Our last day in London began with breakfast at B-P
House, then a long Underground ride up to the Royal Air Force museum
at Hendon in North London. |
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The RAF museum is made up of four huge buildings filled
with aircraft. You enter the first building at balcony level, eye to
eye with hanging aircraft from World War I to modern jets.
The ground floor has dozens of WWII aircraft, including the first
jet fighter - the ME-262 at right.
The second building is full of bombers, then you pass into the
third building, fighters and older aircraft.
The fourth building is dedicated to the Battle of Britain. |
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After spending the morning at the RAF Museum, we took
the train back to Westminster and the Cabinet War Rooms, deep under an
office building in Whitehall.
Left: Jon and Matt listen to the audio tour of the War Rooms.
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The War Rooms are the complex from which Winston
Churchill and the British High Command ran the British war effort.
During the war it was top secret - evidently the Germans never did
learn of its existence. After the war the doors were locked, and the
War Rooms remained "as is" until they were turned into a
museum some 40 years later.
The new Churchill museum opened up in 2005, taking up about half of
the War Rooms with a modern, multimedia museum dedicated to the
wartime Prime Minister.
Right: Jerry at the Chief of Staff's conference
room |
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The last stop in London was the Victoria and Albert Museum,
familiarly known as the "V and A". It's an art and design
museum located just two blocks from B-P House, which made it very
convenient for us.
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The entrance hall at the V&A, complete with glass
chandelier.
After the V&A and a Chinese dinner, we took the Underground to
King's Cross and the train to York. |
The Scouts with
Baden-Powell outside B-P House
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