The London church was renovated by English architect Christopher Wren in 1677, damaged during World War II, and deconstructed and rebuilt in Missouri in the 1960s.

Churchill's granddaughter, artist Edwina Sandys, designed the sculpture to commemorate both the "Sinews of Peace" speech and the fall of the Berlin Wall.

[3] Churchill accepted the invitation, and on March 5, 1946, delivered his famous "Sinews of Peace" address, also known as the "Iron Curtain" speech, as a part of the John Findlay Green Foundation Lecture series, which was witnessed by Truman.

In 1961, Westminster College President Dr. Robert L. D. Davidson began formulating a plan to commemorate both Winston Churchill's life and the "Sinews of Peace."

[1] On December 29,1940, during World War II, the German Luftwaffe mounted a massive air raid and St. Mary's suffered a direct hit by an incendiary bomb, causing it to burn down.

Actor Richard Burton was a major promoter and donor, appearing on The Tonight Show with Jack Paar on NBC, who made a direct appeal.

Noel Mander, the fire warden who watched St. Mary's burn in 1940, built the organ and helped assure authenticity of the interior details.

This portion of the exhibit is housed within a recreation of a World War I trench—complete with barbed wire, sandbags, and spent ammunition—that gives visitors a sense of a British soldier's experience on the Western Front.

The World War I room also examines Churchill's role in the disasters of the Dardanelles and Gallipoli and his contributions to the technology of warfare.

It includes simulated rubble, the sounds of bombs detonating and air raid sirens, flashing lights that represent searchlights and anti-aircraft fire, as well as audio clips of war-time broadcasts.

After the conclusion of the Blitz demonstration, a short film, narrated by Walter Cronkite, examines Churchill's role as prime minister during the war.

In "Winston's Wit & Wisdom" visitors sit in a simulated British club while listening to an audio presentation of Churchill stories.

In 1990, with the support of Westminster College, Sandys and her husband, Richard Kaplan, traveled to East Berlin to secure portions of the wall.

[8] Sandys modified the original sections by cutting out large male and female silhouettes from the wall—which symbolized the newly-opened communication between East and West Germany.

The silhouette cut-outs are part of a second sculpture entitled Breakfree, located at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum in Hyde Park, New York.

One year after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Sandys unveiled Breakthrough before a crowd of 7,000 people gathered on the campus of Westminster College.