Imperial War Museum Imperial War Museums ( IWM ) is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England , three of which are in London . Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917 , the museum was intended to record the civil and military war effort and sacrifice of Britain and its Empire during the First World War . The museum ' s remit has since expanded to include all conflicts in which British or Commonwealth forces have been involved since 1914 . As of 2012 , the museum aims ' to provide for , and to encourage , the study and understanding of the history of modern war and " wartime experience " ' . Originally housed in the Crystal Palace at Sydenham Hill , the museum opened to the public in 1920 . In 1924 the museum moved to space in the Imperial Institute in South Kensington , and finally in 1936 the museum acquired a permanent home which was previously the Bethlem Royal Hospital in Southwark . The outbreak of the Second World War saw the museum expand both its collections and its terms of reference , but in the post - war period the museum entered a period of decline . The 1960s saw the museum redevelop its Southwark building , now referred to as Imperial War Museum London , which serves as the organisation ' s corporate headquarters . During the 1970s the museum began to expand onto other sites . The first , in 1976 , was a historic airfield in Cambridgeshire now referred to as IWM Duxford . In 1978 the Royal Navy cruiser HMS " Belfast " became a branch of the museum , having previously been preserved for the nation by a private trust . In 1984 the Cabinet War Rooms , an underground wartime command centre , was opened to the public . From the 1980s onwards the museum ' s Bethlem building underwent a series of multimillion - pound redevelopments , completed in 2000 . Finally , 2002 saw the opening of IWM North in Trafford , Greater Manchester , the fifth branch of the museum and the first in the north of England . In 2011 the museum rebranded itself as IWM , standing for ' Imperial War Museums ' . The museum ' s collections include archives of personal and official documents , photographs , film and video material , and oral history recordings ; an extensive library , a large art collection , and examples of military vehicles and aircraft , equipment and other artefacts . The museum is funded by government grants , charitable donations and revenue generation through commercial activity such as retailing , licensing , and publishing . Admission is free to IWM London and IWM North , but an admission fee is levied at the other branches . The museum is an exempt charity under the Charities Act 1993 and a non - departmental public body under the Department for Culture , Media and Sport . As of January 2012 the Chairman of the Trustees is Sir Francis Richards . Since October 2008 , the museum ' s Director General has been Diane Lees . History . Establishment : 1917 – 1924 . On 27 February 1917 Sir Alfred Mond , an MP and First Commissioner of Works , wrote to the Prime Minister David Lloyd George to propose the establishment of a National War Museum . This proposal was accepted by the War Cabinet on 5 March 1917 and the decision announced in The Times on 26 March . A committee was established , chaired by Mond , to oversee the collection of material to be exhibited in the new museum . This National War Museum Committee set about collecting material to illustrate Britain ' s war effort by dividing into subcommittees examining such subjects as the Army , the Navy , the production of munitions , and women ' s war work . There was an early appreciation of the need for exhibits to reflect personal experience in order to prevent the collections becoming dead relics . Sir Martin Conway , the Museum ' s first Director General , said that exhibits must ' be vitalised by contributions expressive of the action , the experiences , the valour and the endurance of individuals ' . The museum ' s first curator and secretary was Charles ffoulkes , who had previously been curator of the Tower of London armouries . In July 1917 Mond made a visit to the Western Front in order to study how best to organise the museum ' s growing collection . While in France he met French government ministers , and Field Marshal Haig , who reportedly took great interest in his work . In December 1917 the name was changed to the " Imperial " War Museum after a resolution from the India and Dominions Committee of the museum . The museum was opened by The King at the Crystal Palace on 9 June 1920 . During the opening ceremony , Sir Alfred Mond addressed the King on the behalf of committee , saying that ' it was hoped to make the museum so complete that every one who took part in the war , however obscurely , would find therein an example or illustration of the sacrifice he or she made ' and that the museum ' was not a monument of military glory , but a record of toil and sacrifice ' . Shortly afterwards the Imperial War Museum Act 1920 was passed and established a Board of Trustees to oversee the governance of the museum . To reflect