Imperial War Museum to open new WWI gallery

The Imperial War Museum here will open its permanent "New First World War Galleries" to the public Saturday, marking the 100th anniversary of the war.

The Imperial War Museums (IWM), established in 1917, is partnering with the British government to commemorate the landmark anniversary, Xinhua reported.

As one of the branches of the IWM, the London museum has spent about 40 million pounds ($68 million) for the ground-breaking gallery.

By visiting the new parts of the museum, visitors can discover the story of the war and will see how the war started, why it continued, how the Allies won and its global impact.

Staff of the museum said that since the museum has the richest and most comprehensive collections of the First World War in the world, visitors will see over 1,300 objects on display, many never seen before.

These objects will include weapons, uniforms, equipment, diaries, letters, keepsakes, trinkets, photographs, etc.

"Each of the objects on display will give a voice to the people who created them, used them or cared for them and reveal stories not only of destruction, suffering and loss, but also endurance and innovation, duty and devotion, comradeship and love," said IWM director general Diane Lees.

Besides watching with their eyes, visitors can also experience sights and sounds of a recreated "trench", with fighter planes and tanks looming above them.

"IWM London is presenting 1914 to 1918 afresh for a 21st century audience. These impressive new galleries illuminate the soldier's experiences but they also get us out of the trenches to understand the lives of women and children on the home front and the large international story of a British world at war," said Cambridge University professor David Reynolds.