The Duke of Cambridge meets Second World War veterans at the Imperial War Museum

The Duke of Cambridge visited the Imperial War Museum in London today to learn about the second phase of ‘Transforming IWM London’ – which will create new galleries on the Second World War and a learning suite.

The 33.5 million project, opening in 2020 ,  will enable the museum to transform the way it presents the Holocaust and the Second World War. In fact, the museum will become the only space to physically and vividly tell the history of the Holocaust within the context of the Second World War.  

The galleries will draw heavily on personal stories in order to tell a vivid narrative of the Holocaust, WWII and how they have shaped the world today.

The Duke, who is President of the Imperial War Museum Foundation met Freddie Knoller, who took part in the French Resistance during the Second World War.

When he was discovered, Freddie was arrested in October 1943 and sent to Auschwitz, the German Nazi concentration camp. He was later sent to Monovitz and Bergen-Belsen before being liberated by British Forces at the end of the war. 

The Duke also spoke to Ted Cordery and John Harrison who served on HMS Belfast during WWII. Ted Cordery was a leading torpedo man and was on board when she became the Flagship of Bombardment Force E – leading ships into position on D-Day. John Harrison was a Petty Officer in charge of the forward-most gun turret on board and even that survived a magnetic mine that hit the ship in the Firth of Forth. 

The Imperial War Museum London tells the stories people who lived, fought and died in conflicts involving Britain and the Commonwealth since WWI.

Find out more about the Imperial War Museum here.