I was at Aldenham from January 1929 to Easter 1931, when the money for fees ran out! Before I went to Aldenham I remember the General Strike. My father was running a Private School in Scotland near Stirling. The country mansion the School was situated in belonged to a local company. I remember reading the newspaper produced by Winston Churchill called the Independent. In spite of being surrounded by miners we had little trouble. I remember the Flying Scotsman being derailed blocking the North South line.
We saw newsreels of undergraduates driving buses and trams in the cities.
At Aldenham I remember the crash of the R101 and taking a photograph of the R100 and the Hindenburgh. I was in the OTC and we never thought there would be another war. I was not a very good Cadet! We were dressed like WW1 soldiers. How those puttees itched! We had 303 Lee Enfield rifles.
I celebrated my 21st birthday in August 1935. A representative of the German branch of our family attended. He was a Hitler Youth, a most arrogant young man. His father was a Lutheran Pastor in Dusseldorf, who was being persecuted by the Nazis, as the Lutheran Church offended the Nazis!
In 1932 we moved to North London and I remember the Fascists and Communist clashes in the East End. Unfortunately Edward VIII was a strong supporter of the Fascists. He was booked to be King of England if Hitler won! I remember Churchill reminding his Government that Germany was secretly rearming and Baldwin saying why worry the bomber will always get through!!
In August 1939 I remember seeing the Grand Fleet of WW1 Battleships on its way to Scapa Flow. I know few of us believed Chamberlain, when he said there would be peace in our time! We all rushed to prepare for the coming war. The period 1933 – 1939 was a very anxious time. We heard about the persecution of the Jews in Germany and the Concentration Camps. I served for a time in the RNVR but had to give up as I was studying for a History Honours Degree at London University. I passed my intermediate but thanks to Hitler I had to wait for 6 years to take my finals.