Review: Secrets of the Imperial War Museum

Secrets of the Imperial War Museum is a six-part documentary series exploring the five Imperial War Museum branches. The series allows for never before seen backstage footage of the war museums. A large focus of the show is about the new Second World War and Holocaust galleries at the Imperial War Museum London. Anyone who enjoys history should definitely watch the series as it is truly unique.

I found the exclusive access to behind the scenes content at the museums truly fascinating

I found the exclusive access to behind the scenes content at the museums truly fascinating. As someone who works within heritage, I found watching the curator and other members of staff planning the new galleries incredibly captivating. You do not often see the work that goes into planning an exhibition and as somebody who understands just how much work goes into it, I was mesmerised by being able to access the content of such a big and important museum institution. I loved that the curator team who worked on the Second World War house in the exhibition put pictures of their grandparents within the display.

I found it so interesting when the staff were painting the side of the HMS Belfast on the show as I had never seen anyone painting the outside of the ship before. I loved how they threw a birthday party for the ship on the anniversary of its creation, as I thought that it was a nice touch from the staff. It was so touching that one of the volunteers choose to volunteer on the ship as his dad worked on the HMS Belfast during his career, and it helps him to feel close to him.

In episode three, a husky armoured vehicle that was blown up in Afghanistan is introduced to the collection at Imperial War Museum Duxford. The gentleman whose vehicle it was during his time as a soldier visits the exhibition with his daughter during the show. She asks him if the vehicle saved his life and she said yes. The husky is a harsh reminder of both how recent some wars are and how brutal war can be. When you think of history exhibitions in museums you would usually think about much later time periods, and this modern piece demonstrates incredibly visually that history does not need to be from a very long time ago.

The inclusion of people who were there at the time means that the gallery will be closer to telling the true story which will have a bigger impact on the visitors

All of the staff at every branch of the Imperial War Museums shown throughout the series are incredibly knowledgeable and are clearly very passionate about what they do. Some of the roles require a high level of sensitivity and maturity, which I felt was definitely present within the show. One of the curators was incredibly dedicated to working out who the man carrying his wounded comrade in a war film was.

This search features in several of the episodes and you find yourself wishing for more information too. When you do hear that there was a development with the identification it feels incredibly exciting. The curators of the Second World War gallery worked with a lady who was around during the blitz and can still remember the noise and sites that followed, to ensure that the feeling of emergency was displayed properly within the exhibition. The inclusion of people who were there at the time means that the gallery will be closer to telling the true story which will have a bigger impact on the visitors.

I thoroughly enjoyed Secrets of the Imperial War Museum and found it incredibly fascinating. The fact that I am studying war at university definitely helped with my enthusiasm for the show as I was able to understand the subject of the show. I would suggest however that anybody could enjoy the show and that you do not need to have a background in war or history.