Primary School Geography - 1940 - Tony Cunnane's Afterthoughts

Written on 22 March 2009

I was watching an excellent mini-documentary about Japan by Fergal Keane on BBC TV last night (21 March 2009) mainly because it was advertised that it would include footage of the Shinkansen, the ‘Bullet’ high speed train, taken from the driver's cab whilst travelling at speed. It did and fascinating that was, but even more memorable for me was some footage of Japanese fishermen near Kyoto catching fish with the aid of cormorants. The birds have rings around their necks to prevent them swallowing the fish they have just caught in their beaks.

This was memorable for me because when I was at primary school in the 1940s we learned quite a lot about Japan. I can’t remember why, unless it was something to do with the on-going war, but we certainly learned about the ringed cormorants and yesterday has to be the first time since 1944 that I’ve heard of the practice. At the same time as we learned about Japan, and from the same lady teacher, Miss Thompson, we learned about China, the Yellow River and the mighty Yangtse Kiang. I vaguely remember stories about a small Chinese boy who lived on a houseboat with his parents and the adventures they had when the river flooded. This interest in China was probably because my primary school was a Church school and religious instruction featured every single day. Perhaps the school’s interest in China was more to do with missionary work than the war?

Certainly missionary work was the prime reason for Miss Thompson teaching us about Africa and in particular the ‘Belgian’ Congo and its mighty river, the pygmies (as they were called then), and the exploits of David Livingstone. She told us about the Victoria Falls discovered by Dr Livingstone in 1855. I remember clearly one story ‘Miss’ told us about Livingstone. Apparently his party was making slow progress one day through the jungle in an area where hostile African natives were known to live and hunt - animals and 'white men'. Dr Livingstone sent of one of his bearers on ahead to recce a small village in a clearing to see if it was safe for strangers to approach. After a few minutes the bearer came running back shouting and waving his hands above his  head, much to Livingstone’s alarm. The bearer reported that there were no people around but he had found a Christian Bible in one of the huts. "If they read the Bible then we are perfectly safe," said Livingstone, and so they were. Such faith!

I feel really privileged to have been able to visit all those countries and many others, with the exception of Japan, at the RAF’s expense.