the museum ' s Imperial remit the board included appointees of the governments of India , South Africa , Canada , Australia and New Zealand . While the Act was being debated , some Parliamentarians felt that the museum would perpetuate an undesirable war spirit and Commander Joseph Kenworthy MP said that he would ' refuse to vote a penny of public money to commemorate such suicidal madness of civilisation as that which was shown in the late War ' . On the August Bank Holiday 1920 , the first public holiday since the museum ' s opening , 94 , 179 visitors were received , and by November 1921 , 2 , 290 , 719 had visited the museum . Relocation 1924 – 1936 . In 1924 the museum moved to the Imperial Institute building ( demolished in the 1950s and 1960s to make way for Imperial College ) in South Kensington . While this location was more central and in a prestigious area for museums , the accommodation itself proved cramped and inadequate and in 1936 a new permanent location was found south of the River Thames in Southwark . The building , designed by James Lewis was the former Bethlem Royal Hospital which had been vacated following the hospital ' s relocation to Beckenham in Kent . The site was owned by Lord Rothermere , who had originally intended to demolish the building entirely in order to provide a public park in what was a severely overcrowded area of London . Eventually the central portion of the hospital building was retained while its two extensive wings were removed and the resulting space named Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Park , after Lord Rothermere ' s mother . Sir Martin Conway described the building as ' . . . a fine building , really quite noble building , with a great portico , a distinguishing dome , and two great wings added to it for the accommodation of lunatics no longer required . This particular building can be made to contain our collection admirably , and we shall preserve from destruction quite a fine building which otherwise will disappear ' . The ' distinguishing dome ' was added by Sydney Smirke in 1846 and housed the hospital ' s chapel . The museum was reopened by the Duke of York ( later King George VI ) in its new accommodation on 7 July 1936 . Second World War and after : 1939 – 1966 . With the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 , the museum began to collect material documenting the conflict . In November 1939 , during the so - called ' Phoney War ' , the museum appeared in the opening sequence of the GPO Film Unit production " The First Days " , in which children are seen playing on some of the museum ' s German artillery pieces captured during the First World War . With the evacuation of British forces from Dunkirk in May / June 1940 , however , the British Army ' s shortage of equipment saw eighteen of the museum ' s artillery pieces return to military service . The museum ' s trench clubs were used by the Home Guard , while other items such as sights and optical instruments were returned to the Ministry of Supply . The museum refused , however , to return some historic items such as a naval gun from HMS " Lance " ( which had fired Britain ' s first shot of the First World War ) or a gun served by Victoria Cross - winning boy seaman Jack Cornwell . The museum initially remained open but was closed for the duration of the war in September 1940 with the onset of the Blitz . On 31 January 1941 the museum was struck by a Luftwaffe bomb which fell on the naval gallery . A number of ship models were damaged by the blast and a Short Seaplane , which had flown at the Battle of Jutland , was destroyed . While closed to the public the museum ' s building was used for a variety of purposes connected to the war effort , such as a repair garage for government motor vehicles , a centre for Air Raid Precautions civil defence lectures and a fire fighting training school . In October 1945 the museum mounted a temporary exhibition , the first since the end of the war in August , which showcased technologies developed by the Petroleum Warfare Department . These included the submarine fuel pipeline PLUTO , the fog dispersal method FIDO , and flame weapons such as the Churchill Crocodile and Wasp Universal Carrier . However , due to bomb damage to both the building and exhibits , the museum was obliged to reopen its galleries piecemeal . The museum reopened a portion of its galleries in November 1946 . A third of the galleries were opened in 1948 and a further wing opened in 1949 . In 1953 , with Commonwealth forces engaged in Korea and Malaya the museum began its current policy of collecting material from all modern conflicts in which British or Commonwealth forces were involved . However , despite this expansion of remit , the early postwar period was a period of decline for the museum . Dr Noble Frankland , the museum ' s Director from 1960 to 1982 , described the museum ' s galleries in 1955 as appearing ' dingy and neglected [ and in a ] dismal state of decay ' the museum ' s ' numerous stunning exhibits ' notwithstanding . Redevelopment and expansion : 1966 – 2012 . In 1966 the Museum ' s Southwark building was extended to provide collections storage and other facilities , the first major expansion since the Museum had moved to the site . The development also included a purpose - built cinema . In 1967 the museum acquired a pair of 15 - inch naval guns . One had been mounted on the Royal Navy ' s HMS " Ramillies " and the other on both HMS " Resolution " and HMS " Roberts " . Both had been fired in action during the Second World War . They went on permanent display outside the museum in May 1968 . The acquisition of these guns , representative of the dreadnought era of British battleship s , led the museum to seek to acquire a 6 - inch triple turret that would be representative of a number of classes of British cruiser s . This would eventually lead to the preservation of the Royal Navy light cruiser HMS " Belfast " , which became a branch of the museum in 1978 . Later in 1968 on 13 October the Museum was attacked by an arsonist , Timothy John Daly , who claimed he was acting in protest against the exhibition of militarism to children . He caused damage valued at approximately £200 , 000 , not counting the loss of irreplaceable books and documents . On his conviction in 1969 he was sentenced to four years in prison . In 1969 RAF Duxford , a Royal Air Force fighter airfield in Cambridgeshire was declared surplus to requirements by the Ministry of Defence . Needing further space , the museum duly requested permission to use part of the site as temporary storage . The entire site was later transferred to the museum in February 1976 and Duxford , now referred to as Imperial War Museum Duxford became the museum ' s first branch . Also during the 1970s the government raised the possibility of the museum taking over the historic Cabinet War Rooms in Whitehall . The museum was reluctant due to its new commitments related to Duxford and HMS " Belfast " , but agreed in 1982 . By 1983 the museum was again looking to redevelop the Southwark site and approached engineering firm Arup to plan a phased programme of works that would expand the building ' s exhibition space , provide appropriate environmental controls to protect collections , and improve facilities for visitors . The following year , in April 1984 , the Cabinet War Rooms were opened to the public as a branch of the museum . The first phase of the works to the Southwark building started in 1986 and were completed in 1989 , during which time the museum was closed to the public . The work included the conversion of what was previously the hospital ' s courtyard into a centrepiece Large Exhibits Gallery . This gallery featured a strengthened ground floor ( to support the weight of very heavy exhibits ) , a first floor mezzanine and second storey viewing balcony . Into this space were placed tanks , artillery pieces , vehicles , ordnance and aircraft from the First World War to the Falklands War . For some years the museum was marketed as ' The " new " Imperial War Museum ' . This atrium , with its concentration of military hardware , has been described as ' the biggest boys ' bedroom in London ' . This first phase cost £16 . 7 million ( of which £12 million was provided by the government ) and the museum was reopened by The Queen on 29 June 1989 . In September 1992 the museum was the target of a Provisional Irish Republican Army attack against London tourist attractions . Two incendiary device s were found in a basement gallery , but were extinguished by staff before the arrival of the fire brigade , and caused only minor damage . The second stage of the redevelopment of the Southwark building , during which the museum remained open to the public , was completed in 1994 . During the 1990s , while these works were going on , the museum was also seeking to open a branch in the north of England . Seventy - one sites were offered for consideration by 36 local councils and in January 1999 the then Culture Secretary Chris Smith formally launched a project to construct a new branch of the museum , Imperial War Museum North , in Trafford , Greater Manchester . The following year , 2000 , the final phase of the Southwark redevelopment was completed . The development included the installation of the museum ' s " Holocaust Exhibition " which was opened by the Queen on 6 June 2000 . This was the first permanent exhibition dedicated to the Holocaust in a UK museum ; its development had taken five years at a cost of £5 million . Two years later , in July 2002 , Imperial War Museum North was opened . Between 2004 – 2010 the museum was a partner in a national learning project entitled ' Their Past Your Future ' ( TPYF ) , part of the Big Lottery Fund ' s Veterans Reunited programme to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War . A partnership between the IWM , the Museums , Libraries and Archives Council , and Scottish , Northern Irish and Welsh museum authorities , phase one included a touring exhibition seen by more than two million people , overseas educational visits and further activities run by local