Mombasa European Primary School

My mother, in her "Life', records my joining the Mombasa European Primary School in 1950 as follows: "Jonathan started school as soon as we got to Mombasa, but the first day he came home in tears. Dad had told Miss Foat, the headmistress, that Jonathan was six and he had been put in with six year olds, and he was only five. I went to the school with him the next day and sorted things out.

"Richard and I used to walk up around 12 noon every day to the school pulling red wooden fire engines on string, Richard with his and I pulling Jonathan’s." The school was only a short distance from the house, along Cliff Avenue, and, from what my mother wrote, the school, certainly for five-year olds, closed at midday.

This picture shows me in MEPS uniform which consisted of a tie in white, black and yellow. We also had a piece of coloured ribbon sewn along the top of our breast pocket to show which house we belonged to. If my memory serves me, the houses were named after early explorers - Livingstone, Speke*. I can't remember which one I belonged to but my ribbon was red. On our feet we wore takkies - plimsolls - and an important item was a stretchy belt which was done up with an S-shaped metal snake.

My mother wrote that, "Jonathan had a good grounding at the school...." but my recollection is that I kept my head down in class and did as little work as possible. My mother used to call me a "dreamer".

Nor did I shine at sports, which is probably why the only athletic photo of me is in the obstacle race, when I recall vividly that I could not, just could not get a bite from that bloody bun. I may not have been any good at sports but that did not prevent me from joining in the football game which was played during morning break, when it seemed that all the boys ran onto the school pitch and chased a single soccer ball across its hard, dry, dusty surface.

There are only five photos in the family albums which relate to my brother and my times at the school. I presume that either Richard or I are somewhere in this picture of the school choir: I have no memory of singing in the choir.

I do, however, have vivid memories of the vital role I played in this play which I think was based on the story of Hiawatha. My friend from next door, Hamish Bain, suitably bearded, is at left, in the role of the white man, while Carol Miller, right, was Hiawatha. At one point, in order to impress the natives, Hamish had to raise his flintlock and shoot a bird out of the air. I provided the 'bang' as I had a clever little cardboard bang-making machine which had come free with the Topper, the comic which came out from England each week - Richard had the Beano.

At the prizegiving ceremony at the end of 1953 I received a prize for making good progress in my lessons.

One other memory of the school is that, each morning, we all paraded in front of the long veranda that ran along the outside of the classrooms for the raising of the union jack. It was quite a privilege to do the raising, and one day towards the end of 1953 I was given the honour. At the time I didn't understand why but shortly afterwards I was told by my parents that I was leaving the school.

*Tony Chetham has kindly corrected me: there were three houses, instituted in 1953, Mackinnon (red), Wavell (green) and Livingstone (blue).