Churchill War Rooms Is Must See for History Lovers

Anyone with an interest in World War II and Nazi Germany's defeat would certainly be interested in the room in which Churchill and his wartime government had its headquarters and command center.  This secret bunker  in the heart of London was where they they coordinated their plans and strategies throughout the second world war. Located beneath Westminster, the Churchill War Rooms - formerly called the Cabinet War Rooms, and now more formally referred to as the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms -  is now preserved as a museum and is part of the five Imperial War Museums.  The rooms are preserved now as they once were in 1945.

These rooms were built and completed about a week before war broke out - a foresight of the Royal Air Force who anticipated the aerial bombing of London.  The plan was for the dispersal of key government offices to the suburbs and elsewhere in the country, but to have a suitable temporary emergency site for a government center in London.  This was identified as the basement of the then New Public Offices, on the corner of Horse Guards Road and Great George Street, near Parliament Square - now the Treasury Building in the Whitehall area of Westminster. These rooms became operational shortly before war broke out in Europe - by which time they accommodated the civilian government or the Cabinet, who coordinated closely with senior military forces in the Central War Room.  Then a few days later, Poland was invaded and Britain declared war on Germany.  Some of the other features of the bunker included a Map Room and a Cabinet Room. 

When Churchill was appointed Prime Minister, he visited the Cabinet Room and decided: "This is the room from which I will direct the war." After the Blitz bombing of 1940, protection of the Cabinet War Rooms was increased by "the Slab" - a massive layer of concrete that was up to five feet thick.  The rooms continued to expand, and now included facilities and dormitories for the staff, private bedrooms for officers and senior ministers, and rooms for telephone swithchboard operators and typists. 

Two of the more prominent rooms include the Transatlantic Telephone Room and Churchill's office-bedroom. These rooms were abandoned shortly after the surrender of Japan in 1945, and the preservation and administration of this historic site was tasked to the Imperial War Museum in the early 1980s.  They were subsequently opened to the public in 1984.  It was expanded in 2003, restored, and rebranded as the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War rooms in 2005. 

One of the centerpoints of the museum is an interactive centerpiece table that allows visitors to access digitized material from the Churchill Archives Center.  The Museum is estimated to receive around 300,000 visitors each year.

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