During World War Two, dozens of Varndean boys were evacuated to Skipton, where they were generously cared for by the staff and families of Ermysted's Grammar School.
Now, in conjunction with Ermysted's Old Boys' Society, we are trying to create a list of the boys and masters who went to Yorkshire, and to record their memories.
The List
According to the 1944 edition of The Dolphin (the first one published after 1939), 120 boys were evacuated to Skipton in March 1941, returning to Brighton in July 1943 - though some are believed to have stayed on in Yorkshire.
So far we have gathered only 28 names - who were the others?! If you can add further names to this list, please send them to me (dates shown are start/end dates at Varndean)
The Boys
** These boys stayed on at Ermysted's after the rest returned to Brighton in 1943
The Teachers
Surprising in their omission are a number of chaps evacuated to the village of Crosshills, excluding Fred Gillam and myself who have already been counted.
Back row, left to right: William Weatherhead (1941-46), Peter Andrews (1941-46), Dennis Heft ( my cousin ), who if I remember correctly was certainly a prefect, and I think Head Boy, Fred Gillam (1941-46)
Front row left to right: Derek Hillman (1941-46), Alfred ( Alfie) Chalmers (1941-46), Derek Barontini (1941-46)
Fred Gillam and myself were two of the boys who stayed on and joined Ermysteds.
Both of us made the Junior Colts at Rugby, but failed in our attempts to
introduce the game on our return from Yorkshire. The official reason for
turning Rugby down was that the pitches at Varndean had too many flints
that could have led to injuries!!
Also in Crosshills was Brian James, and another lad who I think was Ian
Mackenzie, or something like that.
Copyright © Old Varndeanian Association
Updated 3 May 2010