question Searching the Imperial War Museums Archive.

[rippo]

Hello,

 

I'm planning to visit the imperial war museum to search for pictures of the early bedford MW's. I have been told there are lots of pictures there, but it's not as easy as asking to see all the pictures of a particular vehicle. I do plan to spend a couple of days at the museum and was hoping for any advise on how to best to search for things? Would it be by date? or location? etc

 

If anyone has done this before and can offer me any advise i'd be really gratefull.

 

Thanks in advance,

 

John

[Tony B]

The IWM in London has a super reading room open to the public, and I've always found them very co-operative. I'd e mail them in advance and let them know what you are after, then the files you want can be got ready. Bovington tank musuem have a huge collection of photos, might be worth contacting them as well. The National Army Musuem in Chelsea is a short journey away, so there may be another scource. If your spending a couple of days at IWM, they also have a great cafe, and for London, sensible prices.

Edited October 20, 2013 by Tony B

[rippo]

Hello Tony,

 

Thanks for the reply, so if i email them and ask to see pictures of bedford mw's they will find them? I don't think it'll be that easy from what i've been told?

 

 

John

[Tony B]

The people there are very friendly, they are willing to help in advance so you can make the most of your visit. Do beware! There is so much stuff, being side tracked is an certantity!

[rippo]

I'm sure the staff are really good, but how do i help them find the correct files?

[Pete Ashby]

I haven't been for a number of years, however when I was researching a particular make of truck or subject I found I got better results if I thought about the subject matter more obliquely.

 

For example if you are interested in early MW's think about the context that a photo of another subject may include an MW in it. Apart from pre-acceptance trials and factory photos it is doubtful that the photographer would have used an MW as a focus item in his shot, they will however turn up in the frame sometimes in remarkable detail in a shot of something else.......... off the top of my head the BEF's advance into Belgium for example or RAF airfields in the UK or the retreat from Benghazi..... get the idea?

It means a bit of album bashing but you'll soon pick up speed and get better at predicting likely sources, the key is not to get side tracked or your time will be up before you can blink :nut:

 

Pete

[woa2]

I spent a lot of time in the IWM Photo section looking for photos of WOT2 trucks a good few years ago. I used to work shifts so I had time during the day to visit. There is a section that has factory fresh photos of all vehicles and the numbers start KID and you have to ask for these. I found several photos of brand new WOT2 trucks at Dagenham. The other photos are in large binders and are more in years or events. Try looking under Dunkirk or France 1940 for Bedfords. There are also sections on Home Front which might help. As previously mentioned, think obliquely and you might get better luck. Either way, GIVE YOURSELF LOTS OF TIME and take a note book and pen for notes - this will NOT be a quick visit and will take hours if not days to do. The indexes will not help you much, so try and avoid them.

Good luck.

Robert

[rippo]

Pete, Robert,

 

Thank you for the replies, great that gives me a bit more to go, I can start

researching these things first, give me a bit more time there.

[snort]

I have never used the facilities at the Museums to research as yet, but looking at the replies it does seem as if patience and a certain amount of luck is required to get what you need from it. However I can also see how easy it would be to get sidetracked but still have a great day:laugh: It must be worth booking a day just to look through all that stuff.

[Runflat]

There's a bit more on this subject here: http://hmvf.co.uk/forumvb/showthread.php?13672

 

The important thing to bear in mind is that the staff won't be able to give you a file of all the Bedford MW pictures - things aren't sorted like that. As mentioned already, the KID series contain 'works' portrait pictures of vehicles, and they are divided into types - you'll find in the 15cwt binder many pictures of early MWs showing different variants: GS, water tanker, etc. After that, you have to slog through the official albums (those containing the official war photographers' pictures), which are divided into theaters. There are thousands to look at - but you help yourself to them (or at least you did the last time I went). The archive probably also has many thousands of privately taken photographs but how you access them, I'm not sure.

 

I agree with the previous advice that best to start with those that cover the home front and phoney war / Dunkirk. The Malta albums are also likely to have some early MWs between its pages and I guess, North Africa as well.

 

Happy hunting - If you were there for a whole week, you may just be able to get through all the official albums at speed!

[Lauren Child]

Your best bet is to chat to them.

 

I had a tour behind the scenes a while back, and at that time they were looking to make some vehicle indexes or binders with good examples of particular types (I wonder if that's the KID series that Robert mentions?).

 

Also, the collection is much larger than just what is in London. If you want something particular, you need to give them a heads up so that they can transfer the right files to the reading room. They may be able to give you a bit of advice on what to transfer.

 

Alternatively, if anyone is up for helping to sort and index the collection, I'm sure they'd love to hear from volunteers. It's a mammoth task and who knows what is in there waiting to see the light of day. There must be allsorts in there waiting to see the light of day.

[marvinthemartian]

I had a couple of hours there last Wednesday, looking for Martian photos, they have a lot of stuff catalogued online, and all pictures have a reference number, if you require copies of the photos they start at £9 for a 7x5". I didn't get as many as I'd liked to have.

Simon

[No Signals]

Here is one of theirs I found via their online search facility

 

10th Highland Light Infantry advancing inland some time after D-Day. Nice to see an aeroscreen there.

 

Edited November 7, 2013 by No Signals
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