Good Museums.

Cool, I'll think I'll stick with my first choice.

 

I haven't looked through all the posts here yet, but I just thought to give the Central Great Patriotic War Museum in Moscow a mention. This is probably the best place you can go to in Moscow if you're interested in WWII. A beast of a museum, I've never seen anything like it anywhere else (well, so far in my life anyway). I've been living near it for nearly 11 years, and it still fails to disappoint me. There's free admission on Victory Day (May 9th), the museum houses the flag that was hung over the Reichstag, at one time Tanya Savicheva's diary was on display, many personal belongings of the German and Soviet high command are here as well. It's just unbelievable. It's surrounded by a park as well, which is filled with memorials and exhibitions, it's called Victory Park (not surprisingly). It's pretty cheap to get in, 120 roubles, which would be about 4 USD or 2 and a half GBP. That's for foreign citizens. For WWII veterans the admission's free, as far as I'm concerned. Anyway, just give this place a thought
Central Museum of the Great Patriotic war 1941-1945




http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/22/ninon-i.a/0_ac9b_4a0e0bfb_orig

Sorry, not exactly the beast pics I could muster up, on the webpage they've got stunning photos of the museum. Yours, Tovarisch.

 

Tangmere, Military Aviation Museum, went there between 85-87 and even though planes are not my thing it made a lasting impresion I liked the layout and the displays were realy good from what I can remember, has not changed to much from looking here www.tangmere-museum.org although when I went they only had one plane outside the front I think it was the Gloster Meteor F8, shown on the website anyone been in more recent times?

 

I love the IWM London but have yet to visit HMS Belfast.

Locally The Gordon Highlanders has a nice museum and the museum at Edinburgh Castle is great to.

Below are some pics of my trip to Edinburgh Castle and museum.







War Memorial of Scotland







Go hear to see the rest of the pics on my website.

LINK

 

RAF Hendon is good. Free parking and a reasonable restaurant. Several large hangars, one with the History of flight in it with machines ranging from early gliders and planes to the latest machines. Then the is the Battle of Britain hall with various planes from WW2 some of which you can go through if they have enough staff on duty. The Flying Sunderland is great. They also have other WW2 vehicles including motorbikes, vans etc and a home front display. There is also a Light show in that hangar about the Blitz etc.
In another hangar they have loads of helicopters some of which you can climb into if you are young, agile and slim . They also have a large interactive area for the kids and those who are young at heart, with all sorts of experiments related to flight and of course the usual gift shop which caters for all markets.

 

Bovington has already been mentioned as has the docks at Portsmouth and the Submarine museum at Gosport, but how about Fort Nelson near Fareham a must for anyone interested in artillery through the ages.

 

Went to 'Millom aviation museum' at Havrigg , nr the Lake District , and spent a good few hours looking at the exhibits , mainly aviation related but loads of weapons and uniforms , just too much to take in at one go , so was hoping for a return trip , only to hear that its gone into receivership and closed down , what a sad sad day .

 

Worcester Library holds a great little museum on local regt. Apart from that Im sticking with the Liverpool and Birkenhead naval sites.

 

No one has mentioned the Flanders Field Exhibition in Ypres - so I will.

Had not intended to go into Ypres - just though the town must have been bombed to pieces and stuck back together as badly as we (British Philistines) do with all our bombed places such as Coventry.

BUT what a surprise - I was not wrong about it being bombed very badly in both Wars but what a fabulous Central square. Full marks to the Belgians - it took from 1918 to 1967 but everything has been restored to its Medieval perfection.

Normally I avoid foreign museums since I have found they tend to be a poor standard and a rip off, created to fleece the visiting Brit or Colonial.

Second brilliant surprise was the Flanders Field exhibit in the Main (I think Cloth Market) Building - best I have seen dealing with the First World War.

