Churchill's War Rooms

The Winston Churchill War Rooms were a brilliant site to behold. You are underground the whole time and it really feels like it. The air is stuffy, the ceilings are lower, and the quarters are very tight. You can tell just from the feeling in the air when you enter that this was a place of business and not pleasure. As you walked through you were able to see Churchill’s room and all of the other officers’ rooms including his wife among them in her own private room. I thought it was very interesting that they had a separate room for the couple. I wonder if it was because the couple was very modest or if it was a gender and demoralizing the troops sort of thing. If they were to hear Churchill getting lucky all the time or even occasionally it might demoralize the other men since they were not lucky enough to have their own women there for comfort and pleasure. There are many explanations but I feel that this one is the most likely. The next thing I noticed about Churchill and the British government was that it did all it could to exemplify strength. I repeatedly watched and read military propaganda how Churchill hates to be underground. In fact he refused to go underground until part of his home was hit and destroyed by a bomb during the war. After he moved underground the videos said he still came up frequently to show the enemy that he was not scared and valued his freedom. There was also a great deal of pride in place being displayed. Every bit of war propaganda that had to do with recruitment called upon the British citizen’s patriotic side. Posters with Winston Churchill made statements like ‘Churchill needs you’ as Churchill’s image pointed out singling you out. These sorts of posters and videos were everywhere and by the end of the trip I myself almost felt the need to go join the British Army! While the war rooms were a very fun and interesting experience I cannot tell you how nice it felt to get back outside and take that first fresh breath of cool, crisp air. Freedom had never tasted so good.