THE Battle of Britain, D-Day and Dunkirk all spring to mind when people are asked to list the key events of the Second World War.

But the impact the war had on the rural community of Cradley in Herefordshire is a topic which has barely been explored – until now.

Villagers have recalled their memories of the Second World War for a dramatic production to mark the war’s 70th anniversary by vividly describing its impact on English country life.

Evacuees and Elephants – the curious tale of the homeless circus and other stories from wartime Herefordshire – also includes wartime poetry, prose and propaganda together with music and images.

The show will run for five nights, during Remembrance Day week, and climaxes with a victory party when audience members can sing their favourite Second World War songs. The show, staged by Cradley Village Players, is written and directed by West Malvern resident, David Robertson.

He said his script reflects the sobering truth that those who were 20 when the war began in 1939 are now 90 and won’t be here for ever.

“It is especially significant for small communities and means memories of how the war affected country people could soon be lost for ever,” he said.

“Most of us can list the great events of the war, but many more people lived in towns and villages and their stories are less often told.”

To help set the record straight, Evacuees and Elephants blends extracts from interviews with local residents with material presented by actors to show how villages like Cradley helped to feed the nation at a time of hardship.

The play also reveals how huge US hospitals were based at Foxley Manor and Kington in Herefordshire.

Details are also given about the top secret plan to move Churchill's government to Spetchley Manor and Hindlip Hall, near Worcester, and the royal family to Madresfield, near Malvern, in the event of a German invasion. The production also looks at the way Eastnor Castle became a base for US troops before D-Day, how Malvern's radar scientists helped win the Battle of Britain and how the community was affected by the arrival of German and Italian POWs.

Mr Robertson said how it is some of the quirkier stories from local residents that bring the show to life and helps to explains the unusual title. He added: “Our title reflects some of the many extraordinary stories on which the show is based.

“One of them is a memoir in which Olga Mawby movingly recounts how she and her sister came to our district as evacuees from a house in Birmingham which had been hit by German bombs.

“They lived at the Halesend in Storridge with Air Vice Marshal, Sir Bertine Sutton MC, head of personnel for the RAF, and his wife Griselda.

“Five talented young actors, about as old as Olga was in the Second World War, will relive her tale of being taken in the Sutton’s Rolls Royce to the village school and how she was cared for by a nanny, tap-danced with the maids and watched guests arriving for the family’s endless cocktail parties”.

“Cradley resident Winnie Preston talks of being befriended by Ada Chapman, Britain’s only female circus-owner, and how she travelled (in yet another Rolls) to attend the funeral of the circus’s favourite elephant.

“These are just two of the memories on which we’ve gratefully drawn and which we plan to dramatise.” Other recollections are supplied by villager Don Smith. The show will be performed at Cradley CE Primary School, at 7.30pm each night from Tuesday, November 10 to Saturday, November 14.

Tickets cost £8 for adults and £5 for children, including one drink and a selection of wartime snacks at the post-show party.

Wednesday is a reduced-price family and schools evening – without a party – when admission is £5 for adults and £3 for children.

Tickets can be bought at Cradley Post Office and Stores or by sending a cheque payable to Cradley Village Players to Evacuees & Elephants, c/o Cradley PO and Stores, Cradley, Malvern, WR13 5NF (£1 is needed to cover post and packing). Requests can also be e-mailed to evacueesandelephants@ hotmail.com.