its own room. In this room, the Prime Minister and the President of the United States, Roosevelt at the time, could communicate without the enemy being able to listen in to their conversation by using a special scrambler device called Sigsaly to help make their conversations a secret. The Transatlantic Telephone Room was also in disguise; the door had a toilet lock on it that always read “engaged” which made people think that it was the only flushing toilet on the site which was only to be used by the Prime Minister (Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms 7).

There were also rooms where people could sleep in when it was necessary because of the danger of going outside, although these rooms were built after the worst of the Blitz was already over (Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms 8). Churchill had his own suite, although he only slept there three times (Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms 16). Another important room is the room where BBC set up their broadcasting equipment. Churchill gave four broadcasts to the United Kingdom, Europe, and United States from this room (Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms 11). Another room that was crucial for the planning of the War was the Map Room. This room contains a map that stretches from wall to wall that was used for charting the “voyages of the naval convoys” as well as showing the front lines of the war (Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms 13). All these rooms helped the Prime Minister and his Cabinet direct the War when the UK was facing dangerous times. The last time that Churchill and his staff met in Cabinet War Rooms was March 28, 1945, the day when the last v-weapon fell on greater London (Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms 19).

When I visited the Cabinet War Rooms, I could feel the significance that these rooms had on history. The decisions that were made within these quarters affected the outcomes of the War. The people working here would have been extremely influential and necessary to the functioning of the most important tasks relevant to the War. It was interesting to be in the same place that would have been bustling with important activity. It produced the most influential decisions because the Prime Minister and his Cabinet met there. It was amazing to see such an important place in the history of World War II.

The Churchill Museum opened in 2005, and commemorates the life of Winston Churchill. Churchill was born in Blenheim Palace on November 30, 1874 to a politician father and an American mother (Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms 23). His father pushed him towards a military career, which he pursued with much ambition. After escaping as a prisoner from the Boer War, he came back as a success. He became a Member of Parliament under the Conservative Party in 1900 (Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms 23). This was the beginning of Churchill’s political career. Throughout the following years he served in many different positions, but of course, his most famous one would be Prime Minister, which he became on May 9, 1939 (Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms 27). His time directing the War as Prime Minister is why Churchill is so well-known. His courage and strong belief in victory, which he portrayed in his speeches, gave people hope and optimism in a situation that was filled with tension and the unknown. He will forever be remembered for his role in World War II.

The Churchill Museum gives people a good summary of Churchill’s life, his ups and his downs. When I visited the Museum, I found that I was able get to know Winston Churchill in a way that I hadn’t been able to before. I could see him as a person who had an enormous weight on his shoulders, and yet he held strong and gave millions of people hope that they needed to carry themselves through the War. His decisions were crucial during the War, and it was fascinating to see his life through the museum.

Works Cited

Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms. Imperial War Museum. 2006.

Chittock, George. Guest Lecture. Brigham Young University London Centre, London. 10 Jun 2008.

Hibbert, Christopher. The Story of England. London: Phaidon Press Limited, 1992.