 

Two I would recommend are the Carpetbagger Museum at Harrington in Northants and the Jewish Military Museum in North London

Carpetbagger Museum Home Page

AJEX: about the museum

 

In 1944 the Allies put the Sussex Plan into effect - this was primarily an Order of battle mission as well as providing targets for aircraft - the mission was a joint effort by MI6 the OSS and BCRA there is a museum in France dealing with the exploits of the Sussex teams - the site has the virtual museum capability

The Sussex Plan

 

The Duke of Wellington regt Museum at Halifax is well worth a visit.

 

There are a few not in this thread that I love visiting;

Yorkshire Air Museum: Home of the Allied Air Forces Memorial

The YAM is at former RAF Elvington near York ( just off the A1079 ) and was a base for the free French to fly Halifaxes from, they now have quite an extensive collection and a very large, well preserved collection of original buildings.

Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre, East Kirkby; The only place in the UK where you can ride in an Lancaster Bomber - Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre

Based in the former RAF East Kirkby, very large collection of excavated WW2 crashed aircraft and home to the Lancaster " Just Jane " a few pics I have taken here: East Kirkby Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre pictures by Bradlad71 - Photobucket

I recently visited London and the RAF Museum at Hendon, the IWM and IWM Duxford, pics here:

RAF Hendon and IWM London: RAF Museum Hendon and Imperial War Museum pictures by Bradlad71 - Photobucket

IWM Duxford: Imperial War Museum Duxford pictures by Bradlad71 - Photobucket

Not a museum but well worth a visit are the Excalibur estate and the Blackfriars rd / The Ring Bridge.

The Excalibur estate is built entirely from prefabs and is not long for this world, the council is looking to demolish them all, so visit whilst you can; Nothing To See Here: The Excalibur Estate, London

And the bridge at the site of the building called The Ring still has damage from the V2 which destroyed it:

Blackfriars Road, The Ring and the death of Al Bowlly

 

If you are thinking of making a trip to Hungary then I have a museum for you.

The House of Terror museum in Budapest is well worth a visit for those interested in the post WW2 Russian occupation of Hungary.

I was particularly impressed by the Russian tank that was built into the ground floor !

Ron

 

...

Blackfriars Road, The Ring and the death of Al Bowlly

From CWGC:

Name: BOWLLY, ALBERT ALEX
Initials: A A
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Civilian
Regiment/Service: Civilian War Dead
Age: 43
Date of Death: 16/04/1941
Additional information: of Duke's Court, 32 Duke's Street, St. James's. Died at Duke's Court, Duke's Street.
Casualty Type: Civilian War Dead
Reporting Authority: WESTMINSTER CITY

 

I visited the Royal Navy's Submarine Museum today at Gosport UK - HMS Alliance tour forms the main part of the experience - it was commissioned in 1947 but is essentially what a WW2 sub would be like. You can only respect the crew for their wartime experiences. The guides are all sub mariners who crewed similar class subs to Alliance. There is also a museum containing a sub back to 1776 - when used against the Brits during the American War of Independance ! Also a treasury of medals won by submariners including VC's - very impressive !

 

I'd like to nominate the Airborne Museum in Sainte-Mere-Eglise, Normandy. Fantastic place with lots of hardware and uniforms to take a look at, a walk-through Waco Glider and the C-47 building...



An honourable mention also for the Mulberry Harbour Museum at Arromanches. The model recreations of the harbour are of exquisite detail.

Musée du débarquement - Site majeur de la Bataille de Normandie - Arromanches

 

There's a private air travel museum here in Hannover, really close to the fairgrounds, so if any of you are visiting one of the numerous trade fairs here, you may want to find some time to visit.
I've been twice, and I found it very interesting.
What most interested me was the library they have there, which has over 4000 titles, according to the website. Library visits are free of charge, but by appointment.
German version: Luftfahrtmuseum Hannover | Luftfahrtmuseum Hannover-Laatzen
English version: Luftfahrtmuseum Hannover | Luftfahrtmuseum Hannover-Laatzen
Michael