Permanent

IWM London

Free exhibition

The award-winning First World War Galleries tell the story of how the ‘Great War’ was fought and won, its impact on people's lives both on the front and at home, and its far-reaching consequences.

On display are over 1,300 objects from IWM’s collections including weapons, uniforms, diaries, keepsakes, film and art. Each object on display gives a voice to the people who created them, used them or cared for them, and reveals stories not only of destruction, suffering and loss, but also endurance and innovation, duty and devotion, comradeship and love.

A World at War

First World War Galleries
©IWM

Learn about the years leading up to the conflict and how the war started, why it continued, how it was won and its impact on people’s lives across the world.

Discover what happened to Lord Kitchener's volunteer British Army, called up to serve with the lure of adventure and a promise of paid ‘employment’, finding themselves fighting for their country in a foreign field.

Walk through an immersive trench experience, spot the famous Sopwith Camel aircraft overhead, and Mark V Tank as it blunders across your path.

On display, many smaller objects from IWM's collections continue to tell the story of the First World War through Armistice, and the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, which brought the First World War to an end.

 

The Battle of the Somme

The famous still taken from The Battle of the Somme showing a soldier in a trench carrying a wounded man on his back.
© IWM. The famous still taken from The Battle of the Somme showing a soldier in a trench carrying a wounded man on his back.

‘Some 20,000 men were killed in a single day’

One of the most bitterly contested and costly battles of the First World War, lasting nearly five months, the Battle of the Somme (1 July - 18 November 1916) was a joint operation between British and French forces intended to achieve a decisive victory over the Germans on the Western Front. For many in Britain, the resulting battle remains the most painful and infamous episode of the First World War. Learn more

The First World War

Battle of the Somme. A support company of an assault battalion, of the Tyneside Irish Brigade, going forward shortly after zero hour on 1 July 1916 during the attack on La Boisselle.
Battle of the Somme

What Happened During The Battle Of The Somme?

The Battle of the Somme (1 July - 18 November 1916) was a joint operation between British and French forces intended to achieve a decisive victory over the Germans on the Western Front after 18 months of trench deadlock.

MAJESTIC CLASS BATTLESHIPS: HMS MAJESTIC
© IWM (Q 39496)
First World War

First World War Galleries Podcast: Part I - Hope and Glory

As the twentieth century dawned, Britain was one of the greatest powers on Earth.

World War One Photos - The Home Front. Holidaymakers read the news of Britain’s declaration of war on Germany, Wednesday 5 August 1914
IWM
Home Front

20 Incredible Photos from the First World War Home Front

Many in Britain, as in the other warring nations, expected the First World War to be a short one. In the event, the war was to last for over four years and it would change the cultural, economic, political and social fabric of Britain forever.

Discover more at IWM London

Visitor viewing the First World War Galleries
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Private Tours
IWM London

Private Tour: First World War

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Upward facing shot of IWM Atrium
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Private Tours
IWM London

A Century of War Private Tour

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Visitors exploring the Second World War exhibition
© IWM
Permanent Gallery
IWM London

Second World War Galleries

Permanent