Tammy Teacher  unlocked the door of the school and went in.  It was a small school with only eleven pupils, but Tammy Teacher really enjoyed her job.  She had arrived an hour earlier today because there were a lot of things to get ready.  Tammy hung up her coat and quickly tied her straight, brown hair into a ponytail.
    The projector was brought out from the cupboard and placed on a table, with the screen in front of it, so that all the children could see.  Then she picked up a large cardboard box and took out the items inside, each one labelled with the name of its owner.  Tammy had been all over the Village collecting things for a history display.  Everyone she had asked had found something from the Second World War, which would help to show the children what life had been like.  Today they would have a very interesting lesson, finding out about what happened in the Village during World War two.
    At nine o'clock, the children arrived and settled down quietly.  After the register had been taken, Tammy Teacher told them, about today's special lesson.
    "As you can see" she began, "we have a table full of old things from World War two.  You may touch them, but be very careful.  They are old.  Then, later on we have a very special visitor, who is going to tell you what happened in our village over sixty years ago."
The children chattered excitedly as they looked at the treasures on the display table.  There was a ration book, a bomb casing, and a gas mask.  An air raid warden's helmet, a stirrup pump and a bullet.
    Felix was very interested in the gas mask.
    "Did they have them for animals, Miss?" he asked.  Felix lived on a farm.
    "That's a good question, Felix", said Tammy Teacher.  "You must ask our visitor that one."
There was a knock at the door
    "Here he is.  Sit down on the mat everyone."
    "Good day to you", said a booming voice from the doorway, and everyone turned to see an elderly man, with a bald head and a bushy white moustache.  He walked through the room and bowed to Tammy Teacher.  It was Lord Boat from the Big House.
    "I'm here to tell you all about what happened in the Village during the war, when I was eight years old",  Lord Boat began.  "If you please, Miss Tammy", he said to Tammy Teacher with a nod.
The children sat quietly, and Tammy Teacher switched on the projector.  An old picture of the Village appeared on the screen.
    "The war didnn't really affect us much here.  Mostly the Village was quiet.  Sometimes the air raid warning would sound, and everyone would take shelter where they could, under the stairs or in the cellar.  then the all clear would go and all of us would get on with what we were doing."
The picture on the screen showed the siren being sounded by a man in a helmet with ARP on it.
    "That was Warden Walter", said Lord Boat, "Woodsman Will's father.  He was the air raid patrol warden, and it was his job to sound the siren in an air raid and to organise work parties to clear away any rubble and put out fires afterwards, if need be."
The picture changed again.  This time it was the Zoo.
    "One night", said Lord Boat, "the siren sounded and we all got out of bed and took shelter.  The Village was filled with loud noises, shouts, and bangs and crashes.  The next morning, my father went with the other men to see what damage had been done.  Two Heinkels had dropped their unused bombs on the Village on their way back to Germany.  The Zoo had been badly damaged.  Luckily none of the animals had been killed, but they had escaped.  There were monkeys on the church tower, tigers raiding the shop for food, and ostriches and giraffes tearing at the trees and grass."
Another picture appeared, this time showing a man up a ladder on the church roof,
 trying to catch monkeys.
    "Your great-granddad, young Beth, said Lord Boat, smiling at the picture.  "I well remember Builder Bernard atop his longest ladder, passing down monkeys to the Reverend.
"The penguin pool was so badly damaged that Pilot Perry had to fly them with Keeper Keith, grandfather of today's keepers, to London Zoo until it could be mended.  Everyone in the Village helped, don't you know", said Lord Boat.
"My old dad took some of the bigger animals; the elephant stayed in our old barn.  Etty she was named, and the keeper let me ride on her and help to give her a bath."
    "Some of the children have questions to ask", said Tammy Teacher.
    "Fire away", said Lord Boat.
The children asked their questions and learned all sorts of things about the Second World War.  They learned about rationing and evacuation.  They learned about air raids, barrage balloons and bomb shelters.  They found out that a stirrup pump was used to put out small fires.  And Felix discovered that animals did not wear a gas mask.
    A few weeks later, the school children put on a play set in World War two.  Beth climbed a ladder to rescue monkeys, like her great-grandfather, Builder Bernard, and Peter and Kim flew a cardboard plane full of penguins to London Zoo, just like Pilot Perry and Keeper Keith.  All the villagers came to watch and were amazed at how much the children had learned.
    "What a wonderful play", they all said.  "This is one piece of Village history which will be remembered for ever"