By William Hillcourt
Lord Baden-Powell of Gilwell 1857 - 1941
Founder of the Boy Scout Movement
Chief Scout of the World
(As found in the Brotherhood Edition of Scouting for Boys)
If you want to understand Scouting completely, you must know something about
the man who founded the Boy Scout Movement - Lord Baden-Powell of Gilwell, Chief
Scout of the World, affectionately known to all Scouts as "B-P".
Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell was born in London, England on February
22nd, 1857. His father was the Reverend H.G. Baden-Powell, Professor at Oxford
University. His mother was the daughter of the British Admiral W.T. Smyth, his
great-grandfather had gone to America as a colonist in New Jersey, but had
returned to England and was shipwrecked on his way home. Baden-Powell was thus
the descendant of a minister on one side, and an adventurous colonist of the New
World on the other.
B-P as a Boy -
His father died when Robert was about three years old, leaving his mother
with seven children under fourteen years of age. There were often hard times for
the large family, but the mutual love of the mother for her children and of the
children for their mother, always carried them through. Robert lived a glorious
outdoor life with his four brothers, hiking and camping with them in many parts
of England.
In 1870, B-P entered Charterhouse School in London on a scholarship. He was
not an especially outstanding scholar - but he was one of the liveliest. He was
always in the thick of it when something was going on in the schoolyard, and
soon became known for his ability as a goalkeeper on the Charterhouse soccer
team. His dramatic abilities were highly appreciated by his fellow students.
Whenever called upon, he would put on a performance that would have the whole
school in stitches.
He was also musically inclined, and his gift for sketching later made it
possible for him to illustrate his own writing.
B-P in India -
At 19, B-P graduated from Charterhouse and immediately accepted a chance to
go to India as a Sub-Lieutenant, to join the regiment, which formed the right of
the cavalry line in the famous "Charge of the Light Brigade" in the
Crimean War, the 13th Hussars.
Besides performing excellent military service - he was a Captain at the age
of 26 - he won the most desired sports trophy in all of India - that for
"pig-sticking", wild boar hunting on horse back with a short lance as
the only weapon. You will realize how dangerous this sport is when you know that
the wild boar is often spoken as "the only animal that dares to drink at
the same water hole as the tiger."
Fighting in Africa -
In 1887 we find B-P in Africa, taking part in the campaigns against the
Zulus, and later against the fierce warrior tribes of Ashanti and the Matabele.
The natives feared him so much that they gave him the name of "Impeesa",
the "wolf that never sleeps", because of his amazing tracking
abilities.
B-P's advancement in rank was almost automatic, so regularly did it occur -
until suddenly he stepped into fame.
It was the year 1899, and B-P had risen to Colonel. Trouble was brewing in
South Africa. The relations between the British and the government of the
Transvall Republic had reached a breaking point. B-P was directed to raise two
battalions of mounted rifles and proceed to Mafeking, a town in the heart of
South Africa. He "who holds Mafeking, holds the reins of South Africa"
was the saying among the natives, which proved to be true.
The Siege of Mafeking-
War came, and for 217 days - from October 13th 1899 to May 1900. B-P held
Mafejing in a siege against overwhelming numbers of about 5,000 Boers (an army
of South African farmers of Dutch origin), until relief
forces finally fought their way to his help.
Great Britain had been holding its breath through these seven long months.
When finally the news came: "Mafeking has been relieved", it went mad
with joy. B-P now raised to the rank of Lieutenant General, found himself a hero
in the eyes of his countrymen.
Scouting is Born -
It was as a hero of men and boys that he returned to England from South
Africa in 1901, to be showered with honours and to discover, to his amazement,
that his personal popularity had given popularity to his book for training the
military - Aids to Scouting. It was being used as a textbook in boy's schools.
B-P saw a great challenge in this. He realized that here was his opportunity
to help the boys of his country to grow into strong manhood.
If a book for men on scouting practices could appeal to boys and inspire
them, how much more would a book written for the boys themselves! He set to work
adapting his experiences in India, and in Africa among the Zulus and other
warlike tribes. He gathered a special library of books and read of the training
of boys through the ages - from the Spartan boys, the ancient British, the first
nations of North America, to our own day.
Slowly and carefully B-P developed the Scouting idea. He wanted to be sure it
would work, so in the summer of 1907 he took a group of twenty- one boys with
him to Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour for the first Boy Scout camp the world
had ever seen. The camp was a great success.
"Scouting for Boys" -
And then, in the early months of 1908, he brought out in six fortnightly
parts (every 2 weeks) illustrated by himself, his handbook for training ,
Scouting for Boys - without dreaming these newspaper articles would set in
motion a Movement which was to affect the boyhood of the entire world.
Scouting for Boys had hardly started to appear on London Newsstands before
Scout Patrols began to spring up, until within one year it was estimated there
were over 100,000 boys practicing Scouting throughout England and before long,
in numerous other countries as well.
B-P's Second Life -
The Movement grew and grew and had in 1910 reached such proportions that B-P
realized that Scouting was to be his life job. He had the vision and the faith
to recognize that he could do more for his country by training the rising
generation to be good citizens than by training a few men for possible future
fighting.
And so at the request of King Edward VII, he resigned from the army where he
had become a Major General and embarked upon his "second life" as he
called it - his life of service to the world through Scouting. He reaped his
reward in the growth of the Scout Movement and in the love and respect of boys
around the globe.
World Brotherhood -
In 1912 he set out on a trip around the world to meet Scouts in many
countries. This was the earliest beginning of Scouting as a World Brotherhood.
World War 1 came and interrupted this work for a while, but with the end of
hostilities it was resumed, and in 1920, Scouts from all parts of the world met
in London for the first international Scout gathering - the First World
Jamboree.
On the last night of the Jamboree, on August 6th, the cheering boys
proclaimed B-P "Chief Scout of the World". The Scout Movement
continued to grow. The day it reached its twenty-first birthday and thus became
"of age", it had mounted to more than two million members in
practically all civilized countries of the earth. On that occasion, B-P was
honoured by his King, George V, by being made a Baron under the name of Lord
Baden-Powell of Gilwell…….yet, to every Scout he will always remain:
"B-P", Chief Scout of the World.
The original World Jamboree was followed by others - in 1924 in Denmark, 1929
in England, 1933 in Hungary, 1937 in Holland. At each of these Jamborees, B-P
was the main figure, greeted tumultuously by "his" boys wherever he
went. But the Jamborees were only part of the effort for a World Brotherhood of
Scouting. B-P travelled extensively in the interest of Scouting, he kept up a
correspondence with Scout Leaders in numerous countries and continued to write
on Scouting subjects, illustrating his articles and books with his own sketches.
B-P's Last Years -
When finally, after reaching the age of eighty, his strength began to wane,
he returned to his beloved Africa with his wife, Lady Olav Baden-Powell, who had
been his enthusiastic helper in all his efforts and who herself was the Chief of
the World's Girl Guides - a movement also started by B-P.
They settled in Kenya, in a peaceful spot, with a glorious view across miles
of forest toward the snow-covered mountain peaks. There B-P died on January 8th
1941 - a little more than a month before his eighty-fourth birthday.
