Second World War Galleries

These galleries tell the story of the Second World War, from the political developments that led to the outbreak of hostilities in Europe in 1939 to the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan in 1945.

The galleries are laid out chronologically, featuring the key events of the Second World War in Europe, from Dunkirk to D-Day, the largest combined military operation in history.  You can also travel back to 1940 with our reconstruction of an air raid shelter and a bombed street in the Blitz Experience.

There are displays about the war at sea and the land campaigns in the Mediterranean and Middle East, before we arrive in the Far East to look at the Japanese attack on US forces at Pearl Harbour, the Battle of the Midway and the dropping of the atomic bombs.

Monty: Master of the Battlefield - a special display featuring Montgomery’s school reports, diaries, decorations and medals as well as top-secret planning documents drawn up by him for the D-Day landings in 1944.

Collections in Context

The Road to 1939
In September 1939 Europe went to war, starting the most catastrophic conflict in human history...

The Second World War
The most destructive conflict in history, it caused the deaths of over 70 million men, women and children...

The War in Africa
In 1940 Italy's fascist dictator Benito Mussolini wanted to expand his African Empire. His forces in Ethiopia...

 

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Learning Resources

D-Day Beach Landings
The success of the D-Day operation depended on careful preparation. While factories in Britain worked round the clock to produce the huge quantities of weapons...

Operation Market Garden
German forces invaded and occupied the Netherlands in May 1940. The country remained occupied for most of the Second World War...

See all Second World War Learning Resources