In 1940 the School was evacuated to share the premises of Hitchin Boys Grammar School – see the recollection of the evacuation by Frederick White, Frank Scutt and A N Other in the Hitchin Memories section of the History area of the site.

1939-1940 – Reminiscence provided Gordon Dunning (EGS 1932-40)

Returning to school in September 1939, we found we had to share our buildings with a school from Balham which had been evacuated to Eastbourne. There appeared to be just as many of them as there were of us, so it was a practical impossibility for us all to be there together. Thus we would be at Eversley court in the morning but in the afternoon, as Balham were in residence, we would have to meet in various church halls around the town. I remember especially meeting in the hall of the URC in Upperton Road (adjoining Watts Lane). We also met in the hallowed precincts of Eastbourne College in Grange Road and were rather amused to find desks at the College were carved with initials and splashed with ink, as were those of lesser establishments! You had to remember to take all your books with you.

This was the time of the “Phoney war”, with nothing much happening in France and – apart from the inconvenience – we managed. After a bitterly cold winter and with the coming of spring things did start happening. The Germans invaded the Low Countries and, instead of being a Reception Area, Eastbourne became a Neutral Area and the school from Balham was evacuated elsewhere. Although we had full use of Eversley Court again, the storm clouds were gathering and we wondered whether we should have the opportunity of taking School Cert. Before the invasion came I remember John Harrison distributing leaflets in the History class giving updates as to where the Germans had got to in Holland and Belgium with their blitzkrieg and telling us “History is actually being made while you are sitting here in class!” We were not too impressed at the time and we were thinking how unfair it was of the Germans not to attack the much-vaunted Maginot Line, which was reputed to be impregnable, and instead to outflank it by entering the neutral Low Countries, the accelerating their progress to the Channel coast.

Then came the fall of France and Dunkirk in May 1940, thus bringing the Luftwaffe within easy reach of Eastbourne and the commencement of “hit and run” bombing raids. The threat of invasion was also building up and I remember that our form was detailed to go to the Corporation Works in Bedfordwell Road, by Whitley Bridge, to help fill sandbags to protect the Town Hall and other civic buildings. I am afraid to say that we soon got tired of filling sandbags and that there was a regrettable amount of horseplay and general messing about. Needless to say, we were – quite rightly – reported and received a “wigging”. As a punishment we had to spend another afternoon filling sandbags. This time it was at the back of the Town Hall in what is now the car park, where we were in full view of authority! We worked with a will this time and were suitably praised and forgiven our previous misdemeanours. I can still feel the blister now!

The threat of invasion became so great that Eastbourne moved from being a Neutral Area to an Evacuation Area. Fortunately, the School did not leave Eastbourne until the 1940 School Cert had finished in July 1940. I remember sitting my last subject at Eversley Court on the Friday afternoon and the School left by train for Hitchin on the following day. I always say that I did not leave school – rather, school left me! Within a fortnight I had joined a bank in Terminus Road, where I stayed for two years until joining the Fleet Air Arm. Those two years were very exciting, being bombed and machine -gunned along Terminus Road at irregular intervals – but that’s another story!

Roy Heady (EGS 1937-1940) – War-time memories

Eastbourne was not a munitions centre but, up until May 1940, a holiday resort doing business in a way not enjoyed before – and perhaps since. On leaving EGS, I ended up in a bank in Bexhill before being transferred to the Seaside branch. From here we had a marvellous view of the Battle of Britain and were on the receiving end of mostly Heinkel 111s’ cargoes of high explosives.

