Imperial War Museum

Many of the personal fonds for British military officers are held in the Imperial War Museums in central London.  Housed in the busy national museum, a trip to the IWM archive can be nice break from the PRO. 

Strengths

Finding Aid: The IWM has a helpful online finding aid.  Order your documents beforehand.

Archivists: The archivists are very familiar with the collection.  They have been known to suggest other helpful record groups based on what you have pre-ordered.  If they don't, contact them directly and ask for advice.

Atmosphere: Even though they are located on an upper floor of a busy museum, the archives have a quiet, pleasant atmosphere with individual work stations. Plus, you can go downstairs to the museum cafe at lunch (tasty but pricy!) and then wander through the exhibits.  Make sure that you book ahead; you need to reserve a desk in the reading room. 

Weaknesses

Photocopying: The IWM has a no-photography policy, and their photocopying rates are rather steep at 40pence/page!  Factor this into your trip budget.

Service: The down-side of the pleasant atmosphere and intimate reading-room, is that the archives can have the flavour of a mom-and-pop shop.  Although there is always someone manning the desk in the reading room, it can take considerable time for him/her to contact an archivist to get your next set of files.  This is the case even if you have pre-ordered documents.  It can be frustrating, and there is little that you can do about, so just be prepared.