Young Boy Pulls Out WWII Grenade for Show-And-Tell, Forcing School to Call Bomb Experts and Evacuate

A young boy in Derbyshire, England, brought a World War II grenade to his school's show-and-tell assembly on Friday, prompting an evacuation and the intervention of bomb disposal experts.

"It was going fine and there was a boy who brought an old bullet case in, which I knew about, but then his friend produced a hand grenade from his pocket," Osmaston CofE Primary School Head Teacher Jeanette Hart told the BBC. "That, I was not expecting."

Hart quickly ended the assembly and confiscated the grenade from the young student, placing it behind a "substantial" tree in the school's parking lot as a precaution since she was unsure whether it was still active. The other students were evacuated to safety while police and Army bomb disposal experts were called to assess the situation.

Although the grenade was ultimately determined to be inactive, the explosive experts praised the school staff for their swift and sensible response.

The boy was later interviewed and explained that the grenade was a family heirloom he had taken without his parents' knowledge. Hart said she believed the child was "entirely innocent," adding that she did not think he truly understood what the object was.