I was at Aldenham from Summer 1935 to Summer 1938. I was a dayboy living in Bushey. I was one of only about a dozen. No allowances were made for our problems and we were made to feel very much second-class citizens, particularly by George Riding, who threatened to expel me when my parents stopped me from cycling to evensong one Sunday in a snow storm when I had just recovered from flu. Since we went home after classes we had no part in the life of the School after classes. We had to attend Chapel twice on Sundays.
It was difficult to make friends with boarders. I made only one boarder friend. The only free time we could spend together was on Sunday afternoons. There was no provision for day boys to have any meals at School except weekday lunch, so on a Sunday I had to go home to lunch after Matins and come back for the afternoon, go home for tea and back again for evensong. In the Summer of 1937 I went to stay with my boarder friend. Of course we still addressed one another by our surnames. I met his brother, who was by then an OA. He had joined Oswald Moseley’s Blackshirts and I remember him showing us a knuckle duster which he was taking to an East End Rally. When war came he joined the RNVR and was later lost in a miniature submarine attack.
French was a particular trial. I was quite good in exams and often found myself in the top stream under Fred English. He had a system of asking questions around the class, the first person who answered correctly moving desks up to the starting point. I was not good at this and sank miserably down the line until I reached the bottom, where I sat trembling but undisturbed. Once, when returning prep, Fred stopped by one boy, cuffing his head and pointing out his mistakes. The unfortunate victim at last managed to say “please Sir, this isn’t mine”. Fred grunted and moved on. When he came back with the correct paper he put it down and said “I think we’re quits”.
In the 4th Form someone put carbide in C A Stout’s inkwell. When he arrived and smelt the stink he simply gave us some work and went and sat outside for the rest of the lesson.
My general impression of Aldenham was that unless you were a star pupil, destined for an exhibition or other distinction, no one had much time for you. What talents one had were never brought on.
Sgt Major Buckingham was a great character. Once at Camp, after drilling a parade he stepped back to admire the results and fell into a wet ditch!
In 1937 the 5th Form went to the Old Vic to see Hamlet in preparation for the School Certificate Exam. We were more fortunate than we knew at the time since this was the young Olivier’s great interpretation of the Prince of Denmark.
We sometimes had plays performed by visiting companies. A particularly successful event was Midsummer Night’s Dream which was performed in the HM’s garden, the stage being the raised terrace in the angle of the tower, with the audience sitting on the lawn. Very effective.
In the 4th Form I took French and German, dropping Latin. In the 5th Form I was taken off German, for which I had an affinity and put back on to Latin with the result that I did it so badly that I was unable to take it in School Certificate. In the 6th Form I took Spanish for a year and quite enjoyed it. At this stage my interest in History began to develop.
In one’s last term one was interviewed by the Careers Master, Woolley Green. He asked me what my plans were and I said that I was to go into my father’s business. Instead of asking what this was he simply said. “That’s fine, Good afternoon”, so I never had a chance of discussing alternatives.
All this seems very negative but looking back I can say that what Aldenham did do for me was to give me a framework from which I have been able to build on my interest in history, languages, science and maths. All this has arrived later in life, so that I have been a dilettante rather than a serious student in any of these subjects.
I must correct one misleading thing which I saw in the exhibition of ephemera etc, at the Quatercentenary Open Day. A dummy of a 1930’s usher was shown standing at his desk in cap and gown, with a cane in his hand. Canes were not used in class by this time. Incidentally, I very much enjoyed the visit, my first in many years and was pleasantly surprised by the friendly and relaxed spirit of everyone there.
Finally, I must say that I have had a varied, fairly successful and enjoyable life. It would have been nice if Aldenham had fostered my modest talents rather than leaving me to find them for myself, so that I could have enjoyed them earlier.
Good luck with your project and thank you for asking me to contribute.