Pupils from Cauldeen Primary School, Inverness, and Inver Primary School, Inver-by-Tain, travelled to London as joint third prize winners in the Their Past Your Future D-Day and Beyond Competition, commemorating the sixtieth anniversary of the D-Day Landings. The group participated in the 60th anniversary commemorative Service of Remembrance onboard HMS Belfast and met the surviving veterans of the ship, which served on D-Day at Gold Beach.
Below is the itinerary that was followed by pupils on their four-day visit.
If you would like to find out more about places to visit on an educational tour of London please see the ‘Places to Visit in London’ section below.
London Itinerary
Day 1
- Travel from Scotland to London
Day 2
- Education session at the Cabinet War Rooms including watching the play The Night Before D-Day
- Education session at the Imperial War Museum
- Trip on the British Airways London Eye for an aerial view of London
Day 3
- A visit to HMS Belfast to take part in the official Service of Remembrance
- Education session onboard HMS Belfast: Pupils meet and interview D-Day Veterans
- A visit to the Britain at War Experience including trying on gas-masks, tin helmets and Second World War uniforms
Day 4
Places to visit in London
If you are planning a visit to London to learn about the Second World War, you could visit some of the places described below. You could also visit the following website, which includes a useful virtual map:
http://www.explore-london.co.uk (opens in new window)
Disclaimer:
All the sites listed are checked regularly. However, the changing nature of the Internet means that some sites may alter after we have visited them. Their Past Your Future is not responsible for the content of external websites.
Britain at War Experience
Address: 64-66 Tooley Street, London Bridge, London SE1 2TF
Tel: 020 7403 3171
Web: http://www.britainatwar.co.uk
The Britain at War Experience recreates the London Blitz in all its fury with special effects highlighting the sites and sounds, the artefacts, and even the dust and smoke of an air raid at its height. Visitors can take the lift down to the London Underground air raid shelter and see where thousands spent sleepless nights, see wartime news bulletins in the underground and enter a BBC radio studio to tune the latest messages from Churchill, Chamberlain, Roosevelt and others. The experience is designed to tie in with National Curriculum in England (especially Key Stages 2 and 3), and primary and secondary education packs are available. Special ‘dressing up’ sessions for school parties can be provided including tin helmets, gasmasks, 1940's clothing and uniforms.
British Airways London Eye
Address: The London Eye is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, opposite Big Ben.
Tel: 0870 990 8883
Website: http://www.ba-londoneye.com/
Designed by architects David Marks, Julia Barfield, Malcolm Cook, Mark Sparrowhawk, Steven Chilton, and Nic Bailey, the wheel carries 32 sealed and air conditioned passenger capsules attached to its external circumference. It rotates at a rate of 0.26 metres per second, so that one revolution takes about 30 minutes to complete. The wheel does not usually stop to take on passengers; the rotation rate is so slow that passengers can easily walk on and off the moving capsules at ground level. It is, however, stopped on occasion to allow disabled or elderly passengers time to disembark safely. Structurally, the Eye resembles a huge spoked bicycle wheel, and was depicted as such in a poster advertising a charity cycle race.
The Eye was opened by British Prime Minister Tony Blair on December 31, 1999, although it was not actually opened to the public until March 2000 because of technical problems. Since its opening, the Eye, operated by Tussauds Group but sponsored by British Airways, has become a major landmark and tourist attraction.
Cabinet War Rooms
Address: Clive Steps, King Charles Street, London SW1A 2AQ
Tel: 020 7930 6961
Web: http://cwr.iwm.org.uk
As bombs rained down on London in 1940, Winston Churchill and his War Cabinet met in The Cabinet War Rooms. Ten feet below the London pavement and situated between the Houses of Parliament and the Prime Minister’s residence at 10 Downing Street, the rooms became the emergency seat of Britain’s central core of government during the London Blitz, and a unique military information centre to serve the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, and his Chiefs of Staff. Today, visitors can see the rooms reinstated to look as they did during wartime, and various educational activities and events are available.
In addition to this, visitors can visit the Churchill Museum which is the world’s first major museum dedicated to life of Winston Churchill. It is a permanent exhibition housed within the unique setting of the historic Cabinet War Rooms. Entry tickets will admit visitors to both the Cabinet War Rooms and the Churchill Museum.
HMS Belfast
Address: Morgan's Lane, Tooley Street, London SE1 2JH
Tel: 020 7940 6300
Web: http://hmsbelfast.iwm.org.uk
Moored on the River Thames near London Bridge, HMS Belfast is a battle cruiser that served throughout the Second World War, playing a leading part in the destruction of Scharnhorst as well as the Normandy Landings. She was in service with the Royal Navy until 1965 before being saved for the nation in 1971and moored on the River Thames as a unique reminder of Britain’s naval heritage. Exhibitions about HMS Belfast and various educational activities and events are available onboard, although due to the nature of the site some areas are not suitable for wheelchair access. School groups can really experience life on board ship by booking a special ‘Kip in a Ship’ sleepover.
Imperial War Museum
Address: Lambeth Road, London SE1 6HZ
Tel: 020 7416 5320
Web: www.iwm.org.uk
The Imperial War Museum covers a range of conflicts, especially those involving Britain and the Commonwealth, from the First World War to the present day. It seeks to encourage, the study and understanding of the history of modern war and how it affects people’s lives.
The exhibits range from tanks and aircraft to photographs and personal letters; they include film and sound recordings and some of the 20th century's best-known paintings.
