ABSTRACT
As Britain’s foremost repository of objects relating to conflicts since 1914, the Imperial War Museum will obviously repay study by anyone investigating the material culture of twentieth-century warfare. It has been stated that ‘The study of materiality sees objects as possessing important and variable social dimensions beyond (as well as including) their original design purpose’ (Saunders 2001: 479). As will be seen from this chapter, such thoughts, if not so plainly expressed, or indeed consciously considered, informed the policy of the founders and early curators of the Imperial War Museum to a remarkable degree.
