‘Impudent Lies’: Rhetoric and Reality in Wartime Heritage Protection, 1943-2003

This paper offers a historical perspective on the current debates about the protection of museums, heritage and archaeological sites during warfare or civil conflict. Mortimer Wheeler’s experiences of heritage destruction in North Africa during the Second World War, despite government promises of protection, demonstrate striking parallels with events and debates following the 2003 invasion of Iraq. A comparison between these two episodes highlights a common political duplicity and disdain for heritage issues in wartime. This failure of formal mechanisms of heritage protection highlights the vital importance of heritage professionals maintaining international contact networks, even between combatant nations, to monitor and report threats to archaeological sites and museums.