authorities . A second phase took a wider 20th century historical remit ; it comprised a learning programme using overseas visits and social media , and a professional development scheme for educators . A digital archive of the project , online exhibitions and learning resources were also produced . In October 2011 the museum rebranded itself as Imperial War Museums , the initials IWM forming the basis of a new corporate logo . In September 2011 the museum secured funding from NESTA , the Arts and Humanities Research Council and Arts Council England to develop ' social interpretation ' systems to allow visitors to comment on , collect , and share museum objects via social media . These systems were incorporated in ' A Family in Wartime ' an exhibition at IWM London depicting British family life during the Second World War , which opened in April 2012 . First World War centenary : 2014 . In August 2009 the Museum announced the creation of the Imperial War Museum Foundation . Chaired by Jonathon Harmsworth the foundation was charged with raising funds to support the redevelopment of Imperial War Museum London ' s permanent galleries . In December 2010 plans were announced to redevelop IWM London ' s First World War gallery in time for the conflict ' s centenary in 2014 , and Prince William , Duke of Cambridge became the foundation ' s patron . In a speech at IWM London on 11 October 2012 , Prime Minister David Cameron announced an additional £5 million of government funding to support the museum ' s redevelopment , as part of funding arrangements to facilitate national centenary commemorations . The redevelopment is intended to provide new gallery spaces and a new central hall , easier navigation and improved visitor facilities . In preparation for building work , a number of galleries were closed during September 2012 , and by December 2012 over sixty large objects had been removed from the IWM London atrium for conservation at Duxford . To allow building work to go ahead , IWM London closed to the public on 2 January 2013 . The museum partially reopened on 29 July 2013 . Branches . From the 1970s onwards the Imperial War Museum began to expand onto other sites . The first branch , Imperial War Museum Duxford opened to the public on a regular basis in June 1976 . HMS Belfast became a branch of the museum in 1978 . The Cabinet War Rooms opened in 1984 , and Imperial War Museum North in 2002 . Imperial War Museum London . Architecture and layout . The museum has occupied the former Bethlem Royal Hospital on Lambeth Road since 1936 . The hospital building was designed by the hospital surveyor , James Lewis , from plans submitted by John Gandy and other architects , and construction completed in October 1814 . The hospital consisted of a range of buildings 580 feet long with a basement and three storeys , parallel to Lambeth Road , with a central entrance under a portico . The building was substantially altered in 1835 by architect Sydney Smirke . In order to provide more space , he added blocks at either end of the frontage , and galleried wings on either side of the central portion . He also added a small single - storey lodge , still in existence , at the Lambeth Road gate . Later , between 1844 – 46 , the central cupola was replaced with a copper - clad dome in order to expand the chapel beneath . The building also featured a theatre in a building to the rear of the site . The building remained substantially unchanged until vacated by the hospital in 1930 . After the freehold was purchased by Lord Rothermere , the wings were demolished to leave the original central portion ( with the dome now appearing disproportionately tall ) and Smirke ' s later wings . When the museum moved into the building in 1936 the ground floor of the central portion was occupied by the principal art gallery , with the east wing housing the Naval gallery and the west wing the Army gallery . The Air Force gallery was housed in the former theatre . The first floor comprised further art galleries ( including rooms dedicated to William Orpen and John Lavery ) , a gallery on women ' s war work , and exhibits relating to transport and signals . The first floor also housed the museum ' s photograph collection . The second floor housed the museum ' s library in its west wing , and in the east wing the map collection and stored pictures and drawings . This division of exhibits by service , and by civil or military activity , persisted until a wide - ranging redisplay of the galleries from the 1960s onwards . In September 1972 the building received Grade II listed building status . The original hospital building is now largely occupied by corporate offices . The 1966 extension houses the library , art store , and document archives while the 1980s redevelopments created exhibition space over five floors . The first stage created 8 , 000 m of gallery space of which 4 , 600 m was new , and the second provided a further 1 , 600 m . The final phase , the Southwest Infill , was partly funded by a £12 . 