Lord Robert Baden-Powell
"The Founder of Scouting"
Baden–Powell (1857-1941) was a British soldier and founder of the Boy Scouts.
He was born in London in 1857. He wrote many books on the Boy Scout movement, including
What Scouts Can Do (1921) and Scouting and Youth Movement (1929).
Coming Home from War
Baden–Powell came home to England as the best known hero of the Boer War. He decided
to use his fame to help British boys become better men. He based his ideas for a boy's
organization on his own experiences as a youngster in England and as a soldier in India
and Africa.
The First Summer Camp
In the summer of 1907, Baden–Powell held the first camp. It was on the English
Island of Brownsea. It consisted of twenty-two boys, sons of his friends in the army,
which formed four patrols. They were the Wolves, Bulls, Curlews, and Ravens. They did
events like 'Whaling' (a submerged log out in the water was the target of their harpoon),
tug-of-war, and making a mattress from bracken (a type of fern). Every morning at six
o'clock Baden-Powell blew a koodoo horn (an African antelope). He got it while he was
in the army in Africa. The campers washed, had a milky drink and a session of physical
exercises. Then there was a short ceremony for flag-break and prayers before breakfast.
For the rest of the day there were training games, games for fun, and all sorts of
other activities and competitions.
Each night one patrol was sent out of the main camp. "They drew rations of
flour, potatoes, meat, and tea, and went out to some indicated spot to bivouac for the
night," Baden–Powell wrote later. "Each boy carried his greatcoat and
blankets, cooking pots and matches." These over night camps were one of the real
highlights of that adventure. Arthur Primmer, one of the boys that was there,
said, "The adventure was heightened as we knew that Baden–Powell would try to
track us down and raid our little camp during the night which, of course, he succeeded
in doing."
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