With German forces poised to invade Guernsey in 1940, the pupils of Elizabeth College and other island children were hurriedly sent into exile. Under the calm and determined leadership of their Principal, Henry Milnes, the College's pupils and staff found refuge in Derbyshire, where uniquely and against the odds they succeeded in retaining their independent identity as a school and rebuilt their community in a world far removed from the island they loved. For five long years, with virtually no contact from home, they studied, played, and grew up in wartime England-sustained by shared purpose, tradition and hope. Drawing on letters, diaries, and school records, Torn Apart by War tells the remarkable true story of how an island school survived separation and war, and how its pupils and teachers carried the spirit of Guernsey and Elizabeth College with them until they could finally return after the Channel Islands' Liberation in 1945.