An announcement that the RAF was awarding short course scholarships to universities seemed to match my ideas and, in consequence, I found myself in October 1941 at University College, Durham, an association that was maintained post-war when I graduated in 1949. In 1941 big events were brewing in Cambridge where “Tube Alloys” was in the process of moving lock, stock and barrel to Montreal. “Tube Alloys”? The code name given to work associated with the development of the atom bomb. Elsley, an EGS form-mate (there were two – dissimilar – twins) was in the laboratory at Cambridge and went to Montreal where he met Gordon Dunning on a pilot’s course for the Fleet Air Arm at London, Ontario. I, having been slaving away with the US Navy learning to fly Catalinas in the Gulf of Mexico (pleasant surroundings, at least, if you have difficult things to do) met up with Dunning in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. A remote place for an Old Grammarians reunion, PEI had little to recommend it, and it was almost a pleasure to return to Moncton, New Brunswick, to find the snows of winter settling in. A return to the UK from Halifax, Nova Scotia, was marked by a storm in the Atlantic that made the 6-7000 troops aboard the “independently routed” – i.e. unescorted – Mauretania wondering if everything was going to be “alright on the night”. Marching round the heaving docks for exercise, who did I bump into? Gordon Dunning, of course! I was best man at his wedding in 1944 before he went to the Far East and started aggressive operations in Malaysia against the Japanese.

School History in the 1940s

The Headmaster noted that the move to Hitchin had proved “far more successful than we ever dared hope”.  High standards of work, sport and manners had been maintained and EGS was fortunate to share such a fine building and playing fields.

A Technical curriculum was started in 1941; and the Head was again moved to warn against boys leaving school before completing their Schools Certificate and Higher Schools Certificate courses despite the difficult times. When the time at Hitchin came to an end deep gratitude to the foster parents was expressed and the great loyalty of EGS staff, pupils and parents over a challenging time was recognised.

Until the School’s return to Eastbourne in 1943 it was able to carry on its work comparatively undisturbed and free from anxiety; unfortunately the return proved somewhat premature since ‘tip and run’ raids by enemy aircraft were a disturbing  feature of the first few months back in Eastbourne and cost the lives of one pupil and a most efficient and beloved School Secretary.

The number of boys who returned to Eastbourne in 1943 was 156; some parents decided that their sons should remain in Hertfordshire and thus 35 boys stayed at Hitchin GS. The total on the School’s roll was 187 as some evacuee pupils were still in the town and a strong growth in numbers was seen in 1944.

By the end of the war, 68 Old Grammarians had lost their lives serving in the armed forces. Their names and those of the pupil and secretary killed in Eastbourne by enemy action are recorded on the plaque on the Memorial Flagstaff and read out at the Association’s annual Service of Remembrance. The EGS Magazine in 1946 included a list of honours awarded to Old Grammarians during their war service.

The Headmaster, Mr C J Blackburn, retired in 1945 after 33 years in post. His two successors proved to have short tenures of three years apiece; perhaps he was a difficult act to follow. Other notable events during 1945 were a review of the houses to achieve a better balance in numbers by area of residence; the establishment of senior and junior boxing clubs; the removal of the air raid shelters at Eversley Court; and the introduction of a ‘School Voluntary Fund’ at 2/6d per pupil per term to provide extra amenities, with a committee to oversee spending.

1946 saw six teachers return to the staff from war service while a three-week school camp took place at Heathfield during the summer holiday with the Headmaster and Mrs Cloke leading 30 senior boys who provided unskilled help to local farmers. An average of 280 school dinners were served each day during the 1946/47 school year.

Highlights of school life in 1947 included a trip to Holland by a joint group of 56 from the Grammar and High schools; the continuance of the School Drama Festival and the resumption of the School Music Festival; and numbers in the Cadet Force reaching 121. 1948 saw a geography visit to Mount Caburn (still on the agenda in 1959!); a House music competition; founding of the Philatelic Society; football pitches restored at Hampden Park having been ploughed up during the war); and the retirement of Mr Stacey after 35 years on the teaching staff.

The decade ended with jubilee celebrations to mark the founding of the School in 1899 over two days in the summer term. Events on day one included an open day at the School, an arts & crafts exhibition in the gym, a Philatelic Society exhibition in the library, Cadet Force arms drill, PT team display, performance of two French plays, a concert by the School Orchestra, refreshments on the Eversley Court lawn and an Old Boys Reunion Dance at the Pier Pavilion.  Day two saw a service at St Mary’s Church and a Past v Present cricket match at The Saffrons. Other matters highlighted in the 1949 EGS Magazine were planning for the replacement of School Certificate by GCE from 1951; the House music competition; a trip to France; the Geographical Association, the Debating Society and the Boxing Club all thriving; and 35 new recruits to the Cadet Force.