WW II and Brass Rubbings

This was our final full day in London. So much left unseen, and so much to explore. 

Sue picked out a couple of interesting things to do today.  First, a visit to the Winston Churchill / World War II museum.  The kids have been asking a lot of questions about WW I and WW II, and  given all the conquests of Europe they have learned about on each of our educational visits, it seemed like this would be a great place to go to help them further understand what life was like in WW II.

Life in London sucked during much of this time.  London was bombed for 57 consecutive days, and two million children were sent to the countryside (without parents) for several months to be safe. Despite the hardships, the Brits made it through, thanks to the leadership of Winston Churchill, who gave England one of its most famous mottoes: "Keep Calm and Carry On." I think I'll borrow it on occasion.

The museum has a lot of memorabilia from 1939 - 1945, some great video, and a couple of interactive displays.  One was an "Anderson Shelter", a structure that people were supposed to build and bury in their yards in case of air raids or gas attacks.  We sat in one, with sounds of fighter planes and bombs being piped in.  The recruitment and rationing posters displayed from this era were very cool. At the end of the tour, there is a room that shows what a bombed-out part of the city would have looked like, and it wasn't pretty.  We all left a little depressed but wiser.

 

Bryce tries on a WW II outfit.

 

Laurel checks out a gas mask from the 1940s.

To cheer everyone up, we walked through the center of town, past the London Eye, and across a footbridge with a view of Parliament.  Our destination was St. Martin's church, where the kids could do brass rubbings from a variety of molds.  The St. Martin's church has an old crypt that has been turned not a cafeteria, and the brass rubbings area is adjacent.  The kids picked out a Celtic shield and a St. Mark dragon image, and enjoyed mixing colors to create their masterpieces.

 

Sue helping the kids with their rubbings.

 

Laurel hard at work.

 

Bryce's finished rubbing.

We also walked around town, and got some cool only-in-London photos:

 

The famous English phone booth.

 

Laurel on a street decked out for the Queen's Jubilee.

 

Top, front of a double-decker bus.

 

Our tube stop.

London is a lovely place. I think we all want more.