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| Sir Robert Stephenson Smith Baden - Powell Fondator of the Movement of Scouting |
| On the 22nd of February 1857, Baden Powell was born as the twelfth of fourteen children to an Anglican pastor. His father died when the boy was only 3 years old. Being raised by his mother, he developed very early a feeling for chivalry (gallantry) and responsibility. During his time in boarding school he became very interested in nature, sometimes he would walk alone or with friends in a neglected park of the neighbourhood, and observed the animals that were living there. With an average end diploma, B.P. left the Charterhouse College. He passed with a high degree his entry examination to the British Army. With these results he had the right to chose the arms he wanted to join, and decided with enthusiasm to join the cavalry. He was sent to India, to Afghanistan and then to Malta. In 1897, having been promoted to Captain, he was sent to South Africa, with the order to conduct a reprisal expedition against Pempreh, the Chief of the Ashanti. Pempreh was a cruel chief in the virgin forest, who not only revolted against the British occupation, but also was selling his own people as slaves, or used them in rituals as human sacrifices. There on the track of the fugitive Pempreh, Baden Powell learned from friendly natives the for him still unknown methods of hunting, of following and reading tracks, of orientation, and other ways of surviving in this primeval world . All his own experiences made him an expert in jungle survival. Soon he became more knowledgeable than his native teachers, who gave him the honourable name of "Impeesa" (The wolf that never sleeps) while day after day he was on the tracks of the blood thirsty chief. At night, sitting next to the campfire, he wrote his book " Aids for Scouting " where he concisely and convincingly included all the secrets he had learned in India and in Africa as a wilderness runner. When in 1897 his manuscript was ready, he finally took the Ashanti-Chief prisoner, but he did not have him executed, for Baden Powell bloodshed was an abomination. The Chief went into exile and became a friend and an admirer of the man who conquered him. In 1899 it came to a war between the British and the Boers (descendants of the Dutch, North Germans and Huguenots who settled in South Africa). In the mean time Baden Powell had been promoted as Commander, and was immediately send to Mafeking - a small city on the front line - There he would have to train British soldiers in the art of jungle fighting. On the 11th of October, the city was surrounded by 9.000 men of the Boers under the orders of General Cronje, with the order of taking B.P. prisoner. But B.P. succeeded to defend the city, where there were only 700 soldiers and 300 civilians. His defence was not with violence, but with strategy, until finally in May 1900, a reserve commando of British cavalry came to liberate them. He misled the Boers in thinking that he had a much larger number of defendants of the city, with more guns and ammunition, by having straw soldiers with wooden guns put up on the crenels of the walls. He had imitation canons built from empty tin cans. The regular troops changed positions rapidly. The young civilians were set up as first aid men, as dispatchers or as watch. By this, Baden Powell was amazed to realize that these young men were capable of taking responsibilities, could endure danger, and resist exhaustion, when one would give them complete trust and let them have free hand for independent and improvised decisions. When Baden Powell came back to England in 1901, he was promoted to General, was awarded many decorations and became the new idol of the British youth. In 1907, he asked for early retirement to be able to dedicate his life to work with the youth. He created the Boy-Scout, and organized the first camp with 22 boys from different social levels on "Brownsea Island". The troupe of youngsters was divided in different patrols. "This division in smaller groups, was the secret of our success" declared Baden Powell. " The patrol was a unit for training, work and play". B.P. wrote his first book about scouting in 1908, with the title " Scouting for Boys". In the following years he wrote other books such as "My adventures as a Spy", "Adventures and Accidents", and " Lessons of a Lifetime". In 1912, Baden Powell married Olave St Claire, (born 1890). The couple later had three children. In 1916, