Exploring the Winston Churchill War Rooms

In the depths of London lies the famous Cabinet War Rooms. Located discreetly underground, most would not even realize the secret government headquarters were beneath their feet if it wasn't for the Churchill War Room Museum. I, for one, would have just walked right by the Whitehall building it was under. Luckily though, this was not the case thanks to our group tour of the museum on Wednesday.

The museum preserves the bunker that was used to shelter Winston Churchill and his government during the Blitz in World War II. Inside the shelter, there are rooms to do everything from dining to sleeping to carrying out important government operations. Since London needed to safegaurd Churchill and communicate about the bombings, the underground shelter was very crucial.

                       

There were rooms that allowed enough space to hold meetings among governmental officials and for multiple typists and dispatchers to transmit information throughout the government and to the public. The typists were so vital as communication tools that they were even supplied with gas masks to wear as to continue to work even during gas attacks.

Just as vital to the communications effort was, of course, Winston Churchill himself. During the fall, we got a brief introduction to Churchill. I learned more about his role as the prime minister and as a very influential public figure. However, I wasn't aware until this museum trip about how much he impacted people with his words. As a poster in the museum quoting Beverly Nicholos of the Daily Telegraph said, "he mobilised the English language, and sent it into battle." With very few real weapons during the war, he really made use of his words as his artillery. His speeches reached out to people at the homefront and abroad with profound effects. His words united the people and most importantly inspired them during the hard times of war. Even to this day, they still have an effect. For example, I found myself so emotionally affected by his quotes that I bought a book in the gift shop of his inspirational messages.

Truly, Churchill's speeches are great examples of successful communication. Furthermore, the print propaganda campaign his government ran further exemplifies persuasive communication during times of war. Within the museum there were some powerful propaganda posters that caught my eye:

All of these posters are very simplistic in style and consequently very powerful in their messages. The bold print of these ads really stood out to me and made me focus on the words and messages the posters were trying to deliver to the British people. In all, the propaganda campaign of the time was exemplary of the capability of the British communication system.

-Chelsea Weber