6 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and provided 5 , 860m of gallery space and educational facilities over six floors . Before the 2013 - 14 redevelopment , the basement was occupied by permanent galleries on the First and Second World Wars , and of conflicts after 1945 . The ground floor comprised the atrium , cinema , temporary exhibition spaces , and visitor facilities . The first floor included the atrium mezzanine , education facilities , and a permanent gallery , " Secret War " , exploring special forces , espionage and covert operation s . The second floor included the atrium viewing balcony , two art galleries , a temporary exhibition area and the permanent " Crimes against Humanity " exhibition . The third floor housed the permanent " Holocaust Exhibition " , and the fourth floor , a vaulted roof space , accommodated the Lord Ashcroft Gallery . Opened in November 2010 the gallery exhibits the museum ' s Victoria Cross ( VC ) and George Cross collection , alongside the private VC collection amassed by Michael Ashcroft , 241 medals in total . All Saints Annexe . In 1986 the museum acquired the All Saints Annexe , a former hospital building in Austral Street off West Square . The 1867 building , which backs onto Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Park , was originally an orphanage opened by local philanthropist Charlotte Sharman , then later used as a hospital . It houses the museum ' s photographic , film and sound archives , and offices . Imperial War Museum Duxford . Imperial War Museum Duxford , near the village of Duxford in Cambridgeshire , is Britain ' s largest aviation museum . Duxford houses the museum ' s large exhibits , including nearly 200 aircraft , military vehicles , artillery and minor naval vessels in seven main exhibitions buildings . The site also provides storage space for the museum ' s collections of film , photographs , documents , books and artefacts . The site accommodates a number of British Army regimental museums , including those of the Parachute Regiment and the Royal Anglian Regiment . Based on the historic Duxford Aerodrome , the site was originally operated by the Royal Air Force ( RAF ) during the First World War . During the Second World War Duxford played a prominent role during the Battle of Britain and was later used by United States Army Air Forces fighter units in support of the daylight bombing of Germany . Duxford remained an active RAF airfield until 1961 . Many of Duxford ' s original buildings , such as hangars used during the Battle of Britain , are still in use . A number of these buildings are of architectural or historic significance and over thirty have listed building status . The site also features a number of purpose - built exhibition buildings , such as the Stirling Prize - winning American Air Museum , designed by Sir Norman Foster . The site remains an active airfield and is used by a number of civilian flying companies , and hosts regular air show s . The site is operated in partnership with Cambridgeshire County Council and the Duxford Aviation Society , a charity formed in 1975 to preserve civil aircraft and promote appreciation of British civil aviation history . HMS " Belfast " . HMS " Belfast " , a Town class cruiser , was launched in 1938 and served throughout the Second World War , participating in the December 1943 Battle of North Cape and firing some of the first shots of Operation Overlord , the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944 . She saw further combat in the Korean War . Expected to be disposed of as scrap after she was decommissioned in 1963 , in 1967 efforts were initiated to preserve " Belfast " as a museum ship . A joint committee of the Imperial War Museum , the National Maritime Museum and the Ministry of Defence was established , and reported in June 1968 that preservation was practical . In 1971 the government decided against preservation , prompting the formation of the private HMS " Belfast " Trust to campaign for her to be saved for the nation . The Trust was successful in its efforts , and the government transferred the ship to the Trust in July 1971 . Brought to London , she was moored on the River Thames near Tower Bridge in the Pool of London . Opened to the public in October 1971 " Belfast " became a branch of the Imperial War Museum on 1 March 1978 , being acknowledged by the then Secretary of State for Education and Science , Shirley Williams , as ' a unique demonstration of an important phase of our history and technology ' . In service for 24 years HMS " Belfast " was in Frankland ' s opinion , capable of representing ' a whole generation of [ historical evidence ] ' . Churchill War Rooms . The Cabinet War Rooms is an underground complex that served as a British government command centre throughout the Second World War . Located beneath the Treasury building in the Whitehall area of Westminster , the facilities became operational in 1939 and were in constant use until their abandonment in August 1945 after the surrender of Japan . Their historical value was recognised early on , and the public were able to visit