IWM collects objects from many sources, including artists, members of the public, government departments and military personnel.

We build our collections proactively, by commissioning practitioners, and forging relationships, in line with our collecting priorities. And reactively, by carefully considering offers and transfers.

All new acquisitions contribute to the richness and diversity of ours collections, and the stories of war and conflict we tell. 

Donate an object to IWM
IWM welcomes gifts of historic material. Public generosity has helped to grow IWM's collections since our foundation in 1917.

Tipperary by Walter Sickert

Painting 'Tipperary' by Walter Richard Sickert, 1914, depicting an interior with a soldier leaning out of the window in the sun. A mirror next to the window reflects a woman seated, playing piano. She wears a hat and her face is obscured.
© IWM (Art.IWM ART 17980)
'Tipperary' by Walter Richard Sickert (1914). Depicting an interior with a soldier leaning out of the window in the sun. A mirror next to the window reflects a woman seated, playing piano. She wears a hat and her face is obscured.

Tipperary, painted by Walter Sickert (1860 to 1942) in 1914 is one of the very few art works by a major artist in IWM's collections which was painted during the first few months of the First World War. It shows a soldier leaning out of a window while a woman, reflected in a mirror, plays the piano. The work, and its title evoking the popular song It’s a Long Way to Tipperary, convey the optimism and sense of adventure associated with the men going off to war, in contrast to the perceived unexciting supporting role of women civilians.

Acquired with support of the Art Fund  and the National Heritage Memorial Fund.

Yamaha electric keyboard

Yamaha electric keyboard damaged by ISIS militants c.2014.
© IWM (EPH 11788)
Yamaha electric keyboard damaged by ISIS militants c.2014.

This electric keyboard was recovered from a civilian’s home near Mosul, Iraq after his brother returned there following the liberation from ISIS in 2017. Mosul had fallen to ISIS in June 2014, after the group had overrun much of northern Iraq and parts of Syria. The donor’s family had been forced to abandon their home overnight, leaving behind most of their possessions as ISIS rapidly took the city and surrounding areas.  

The keyboard was damaged by ISIS militants in their attempts to destroy it. Under ISIS, like other Sunni Islamist and extremist groups, owning musical instruments was forbidden. Their destruction and punishments for owning such instruments feature in ISIS’ social media propaganda.

This object illustrates the impact on civilians of living under the ISIS ‘Caliphate’ and of the consequences of both the Iraq War and of ISIS.

 

13th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron sign

Painted wooden sign board, depicting the emblem of the 13th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, US Army Air Forces.
©IWM (FEQ 1844)
Painted wooden sign board, depicting the emblem of the 13th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, USAAF. With separate caption board ' 13th Photo Lab'. Previously hung outside the squadron’s photo laboratory at Mount Farm, Oxfordshire during the Second World War.

This sign features the emblem (designed by Walt Disney Studios) of the US Army Air Force's 13th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron- the first operational reconnaissance unit of the US Army Air Force to serve in the UK during the Second World War. The sign hung outside the squadron’s photographic laboratory at Mount Farm in Oxfordshire c.1944 to 1945, where images taken on missions were processed and subjected to preliminary interpretation.

The sign symbolises the overlooked but crucial role that photographic reconnaissance played in the course of the Allied combined bomber offensive. As Mount Farm was reverted to farmland in the 1950s this is also one of the few tangible traces left of its wartime purpose, and would have been a ubiquitous feature of the base to the Americans serving there. 

Building our collections

A leather glove that shrank during a gas attack in the First World War
© IWM EPH 4377

What We Are Collecting

We collect material from contemporary conflicts and wars from the First World War to the present day, to help us understand people’s experience of war and its impact on society.

Afghanistan - War Story Collection

Developing our collections information

IWM has been collecting for over 100 years. Our collection of over 33 million items tells the stories of how war and modern conflict has impacted people.

Looking back at what we have collected we realise our collection, and how we talk about it, isn’t as representative as we’d like it to be. We are working to change that. Find out more about our collection and our policies.

Petty Officer Wren Hilary Wilson at the TARE Control position.
IWM (A 35110)

Digitisation programme

IWM has an ongoing digitisation programme that reflects various priorities. Read more about the items currently undergoing digitisation.