SCHOOLS SET FOR A GREAT DAY OUT AT THE WAR AND PEACE SHOW

AT LEAST 16 schools will be taking part in the special War and Peace Show education day at The Hop Farm, Paddock Wood, on 20 July.

The youngsters will see for themselves a range of genuine Second World War vehicles, full size replicas of Battle of Britain fighter planes, and an exhibition of more than 100 giant photographs showing how people lived in wartime Britain. These have been created and assembled by Roger Smoothy and Maidstone Camera Club.

"We are very excited about going to the Show," said Kerry Jupp, year four teacher at Wateringbury CEP School. "It's great for the children to be able to put their learning into context.

"It's also a great opportunity to get up close to genuine historic artefacts and vehicles. Children pick up so much from being immersed in a topic and seeing re-enactments. It should be an amazing experience. Parents are very keen on this kind of thing."

Among the things they will see is the amount of food a child could expect each week under wartime rationing. "People actually became healthier, because they didn't eat too much, and only what was good for them," said Terry Elliott, who is manning the display.

Another display will use former Whitbread drays, an old gun tractor and other vehicles to demonstrate how difficult it was for retreating soldiers of the British Expeditionary Force to make their way along roads crowded with refugees, to reach Dunkirk.

There will be a Dunkirk beach scene, using a burnt-out period fishing boat as a backdrop. And crews of two 3.7 anti aircraft guns firing blank ammunition will be celebrating the shooting down of a Messerschmitt 109.

A full size replica of a crashed Messerschmitt will be nearby, representing one that actually came down on the beach at Lydd, although in this case shot down by a Hurricane aircraft.

Other full size replica aircraft include two Spitfires, one of which has a real engine, a propeller that spins and gas guns that fire.

There will be a field cookery display to show the children how meals were prepared for men close to the field of battle.

The military vehicles range from a genuine Second World War ambulance, to a staff car that is known to have crossed to France in 1939, been captured and used by the Germans until 1944, and recaptured by the Allies.

Wartime entertainments are also part of the day's events. KAS - Kelly Anne Sproul of Deal, Kent - will be singing songs popular in the 1940s as the "New Forces Sweetheart".

The War and Peace Show is famous for its mock battles, and Malcolm Dunlop, of Rainham, Kent, will give demonstrations of how he brings realism to the skirmishes using pyrotechnics, fake blood and stunts.

War and Peace Show organiser Rex Cadman said: "This is the first time we have held a Schools Day and I am thrilled with the response. I hope all the children who attend and their teachers really enjoy their day and carry away a better understanding of the Second World War.

"The War and Peace Show is evolving to become increasingly about learning, about paying tribute to the men who fought for freedom, and to providing a really good day out for all the family."

Schools attending the Day include: Horsmonden Primary School; Sutton Valence Primary; Victoria Road Primary School, Ashford; Hartsdown Technology College, Margate; St Philip Howard Catholic Primary School, Herne Bay; Wateringbury CEP School: The Wyvern School, Ashford; West Borough Primary School, Maidstone; St Stephens Primary School, Tonbridge; Norton Knatchbull School, Ashford; Portal House School, St Margarets-at-Cliffe, Dover; Higham Primary School; Chiddingstone Primary School, Nr Edenbridge and Harbour School, Dover.

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