by appointment . However , the practicalities of allowing public access to a site beneath a working government office meant that only 4 , 500 of 30 – 40 , 000 annual applicants to visit the War Rooms could be admitted . The museum agreed to take over the administration of the site in 1982 , a development keenly supported by the then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher , an admirer of Britain ' s wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill . Thatcher opened the War Rooms in April 1984 . In 2003 a further suite of rooms , used as accommodation by Churchill , his wife and close associates , were added to the museum . The restoration of these rooms , which since the war had been stripped out and used for storage , cost £7 . 5 million . In 2005 the War Rooms were rebranded as the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms , with 850 m of the site redeveloped as a biographical museum exploring Churchill ' s life . The development of the Churchill Museum cost a further £6 million . The centrepiece is a 15m interactive table which enables visitors to access digitised material , particularly from the Churchill Archives Centre , via an ' electronic filing cabinet ' . The museum was renamed the Churchill War Rooms in 2010 . Imperial War Museum North . The Imperial War Museum North was opened in Trafford , Greater Manchester in 2002 . It was the first branch of the museum outside southeast England , and the first to be purpose - built as a museum . Designed by architect Daniel Libeskind , Imperial War Museum North was his first building in Britain . Libeskind ’ s building , overlooking the Manchester Ship Canal at Salford Quays , was based on the concept of a globe shattered by conflict into shards and reassembled . These shards , representing earth , air and water , give the building its shape . Originally budgeted at £40 million , the museum was eventually completed for £28 . 5 million after anticipated funding was not forthcoming . The museum was funded by local , national and European development agencies , by private donations and by Peel Holdings , a local transport and property company which contributed £12 . 5 million . The museum ' s first floor main gallery space houses the permanent exhibitions . These consist of a chronological display which runs around the gallery ' s 200m perimeter and six thematic displays in ' silos ' within the space . The walls of the gallery space are used as screens for the projection of an hourly audiovisual presentation , the Big Picture . The main gallery , described as cavernous and dramatic , includes objects such as a Russian T - 34 tank , a United States Marine Corps AV - 8A Harrier jet , and a British 13 - pounder field gun which fired the British Army ' s first shot of the First World War . The museum also hosts a programme of temporary exhibitions , mounted in a separate gallery . Collections . The Imperial War Museum ' s original collections date back to the material amassed by the National War Museum Committee . The present departmental organisation came into being during the 1960s as part of Frankland ' s reorganisation of the museum . The 1970s saw oral history gain increasing prominence and in 1972 the museum created the Department of Sound Records ( now the Sound Archive ) to record interviews with individuals who had experienced the First World War . The museum maintains an online database of its collections . Documents . The museum ' s documents archive seeks to collect and preserve the private papers of individuals who have experienced modern warfare . The archive ' s holdings range from the papers of senior British and Commonwealth army , navy and air officers , to the letters , diaries and memoirs of lower - ranked servicemen and of civilians . The collection includes the papers of Field Marshals Bernard Montgomery , and Sir John French . The archive also includes large collections of foreign documents , such as captured German Second World War documents previously held by the Cabinet Office Historical Section , Air Historical Branch and other British government bodies . The foreign collection also includes captured Japanese material transferred from the Cabinet Office . The collection also includes files on Victoria and George Cross recipients , and correspondence relating to the BBC documentary " The Great War " . The documents collection also includes the UK National Inventory of War Memorials . In 2012 the museum reported its documents collection to contain 24 , 800 collections of papers . Art . The museum ' s art collection includes paintings , prints , drawings , sculpture , and works in film , photography and sound . The collection originated during the First World War , when the museum acquired works that it had itself commissioned , as well as works commissioned by the Ministry of Information ' s British War Memorials Committee . As early as 1920 the art collection held over 3 , 000 works and included pieces by John Singer Sargent , Wyndham Lewis , John Nash and Christopher Nevinson . Notable First World War