Young historian Freddie Palmer was so interested in the Second World War that he chose to live on rations for a week.

The nine-year-old from Charlton, who celebrated his birthday last Thursday, is fascinated about the era put into the spotlight again this week by the 60th anniversary of VE Day and loves reading books like The Machine Gunners and Biggles.

So he jumped at the chance when his mum Anna Palmer suggested the family should live on rations such as soup and potatoes for a week to understand wartime life.

Freddie's 42-year-old mother, who holds a doctorate in economics, helped her son record the experience in a diary, which they hope to publish.

Mrs Palmer said: "I am not a pushy parent but it was totally driven by him. He has a very active mind and you have go to with what he is interested in.

"Freddie loves reading about World War Two and he is the kind of person who prefers going to a war museum rather than a water park."

The rationing experiment, carried out in March, was Freddie's second attempt. He convinced his parents that he should have a second try, along with his six-year-old sister Alice, after a failed attempt last year.

The inquisitive lad, who attends Lea and Garsdon Primary School, first tried eating rations last September but managed it for three days until enticed by some ice cream and biscuits at his granny's house.

For Freddie's rationing effort he began by learning about rations from library books and the Internet, with the help of his mother.

The family ate typical wartime rations during the week such as 16oz (400g) of bacon and ham, four chops and 16 sausages, 8oz (200g) of cheese and 16oz (400g) of margarine. They could only use 18 tea bags under the rules.

Although wartime rationing may seem severe by modern standards, it allowed Freddie to eat 41 sweets during the week. This was a bonus for him because he would normally only eat sweets at Christmas or on special occasions.

A final excerpt from the diary reveals his feelings after the week. He wrote: "Phew, thank goodness we have finished on rations. Tomorrow we will have treats all day. Being on rations was very different from what we normally eat. No pasta, pizza, crisps, chocolate, fizzy drinks or much of anything that comes from other countries like oranges, grapes or bananas. We couldn't eat any frozen food because people didn't have freezers back then.

"Some of the rations were quite nice like custard and the rabbit stew and the sweets. But I didn't really have enough in my packed lunch. But it was okay for one week, which is nothing really because food rationing went on from 1940 until 1954. And I'm glad I didn't live then."

Freddie's father, Alec Ross, is a social researcher for the Office of National Statistics and said he was very proud of his son's passion for history.

The 34-year-old said: "He was committed to what he wanted to do and I am very proud of him. I am also very interested in war history and I watch a lot of wartime documentaries. I think it has a lot of lessons for today because it shows people used to get by on a lot less. Rationing helps stop the glorification of war and makes it more real."

n The residents of Kington St Michael celebrated the 60th anniversary of VE Day, reliving the war years by dressing up in period clothes and listening to music of the era. The event was organised by Acorns Pre-school in the village hall on Sunday and people were invited along to enjoy home-made cakes and tea.

A Second World War quiz was won by Andrea Baynes. The celebration raised £252.85, which will be divided equally between Acorns Pre-school and The Royal British Legion.