In the Footsteps of War
- Dan Synge
- 4 hours ago
- 3 min read
Curious London are pleased to announce a London city walk that explores the capital at an especially dark and dangerous time in its history. Our 1.5-hour War in Westminster tour examines key landmarks that played a part in both World Wars, and we’ll pass by secret locations to find living traces of the Blitz. To give you a flavour, here are just a few of the stops along the way…
American graffiti
In World War Two, the US military used this historic Westminster building as a storage facility, and the contents inside were clearly so valuable that they needed to station a guard or two outside. Look carefully, and you'll find some crude graffiti cut into the old brickwork – ‘U.S. Army’ and other scratches – although by the looks of it, the guilty GI was interrupted by his superiors!
The unlucky church
Over the years, St John’s Smith Square has had its fair share of bad luck. Gutted by fire in 1742, struck by lightning in 1815, and even more devastating, it was hit by a German incendiary bomb on the night of 10 May 1941. Three of the church's corner towers came crashing down and the interior was completely gutted, leaving only the scorched outer walls standing. For twenty years until it’s restoration in 1965, the church was a roofless a ruin, open to the bare skies above.
Bolt hole for a hero
TE Lawrence aka ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ (pictured) was the officer, diplomat and archaeologist who played a leading role in the Arab Revolt during World War One. After the war, which made him a national hero, he kept a low profile, enlisting in the army and the RAF under a series of aliases and writing the autobiographical Seven Pillars of Wisdom, about his time in the Middle East. Lawrence wrote much this book in a Westminster attic room after his original manuscript went missing at Reading train station.
Sound of the underground
During the Blitz, Number 10 Downing Street, the peacetime home of the Prime Minister, was deemed too unsafe to inhabit full-time. So, Winston Churchill and his advisors occupied what was then known as the Cabinet Room, a series of secret chambers that had been built in a basement directly below the Treasury building in Whitehall. Starting as an emergency underground shelter, it became Churchill’s office and communications centre with a dedicated Map Room and overnight sleeping quarters for his staff. Some of them didn’t see natural daylight for days!
Stand guard!
Like the Cenotaph in nearby Whitehall, this 38ft (12m)-high obelisk is made largely from white Portland stone. Five brass figures stand on one side of the construction. These represent every regiment from the Foot Guards and were modelled by actual serving guardsmen. Because the sculptor worked from the nude figure first, the models were instructed to strip off. “By God Sir, and do the ladies have to do this too?” asked one of the horrified guardsmen. The bronze metal used in making these sculptures was from melted down German guns.
Naval gaze
Admiralty Citadel was built between 1940 and 1941 to serve as a secure command centre after the neighbouring Admiralty Building was struck by enemy bombs. Its Brutalist appearance is completely at odds with the more classically inspired buildings around this area. But then function and not form was hardly its main inspiration. A wit from the Royal Navy High Command dubbed it the ‘Hanging Gardens of London’. Winston Churchill was even more dismissive. He called it that “vast monstrosity which weighs upon Horse Guards Parade”.
We hope you enjoy your Curious London ramble around London’s wartime landmarks and that you have time to explore those further afield, notably the ruined City churches near St Paul’s Cathedral or the deep level shelters in south London, or possibly a visit to HMS Belfast or the RAF Museum in Hendon. All of these and more are featured in our printed guide Curious London ‘War and Defence’. https://www.copycreativelondon.com/product-page/curious-london-3-1
Through such proud and enduring relics, we might understand more clearly how people lived, loved and worked during those dangerous and uncertain times. Freedom was not a given. And through the dozens of official memorials dotted around this capital city, we are all lucky enough to be able to pay tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice.
'War in Westminster' walking tour with Curious London guides starts on 25 Sept
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