works include Sargent ' s " Gassed " . The collection expanded again after the Second World War , receiving thousands of works sponsored by the Ministry of Information ' s War Artists Advisory Committee . In 1972 the museum established the Artistic Records Committee ( since renamed the Art Commissions Committee ) to commission artists to cover contemporary conflicts . Commissioned artists include Ken Howard , Linda Kitson , John Keane , Peter Howson , Steve McQueen ( see " Queen and Country " ) and Langlands & Bell , responding to conflicts in Northern Ireland , the Falklands , the Persian Gulf , Bosnia , Iraq and Afghanistan . The collection also includes over twenty thousand items of publicity material such as posters , postcards , and proclamations from both world wars , and more recent material such as posters issued by anti - war organisations such as the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and the Stop the War Coalition . The museum ' s collection is represented in digital resources such as the Visual Arts Data Service ( VADS ) , and Google Art Project . In 2012 the museum reported the total size of its art collection as 84 , 980 items . Film . The museum ' s Film and Video Archive is one of the oldest film archives in the world . The archive preserves a range of historically significant film and video material , including the official British film record of the First World War . Notable among the archive ' s First World War holdings is " The Battle of the Somme " , a pioneering 1916 documentary film ( which was inscribed on the UNESCO Memory of the World register in 2005 ) , and " Der Magische Gürtel " , a German 1917 propaganda film about the submarine " U - 35 " . The archive ' s Second World War holdings include unedited film shot by British military cameramen , which document combat actions such as the British landings on D - Day in June 1944 , and the liberation of the Bergen - Belsen concentration camp in April 1945 . The archive also holds government information films and propaganda features such as " Target for Tonight " and " Desert Victory " . The archive ' s post - Second World War collections include material from the Korean War , Cold War material , the former film library of NATO , and material produced by the United Nations UNTV service in Bosnia . As an official repository under the 1958 Public Records Act , the archive continues to receive material from the Ministry of Defence . The archive also seeks to acquire amateur film taken by both service personnel and civilian cameramen . Material from the collection was used to make a number of well - known TV documentary series including " The Great War " and " The World at War " . In 2012 the museum reported the size of its film archive as being in excess of 23 , 000 hours of film , video and digital footage . Photographs . The museum ' s Photograph Archive preserves photographs by official , amateur and professional photographers . The collection includes the official British photographic record of the two world wars ; the First World War collection includes the work of photographers such as Ernest Brooks and John Warwick Brooke . The archive also holds 150 , 000 British aerial photographs from the First World War , the largest collection of its kind . The Second World War collection includes the work of photographers such as Bill Brandt , Cecil Beaton and Bert Hardy . Like the Film Archive , the Photograph Archive is an official repository under the 1958 Public Records Act , and as such continues to receive material from the Ministry of Defence . In 2012 the museum reported the size of its photographic holdings as approximately 11 million images in 17 , 263 collections . Exhibits . The museum ' s exhibits collection includes a wide range of objects , organised into numerous smaller collections such as uniforms , badges , insignia and flags ( including a Canadian Red Ensign carried at Vimy Ridge in 1917 , a Union flag from the 1942 British surrender of Singapore , and another found among the wreckage of the World Trade Center following the September 11 attacks ) ; personal mementoes , souvenirs and miscellanea such as trench art ; orders , medals and decorations ( including collections of Victoria and George Cross es ) ; military equipment ; firearms and ammunition , ordnance , edged weapons , clubs ( such as trench clubs ) and other weapons , and vehicles , aircraft and ships . The museum holds the national collection of modern firearms . The firearms collection includes a rifle used by T . E . Lawrence , and an automatic pistol owned by Winston Churchill . The ordnance collection includes artillery pieces that participated in notable battles , such as the Néry gun , a field gun that was used during the 1914 action at Néry , and equipment captured from enemy forces . The museum ' s vehicles collection includes " Ole Bill " , a bus used by British forces in the First World War , and a number of vehicles used by Field Marshal Montgomery during the Second World War . The museum ' s aircraft collection includes aircraft that are notable for their rarity , such as the only complete and original Royal Aircraft Factory R . E . 