I was too young to know anything about the General Strike and barely old enough to grasp the extent of the Depression. I was fortunate that my father had a steady and secure job, although I realised later that my parents had to be very careful with money. I imagine this applied to the majority of parents with boys at Aldenham.
I am surprised that you assume that the rise of fascism was a topic of conversation at Aldenham. I do not recall that domestic or international politics aroused much, if any, interest – at any rate until September 1939. We talked about School and House matters, the foibles of masters and boys, popular music, books (to some extent), films, (especially in my case), and girls, particulary the latter. I remember reading an excellent book, “The House that Hitler built” which convinced me that war with Germany was inevitable, and that’s about as far as my interest in international matters went. There was one boy who professed to be a fascist, but he was looked on as very odd, and no one took any notice of his political views as far as I recall. Indeed I rather think he was unable to explain them coherently.
You mention a visit to the School in 1938 by members of the Hitler Youth. Are you quite sure that such and event took place? A visit by a group of foreign boys (never mind the Nazi origin) would have been a memorable event and I am most surprised that I do not have any recollection of it at all. I would be very interested to be given chapter and verse of this visit.