As this year unfolds, we find ourselves reflecting on significant milestones that shaped the world we know today.

We mark the 80th anniversaries of both VE Day on May 8 and VJ Day on August 15, the latter finally drawing the curtain on the devastating Second World War in 1945. 

These commemorations follow closely on the heels of last year's poignant remembrances, which honoured the 80th anniversaries of pivotal wartime events such as the D-Day landings on June 6 and the commencement of the fierce Battle of Arnhem on September 17.

Alongside these national and international reflections, this month also holds a particularly resonant anniversary for generations connected to a venerable Southampton educational institution. 

Eighty years have passed since the end of a unique chapter for the wartime pupils of Southampton’s Taunton's School – an establishment boasting more than two centuries of history before its transformation into a sixth form college in the 1960s.

In the uncertain days of September 1939, with the ominous shadow of war looming, Taunton's School found itself part of a massive national undertaking. 

Like many schools in cities deemed vulnerable to enemy aerial attack, it participated in the government's evacuation scheme. 

Southampton, a strategic port city, was undoubtedly in the potential 'front line' for the Luftwaffe's bombers and fighters. 

Consequently, of the 760 boys registered at Taunton's School in Highfield (a site now integrated into the University of Southampton), a staggering number – more than 600 – prepared for an unprecedented relocation.

Their destination was Bournemouth, a coastal town whose residents generously opened their homes and hearts. 

These citizens stepped forward, not just providing billets, but acting as foster parents to the influx of young 'guests'. 

The logistics were considerable. 

On Saturday, September 2, 1939, after assembling at their school in the pre-dawn hours as early as 6:30 am, the boys and their accompanying staff members were transported in two large groups from Southampton Central Station. 

Trains departed at 10:30 am and 12:30 pm, carrying the young Tauntonians towards an unknown period away from home.

Just a day later, on Sunday, September 3, as these Southampton evacuees were tentatively settling into their new surroundings and getting acquainted with their temporary guardians, the nation gathered around their radios. 

Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's solemn voice delivered the historic words: "...and that, consequently, this country is at war with Germany." 

Among the many listening intently, absorbing the gravity of the moment alongside his newly acquired 'parents', was a fourth-form pupil named Alfred Hill. 

Destiny had a different path for him. In later life, the world would come to know him as the beloved comedian Benny Hill, who now rests in Southampton's Hollybrook Cemetery following his death in 1992.

Back in Bournemouth, the immediate challenge fell upon the shoulders of two headmasters: Mr J E Parry of Bournemouth School and Mr F J Hemmings of Taunton's. 

Their paramount task was to devise a functional education system for the combined population of more than 1,200 pupils – the local 'host' students and their wartime 'guests'.

Initially, for the first two terms stretching through Christmas 1939 and into the spring of 1940, a somewhat makeshift arrangement was implemented. 

One school occupied the entire building each morning for a week, while the other took over in the afternoons, with Saturdays included in the timetable. 

This routine, candidly acknowledged as providing only "two-thirds education," necessitated rigorous homework assignments to bridge the gap.

However, by May 1940, a more sophisticated and equitable system emerged. An ingenious 'switch' routine was introduced. 

During one week, Bournemouth boys might occupy the classrooms in the mornings for subjects like English, history, geography, and mathematics, while the Taunton's pupils utilised the laboratories and workshops for practical subjects such as chemistry, physics, art, and woodwork. 

In the afternoons, the roles would reverse. The following week, the pattern would flip entirely: Bournemouth pupils would start with practical sessions while Taunton's boys focused on classroom-based learning, swapping over after lunch. 

This intricate choreography was deemed the most beneficial arrangement for both schools and remained the operational standard until the evacuation period concluded in March 1945.

This carefully balanced routine faced an abrupt interruption in early June 1940, merely weeks after its inception. 

In the tumultuous aftermath of the Dunkirk evacuation, the school building was requisitioned for military use. 

On June 2, approximately 800 French soldiers were billeted there, followed shortly after by around 400 British troops who also required temporary accommodation. 

The classrooms fell silent, and regular education for both Bournemouth and Taunton's boys did not resume until June 26.

For the majority of Taunton's scholars who were evacuated in that initial wave of September 1939, their entire grammar school education unfolded within the walls of Bournemouth School. 

Only those who reached the sixth form towards the end of the evacuation would have experienced a year or more back in Southampton after March 1945. 

Subsequent intakes of students, joining Taunton's at the start of each new school year during the war, would have had their education split between the two locations.

When the long-awaited return to Southampton finally occurred in March 1945, eighty years ago, it wasn't quite an immediate homecoming to their familiar Highfield building. 

That site, having been utilised by the government for "military" purposes throughout the war, required time to be prepared. 

Thus, for the summer term of 1945, Taunton's staff and boys found temporary accommodation at Shirley's Foundry Lane School. 

It wasn't until September 1945 that the masters and pupils could finally reoccupy their rightful Highfield home, bringing a significant chapter of disruption and adaptation to a close.

Even after the war ended, the unique bond forged between the two schools persisted. 

For several years, a tangible link was maintained through an annual athletics competition for the Hemmings Cup. 

This trophy was presented by the Taunton's headmaster, Mr Hemmings, and was first competed for in July 1944, during the final summer the evacuees spent in Bournemouth.

Decades later, it wasn't the athletics field but the pull of memory lane that drew six wartime Tauntonians back to Bournemouth School in late August 1991. 

This poignant "Memory Lane mission" marked 50 years since they had commenced their education under those extraordinary circumstances.

Facilitated by the cooperation of the then Bournemouth School headmaster, Allan Petrie, the visit took place during the quiet school holidays. 

It was a profoundly nostalgic experience for the six veterans as they wandered through the vacant classrooms, laboratories, the old gymnasium, and the assembly hall – spaces where the entire school had gathered each morning during those distant days of the 1940s.

Memories flooded back as they walked through the nearby woods down to the expansive playing fields, recalling house matches in football, hockey and the annual athletics competitions.

This evocative visit proved significant. It sparked the idea among the group that a permanent marker commemorating Taunton's evacuation years would be a fitting tribute. 

Receiving no objection from Mr Petrie or the Bournemouth School governors, the plan moved forward. 

A year later, on Friday, September 25, 1992, an official unveiling ceremony took place. In a touching gesture, the unveiling was shared by a wartime Bournemouth School pupil and an Old Tauntonian who had been an evacuee. 

A brass plaque, mounted on a wall in the vestibule outside the assembly hall, now stands as a permanent acknowledgement of Bournemouth School's hospitality. 

Part of its inscription thoughtfully reads: "Old Tauntonians of that period are privileged to refer to this building as their old school."

That same evening cemented the renewed connection, as the Old Tauntonians were warmly invited to attend the annual dinner hosted by the Old Bournemouthians Association, whose own membership includes many who shared those wartime school days.

Through evacuation, shared facilities, wartime challenges, and eventual transformation, the story of Taunton's School and its connection with Bournemouth School remains a powerful testament to resilience, adaptation, and the enduring power of community and shared history.