Talented youngsters from CRYPT (Croydon Young Peoples Theatre) have created a play to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the end of World War Two, Fighting Talk.

With theatre group leader Andrea Gillie, the dedicated teenagers researched local history archives and delved into Croydon's past to get a local slant on the anniversary celebration.

The 15 youngsters involved attended a VE day celebration at Purley Library and they have sourced their piece by talking to people who were children or young adults at that time.

The stories they heard gave the play a true flavour of Croydon.

"It was fascinating," says Andrea. "We heard about a London cab that was part of the Home Guard by having a machine gun strapped on to its roof.

"We were told of the bombing along Purley Way, one of the first areas of the town to be hit. Croydon Airport and the factories along the site were also prime targets.

"The Canadian forces had a big presence locally and one of the Canadians was what was then called a Red Indian. This native American' was a cook in the services and there were stories of how he gave food to needy people."

This information is incorporated into one of the scenes of Fighting Talk.

Andrea is enthusiastic about the group's final play of the season.

"It was an interesting research project and I hope local reference makes it more poignant.

"The children found it difficult to go back that far in their minds and it was hard for them to imagine rationing and to understand the language of the period.

"The costumes have been researched thoroughly too and songs from the 40s are included," she adds.

l Fighting Talk Warehouse Theatre, Dingwall Road Friday, July 29 to Saturday, July 30, 7pm £6 020 8680 4060