In 1939, the school remained largely unaffected by the transition from peace to the Phoney War, with many believing the Channel Islands to be the safest place in the British Isles. Precautionary measures were taken nonetheless; air-raid shelters were dug in front of the school's main building, and black-out regulations required some school activities and societies to be curtailed. The air-raid shelter was later converted by German forces into a secure holding area for weapons and ammunition. Following developments in the war in May 1940, all the senior boys were required to join the Local Defence Volunteers and came to school with rifles slung across their shoulders. Many school activities continued uninterrupted at this point, with cricket and swimming continuing in the unusually fine weather. In June however, the extent of the dangers of war began to be realised. French resistance collapsed, after which the island's Army and RAF units left the island. Fearing the imminent occupation of the Channel Islands by German forces, an evacuation scheme was quickly assembled by the school Governors with Jersey and the Home Office, and on the evening of Thursday 20 June the school was evacuated to Great Hucklow, Derbyshire, where it would spend five years 'in exile', during which pupils had little or no contact with their parents.