Winston Churchill's Britain At War Experience

Sorry to say but this really was a let down. At L10.45 (where did the 45p come from?) it did not live up to expectations or value for money. We walked through this experience feeling nothing, smelling very little & the highlight was seeing objects from my Grandmothers house. Sorry London but come on sort out the costs for these places.

Firstly let me say that the Battle of Britain is one of my favorite periods in world history. The stoic British attitude and their stamina have always struck a chord in me and I highly respect them for what they went through from 1939 - 1941 especially, but even after the US entered the war what with buzz bombs and whatnot still pestering them day and night with sudden death and destruction. So, needless to say, a museum like this one USED to be draws me like a magnet.

Secondly, let me state that I toured this same museum in 2002. Was WAY better then! Why? Because they had some "experience" built into the Battle of Britain EXPERIENCE Museum. Back then, they put you inside a bombshelter like would've been in the day and you heard the sirens the increasing volume of the "crumping" of bombs overhead - complete with a bit of dust falling from the shelter ceiling - then the bombs got VERY loud (close) the lights flickered and went out, the whole thing shook for several seconds then when the all clear sounded you stepped out the other side of the shelter into the bombed out and burning collapsed ruin of the shopping district you'd just been looking at all nice and intact moments before. THAT was an experience - and a QUALITY one at that! Unfortunately, now they don't do the shelter experience and you just blandly walk thru several displays that taper off into this unexplained civilian shopping district look and then down some stairs and into the bombed out areas. With no guide or narration, it really loses something anyway, but I say, BRING BACK THE SHELTER EXPERIENCE! (cause it adds so much more to the visitors' experience and really gives an appreciation for what the citizens of London went through then.)

I had a traveling business companion with me this go round. We'd just came from the Churchill Museum/Cabinet War Rooms Museum and the whole Britain at War Experience thing just struck him as totally hokey. I know he would have enjoyed it so much more if he'd been able to go through the bomb shelter experience as I'd been fortunate enough to do back in '02.

I would've gave it 5 bullets back then, and am averaging both times I've went to only 2 bullets.

The Britain At War Museum (aka Winston Churchill's Britain At War Experience) can be best described as being pathetic. The website claims that the museum features Universal Studio sytle effects, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Their website boasts; "Huddle in the Anderson shelter and hear all the terrifying noises of an air raid overhead" - this is nothing more than a shed in a room with a big speaker hanging overhead; "Window shop along the little shops of Southwark..." - this is a few cabinets set up inside the museum made to look like shop fronts; "Share the excitement and anxiety of the evacuees as they wait to be transported to new homes" - three manikins. Don't be fooled into thinking that this is anything more than a museum, and a poor one at that.

Once you exit the museum you enter the fabled Universal Studios style display. This was totally unbelievable - so pathetic and unreal that it actually made me laugh (some manikins were missing heads, some torsos). This is described as the "unique Bomb Disposal display", it was unique alright.

As a previous reviewer said, take a trip to the Cabinet War Rooms (includes the Churchill Museum) instead. You could also take a 10 minute walk from the Britain At War Museum to HMS Belfast. If you have more time on your hands you could also take a trip to the Imperial War Museum. All of these offer a real insight to Britain at War and are worth every penny of the entry fee. L10 for the Britain At War Museum, L2 more like!