BETWEEN 1960 AND 1965, I attended The Hall School in London’s Swiss Cottage district. This private preparatory school for boys had uniforms that were pink and black. The blazer was pink with black trimmings and had a black Maltese cross on its chest pocket.

The Maltese cross on our blazers not only looked like the German Iron Cross, but also could be found on planes in Hitler’s Luftwaffe.

I used to travel by bus between Swiss Cottage and Golders Green, which was near our family home. At Golders Green, there were often children from many different schools on their way home. I remember that on at least one occasion, some schoolboys who saw me in my Hall School blazer, shouted, having noticed its Maltese cross:

“Here come the Nazis“.

I had largely forgotten about this until recently when I came across a photograph of me in my blazer, standing in our garden. I am not sure that I was much disturbed by what these boys had shouted, but I knew enough history to realise it was not meant to be friendly.