Marie Aguirre Post 2-The Imperial War Museum

Marie Aguirre Blog Post Two-The Imperial War Museum
The visit last week to the Imperial War Museum will stick with me as one of the most unique experiences of my time in London. Although the exhibitions were extraordinary and showed many aspects of the war that I did not know about, I spend over half the time at the museum talking to the unofficial volunteer, Graham, who came to the museum, pulled up his own chair and spent the day talking to visitors about his personal experience living in Birmingham as a child during World War II. Through his story I was able to gain a new perspective of London and Britain at war.
It was interesting to learn through talking with Graham and reading the letters how the reality of wartime Britain differed from the history I was taught in the US. For instance, Graham spoke of his childhood, saying he was a happy child with a great childhood that he wouldn’t trade for the world. This was surprising to me since I understood this period to be scary for all people so I appreciated a new view on growing up during the war. In addition, the history of the Blitz in England focused on London to such an extent that I did not realize that other parts of England were also significantly targeted. This was showed through the letters sent from Portsmouth and Coventry which detailed some of the horrors caused by the bombs and by hearing about Graham’s childhood brush with bombs. It was also shocking to hear him speak about the 2000 people who died in the bombings in Birmingham since it was so blasé, but as he said, it was nothing compared to the people who died in London. Treating the bombs as an everyday occurrence was also echoed in the letters by Will who called the bombs a “nuisance” since they restricted his ability to perform everyday tasks. This was a new take on the bombs that I thought just devastated lives throughout the war.
This experience at the Imperial War Museum talking with Graham and reading the letters from the war showed me that there really are multiple perspectives of London at War and that sometimes those viewpoints differ. Although Graham did discuss some aspects of life that differed from the official story of the museum, one thing that was consistent between Graham’s story and the story the UK tries to tell now was the patriotism and the willingness to support the country and its troops. Graham told stories of his childhood where his group of friends not only participated in the country wide efforts but also put on puppet shows with free admission for the community, then charged the guests to exit, giving the money to the War office to support the troops. Through this visit I discovered through Graham a differing perspective of the war than what is commonly portrayed and was able to create a more complete picture of the war through the eyes of a man who grew up in this period.

Comments

  1. AnonymousApril 1, 2019 at 2:28 PM

    I also spent a little time at the museum listening to Graham and hearing his perspectives! I think it is so cool that he purposefully makes time to come and talk to visitors and share his personal experiences. I learned a lot from him as well and found it refreshing that he broke from the script that the museum wants him to read from. It's great to have people like Graham to talk to, because not everyone experienced the Blitz the same way. While not every story is super dramatic, they are all important and deserve to be told. I didn't see all of the museum because of the time I spent listening to Graham, but it was certainly not time wasted with how much I learned and how enjoyable it was to hear his stories.

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