In Central London during World War II, the British Government established an underground network of bunkers that would ensure that the government could continue to function despite the at times brutal bombings going on above. The Cabinet War Rooms, as they were originally called, were constructed in the basement of a large government office building under a 6 foot thick concret slab reinforced with corrugated steel. In the CWR, the cabinet not only sought refuge but governed the land. Churchill made many of his famous and stirring speeches from the onsite BBC studio. He had a secret phone room, disguised as a private toilet, with a direct line to the White House. Both Churcill and his wife, Clementine, had separate quarters below ground as did many high ranking military and government officials.
Many of the staff would stay underground for weeks and even months in a constant effort to win the war, sometimes going up only at night in fear of blindness if they were to exit into the sunlight.
The museum, one of several operated by the Imperial War Museums, does an excellent job of interpreting the scenes. Many of the rooms, including the babinet room, are exactly how they were left after the last meetings held there in May of 1945.
The communications centre.
Churchill's private dining room.
The room of a high ranking official (lower ranks didn't get a carpet).
The BBC underground studio.
The man himself.
The prime minister's underground office.
The door to the cabinet room, guarded 24x7 by the Royal Marines.
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