Please use the information below to assist you with your enquiry initially. If you still cannot find the information that you are looking for then please complete the ‘Contact Us’ form at the bottom of the page and one of our team will be able to assist you further.

We are currently receiving a high number of enquiries but we will get back to you as quickly as we can.

If you have a question about booking a ticket for one of our branches or discounts and offers, please look at our ticket FAQs to help with your enquiry

How can we help?

If you have a question about IWM membership, then look at our membership FAQs.

You can join IWM membership in branch, over the phone or online.

Visit our volunteer pages to find out about our volunteer offer and to search and apply for opportunities that match your availability and interests.

Unfortunately we do not have the resources to give individual responses to requests for family history, however, our expert staff have put together these useful guides to help you start your research.

IWM's research facilities can help you carry out your own research on IWM’s collections. Whether it's documents, photographs or film you can book a place in our research facilities.

Please note any material you wish to consult needs to be ordered five days in advance.

When searching our collections the following may help:

  • Make sure all search terms are spelt correctly.
  • Use filters and quotation marks to narrow your search results.
  • Remove filters and use less specific terms to broaden your search.

If you put in keywords that relate to the subject you are searching for, rather than whole sentences, you are likely to receive more results.

If you see ‘No media available online’ showing, this means that the item has not yet been digitised, or not available online for copyright reasons. Digitisation is available on request at an additional cost through the Media Sales and Licences page or you may be able to access the item via an appointment with our research facilities. Find out about our digitisation on-demand service.

The information about items in IWM’s collections is included on the Collection page for that item. In most cases this is the only information that we have and for certain smaller items such as photographs, documents and diaries the best way to learn more would be to make an appointment to see the item in person.

Many of the materials from the IWM’s image, sound and film collections are available to purchase and license for use in commercial projects and products. Digitisation is available on request.

We offer private tours at our branches. To help you plan your visit please visit: Book a tour.

Objects donated to IWM's collection are recorded, preserved and cared for to the highest standards. However, this comes at a high cost, forcing us to be selective about what we can now accept into our keeping. Please read our policy and then fill in our form to offer something to our collection.

Host your event at an IWM museum or heritage site. From quirky to spectacular, Imperial War Museums has a unique range of event spaces to hire for a corporate event or private party.

Get in touch

If you haven’t found the answer to your question, have a problem that needs resolving or you believe that we can improve any aspect of our museums or our service, please let us know by filling in our form by clicking the contact us button below.

Contact us

If you prefer to contact us by phone, please call our Reception Team on 020 7416 5000 or our Customer Services Team on 020 7091 3067 (Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm, standard call charges apply).

From outside the UK please call +44 207 416 5000 or +44 207 091 3067.

Formal complaints

IWM has a formal complaints procedure for more serious issues relating to:

  • Health and safety
  • Museum policy
  • The behaviour of museum staff
  • Unfair treatment
  • Contravention of laws or regulations.

If you need to raise a serious issue with us, please refer to our dedicated Complaints Policy and Complaints Procedure pages.