What are the Cabinet War Rooms?

During the Second World War the British government set up a secret, underground headquarters in the basement of a purpose-built government building - known today as Churchill War Rooms.

As you explore the labyrinth of corridors and historic rooms you will be walking in the footsteps of Winston Churchill and the many men and women who worked, ate, and even slept here during the tense days and nights of the war.

Tour these rooms left as they were on the day the lights were switched off in 1945, and find yourself completely immersed in the past of this crucial site in world history.

Highlights

War Cabinet Room

‘This is the room from which I will direct the war’ – Winston Churchill. Stand inches away from where the war cabinet met.
Transatlantic Communication

Disguised as a private toilet, discover the room where Churchill spoke in secret to the U.S President using cutting-edge technology.
Churchill Suite

Take a look into the kitchen and bedrooms reserved for Churchill’s family and his personal staff, including Churchill’s cook, military advisor, and bodyguard.
© IWM 27532

Switchboard Room

Explore the BBC Broadcasting Room and Switchboard Room which connected the Cabinet War Rooms to the outside world.
Back to 1940

Step back in time and peek inside the bedrooms of some of Churchill's top advisors, restored to exactly how they were.
IWM SITE CWR 567

Map Room

See the beating heart of the War Rooms where some of the most strategic decisions of the war were planned.

Hidden details from within the Cabinet War Rooms

Mapping the war

Tens and thousands of tiny holes are left behind on the Convoy Map, representing each convoy movement carrying vital supplies across the oceans. Around the Strait of Gibraltar there were so many pinholes that part of the map had to be patched up.
IWM

Tense meetings

Scratch marks on the arms of Churchill's chair show how strained meetings in the Cabinet War Room could become.
IWM

V for Victory

Notice on one of the clocks in the Map Room that a worker celebrated the end of the war by drawing a square around the V on the face of the clock.
A preserved past

Sugar cubes left behind by Wing Commander John Heagerty in the back of his drawer are now on display in the Map Room.