8 in existence and one of only two surviving TSR - 2 strike aircraft , and aircraft associated with particular actions , such as a Supermarine Spitfire flown during the Battle of Britain . The museum ' s naval collection includes HM Coastal Motor Boat 4 and a midget submarine HMS XE8 . In 2012 the museum reported its exhibits collection to contain 155 , 000 objects and a further 357 vehicles and aircraft . Library . The museum ' s library is a national reference collection on modern conflict , and holds works on all aspects of warfare , including regimental or unit histories ( such as 789 rare German unit histories from the First World War ) , technical manuals , biographical material and works on war ' s social , cultural , economic , political and military aspects . The library also holds printed ephemera such as the Imperial War Museum Stamp Collection , leaflets and ration books , printed proclamations , newspapers , trench magazines ( such the " Wipers Times " ) and trench map s . In 2012 the museum reported its library collection to contain over 80 , 000 items of historic importance ( such as maps , proclamations and rare books ) and a further 254 , 000 items of reference material . Sound . The museum ' s Sound Archive holds 33 , 0000 sound recordings , including a large collection of oral history recordings of witnesses to conflicts since 1914 . The museum ' s sound collection originated in 1972 with the creation of the Department of Sound Records and the instigation of an oral history recording programme . The sound collection opened to the public in July 1977 . The collection also includes recordings made by the BBC during the Second World War , actuality sound effects , broadcasts , speeches and poetry . As part of the museum ' s First World War centenary programme , the museum is producing " Voices of the First World War " , a podcast series drawing upon the museum ' s oral history recordings . In 2012 the museum reported the size of its sound collection as 37 , 000 hours . Governance . The Imperial War Museum is an executive non - departmental public body under the Department for Culture , Media and Sport , from which it receives financial support in the form of a grant - in - aid . The governance of the museum is the responsibility of a Board of Trustees , originally established by the Imperial War Museum Act 1920 , later amended by the Imperial War Museum Act 1955 and the Museums and Galleries Act 1992 and other relevant legislation . The board comprises a president ( currently Prince Edward , Duke of Kent ) who is appointed by the sovereign , and fourteen members appointed in varying proportions by the Prime Minister , and the Foreign , Defence , and Culture Secretaries . Seven further members are Commonwealth High Commissioner s appointed " ex officio " by their respective governments . As of January 2012 the Chairman of the Trustees is Sir Francis Richards and his deputy is Lieutenant - General Sir John Kiszely . Past chairmen have included Admiral Sir Deric Holland - Martin ( 1967 – 77 ) , Admiral of the Fleet Sir Algernon Willis and Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir John Grandy ( trustee 1971 – 78 , Chairman 1978 – 89 ) . During the Second World War Grandy had commanded RAF Duxford , and was chairman during the planning of Duxford ' s American Air Museum , which opened in 1997 . The museum ' s Director - General is answerable to the trustees and acts as accounting officer . Since 1917 the museum has had six directors . The first was Sir Martin Conway , a noted art historian , mountaineer and explorer . He was knighted in 1895 for his efforts to map the Karakoram mountain range of the Himalayas , and was Slade Professor of Fine Arts at the University of Cambridge from 1901 to 1904 . Conway held the post of Director until his death in 1937 , when he was succeeded by Leslie Bradley . Bradley had served in the First World War in the Middlesex Regiment before being invalided out in 1917 . He later became acquainted with Charles ffoulkes , who invited him to join the museum where he was initially engaged in assembling the museum ' s poster collection . Bradley retired in 1960 and was succeeded by Dr Noble Frankland . Frankland had served as a navigator in RAF Bomber Command , winning a Distinguished Flying Cross . While a Cabinet Office official historian he co - authored a controversial official history of the RAF strategic air campaign against Germany . Frankland retired in 1982 and was succeeded by Dr Alan Borg who had previously been at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts . In 1995 Borg moved to the Victoria and Albert Museum and was succeeded by Sir Robert Crawford , who had originally been recruited by Frankland as a research assistant in 1968 . Upon Crawford ' s retirement in 2008 he was succeeded by Diane Lees , previously Director of the V & A Museum of Childhood . She was noted in the media as the first woman appointed to lead a British national museum .