Japanese Peace Pagoda
Tel: 020 7228 9620 (Peace Pagoda)
Web: http://www.batterseapark.org
Located in Battersea Park (SW11) the Japanese Peace Pagoda built by Japanese monks and nuns in 1985 based on ancient Japanese and Indian traditions, and presented as a gift from the Buddhist Order as a means of celebrating peace around the world. The 100 ft high Peace Pagoda was built to commemorate the dropping of a nuclear bomb on Hiroshima in Japan in 1945, an event that caused a huge loss of life but also ended the Second World War. The pagoda is one of more than 70 built throughout the world.
Kindertransport Memorial at Liverpool Street Station
In November 1938 the Nazi Party intensified the persecution of Jews in Germany and Austria. Under pressure from various campaigning organisations, the British Government allowed 9,534 children to be brought into Britain between December 1938 and August 1939 under the Kindertransport (children's transport) programme. Trains carried young refugees from towns and cities across Germany and the surrounding area to the Hook of Holland. From there they crossed the North Sea to Harwich and travelled to London by train, arriving at Liverpool Street Station, from where they were distributed to hostels, boarding schools and foster families. To remember the arrival of the Kinder at Liverpool Street Station a glass sculpture in the form of a giant suitcase containing the personal belongings of several dozen children stands on the station concourse. Für das Kind (For the Child) contains toys, books, clothing, family photographs and letters from family remind passers by of the dislocation and uncertainty faced by these young refugees. The artefacts on show are cared for jointly by the Imperial War Museum and the Museum of London. A visit here could be incorporated with a walk past the St. Ethelburga Centre for Reconciliation and Peace on Bishopsgate (listed here).
National Army Museum
Address: Royal Hospital Road, Chelsea, London SW3 4HT
Tel: 020 7730 0717
Web: http://www.national-army-museum.ac.uk
The National Army Museum is the British Army's own museum. It is the only museum to tell the story of the Army as a whole from Agincourt in the Fifteenth Century to peace-keeping in the Twenty-first Century. The National Army Museum’s Education Department provides programmes and activities for all age groups and abilities, which are designed to increase enjoyment of the Museum and understanding of soldiers’ lives through the ages.
Royal Air Force Museum Hendon
Address: Grahame Park Way, London, NW9 5LL
Tel: 020 8205 2266
Web: http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk
The Royal Air Force Museum Hendon is situated on the historic site of the original London Aerodrome and houses over 100 aircraft from around the world. In the Battle of Britain Hall the Museum’s sensory sound and light spectacular ‘Our Finest Hour’ retells the story of the Battle of Britain and the Blitz. Activities and resource materials are available to support subject specific or cross-curricular school visits.
St. Ethelburga Centre for Reconciliation and Peace
Address: 78 Bishopsgate, London EC2N 4AG
Tel: 020 7496 1610
Web: http://www.stethelburgas.org
In 1993, a bomb exploded in Bishopsgate partially destroying the small medieval church of St. Ethelburga. The church was rebuilt and it now stands as an important symbol of hope in the heart of the city. It houses the St. Ethelburga Centre for Reconciliation and Peace which is a venue for dialogue between groups in conflict both at home and from overseas. It helps analyse the role of religions in international affairs and seeks to further the contribution that faith communities can make to prevent deadly conflict. It is a living memorial to men and women who have dedicated their lives to the pursuit of peace. Group visits may not be available, but groups could pass the centre on the way to visit the Kindertransport Memorial at London Liverpool Street Station (listed here) if walking up Bishopsgate from Monument Station (named after the nearby monument to the Great Fire of London).
The Cenotaph
The Cenotaph, situated on London’s Whitehall, is a famous war memorial designed by Edward Lutyens. It commemorates the British Empire and Commonwealth servicemen, who died in the two world wars. The Cenotaph forms the centrepiece of the Remembrance Sunday service of commemoration held every year (on the Sunday nearest to 11th November at 11.00am) and attended by the Queen and many veterans of past conflicts. The original war memorial on the site was built of wood and plaster and erected for the first anniversary of the 1918 Armistice that ended the First World War. The memorial that stands on the site today was unveiled in 1920, and the inscription on it reads simply ‘The Glorious Dead’. Each year at the Remembrance Sunday service a two minute silence is observed, and wreaths of symbolic poppies are laid on the steps of the Cenotaph.
Victory Arch at Waterloo Station
The office buildings above Waterloo Station were designed by J. R. Scott, who was the chief assistant architect for London South West Railway. The Imperial Baroque style building includes a Victory Arch, designed to commemorate the loss of London South West Railway servicemen during the First World War. It is constructed from Portland stone and carries statues depicting War and Peace, which are placed below a statue of Britannia.
Westminster Abbey
Web: http://www.westminster-abbey.org
Tel: 020 7654 4900
An architectural masterpiece of the thirteenth to sixteenth centuries, Westminster Abbey also presents a unique pageant of British history - the Confessor’s Shrine, the tombs of Kings and Queens, and countless memorials to the famous and the great. It has been the setting for every Coronation since 1066 and for numerous other Royal occasions. Today it is still a church dedicated to regular worship and to the celebration of great events in the life of the nation, and it contains numerous memorials, plaques and dedications to individuals lost during both World Wars as well as to specific units of the Armed Forces. It is possible to arrange guided visits of Westminster Abbey for groups.
