There were ten of us at the Imperial War Museum on 11 December. Surprisingly accessible from North London, and quite a contrast to our normal locations. The building is very impressive externally, and some of us tackled this. Others had a go at the curved glasswork on the top floor. Most people, however, got to grips with the complicated wartime machines, the dramatic suspended planes in particular. We familiarised ourselves with the Spitfire, the German V2 flying bomb, and the Harrier jet (a contemporary item). One of us produced an aluminium foil three-dimensional interpretation of a crushed tank, highly imaginative, and the product of a preliminary recce. Someone else was interested in the minutiae of wartime impedimenta, tried out some of the items in person, and took a selfie as a blitz-lit ARP warden.
As it was mid-week, the Museum was not crowded, a great blessing. We understand that it is going to be rearranged to feature the second world war more strongly, as next year is the anniversary of the outbreak of that ghastly business, so new sketching opportunities will present themselves before long.
