Footsteps of WWII · Britain
Churchill War Rooms, London
Headquarters · 27 Aug 1939 – 16 Aug 1945
The story
The Cabinet War Rooms, in a basement beneath government offices off Whitehall, became operational on 27 August 1939, days before Germany invaded Poland. The War Cabinet met here 115 times, the last time on 28 March 1945, and Churchill made four wartime broadcasts from the site, the first on 11 September 1940. The Map Room, staffed day and night, tracked the war on every front. From 1943 a secure SIGSALY telephone link let Churchill speak to President Roosevelt from a room disguised as a private lavatory. The lights were switched off the day after Japan surrendered, and the rooms were preserved. They opened to the public in 1984.
What to look for
Low corridors lead past the Cabinet Room, the Map Room with its original maps, coloured pins and telephones, the Transatlantic Telephone Room and Churchill's bedroom. The Churchill Museum, opened in 2005, covers his whole life.
Plan your visit
Open daily 09:30–18:00 (last entry 17:00), closed 24–26 December. Adult about £34; booking online is strongly advised as it often sells out. Check the website before you go.
Things change, so check opening times before you travel.
Nearby sites
- Imperial War Museum London · 2 km
- St Paul's Cathedral and the Blitz, London · 2 km
- Bentley Priory Museum, Stanmore · 20 km
- Biggin Hill Memorial Museum · 22 km
- Battle of Britain Bunker, Uxbridge · 24 km
- IWM Duxford · 68 km
All 160 sites in Footsteps of WWII →
Footsteps of WWII: Europe 1939–1945
A free field guide for your phone: the route, the maps and the stories built in, even with no signal. The whole Second World War in Europe, from the first shots at Westerplatte on 1 September 1939 to the German surrender in May 1945: Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain, Normandy, Arnhem, Bastogne, Stalingrad, Berlin and the camps, in 15 areas from Britain to Russia.
Open the guide