TV & RADIO
Britain’s Wartime Treasures – Imperial War Museums at 100
All the must-see/hear programmes
March BBC Two
This year marks the centenary of the founding of the Imperial War Museum. Initially intended to mark the sacrifices made during the First World War, it first opened its doors to the public in 1920, when it was housed at the Crystal Palace on Sydenham Hill.
Over the years, its remit has expanded and, with an emphasis on conflicts involving Britain and the Commonwealth, it now aims “to provide for, and to encourage, the study and understanding of the history of modern war and wartime experience”. Its collections are spread over five sites: IWM London in Southwark, the Churchill War Rooms, HMS Belfast, IWM North and IWM Duxford.
The individual artefacts held at these locations often hold the key to wider stories. For this one-off documentary, presented by Falklands veteran Simon Weston, celebrities act as advocates for some of these objects and explore their significance.
Adventurer Bear Grylls, for example, casts his eyes over the D-Day log of HMS Belfast. The light cruiser supported the landings of British and Canadian troops at the Gold and Juno beaches. It was Belfast, for instance, that fired on a strategically important German battery at Ver-sur-Mer to support British infantry trying to capture the site. It almost had a notable guest that summer too, but George VI intervened to prevent Winston Churchill from going aboard to witness the landings.
Other objects may initially seem more domestic, but appearances can be deceptive. One of the exhibits at IWM North in Manchester is a ukulele. It once belonged to Tom Boardman, who was captured by the Japanese after the fall of Singapore in 1942. As Afghanistan veteran and Invictus Games medalist JJ Chalmers discovers, Boardman built the instrument from scrap.
Among other items featured in the documentary, Al Murray sees RAF chaplain Guy Mayfield’s diary among the Spitfires at IWM Duxford; Kate Adie charts life in the Churchill War Rooms, deep beneath Whitehall, via a typewriter; and Anita Rani salutes the heroism of British Indian Army soldier Major Parkash Singh (1913-91), who won the Victoria Cross for his bravery fighting the Japanese in 1943. Jonathan Wright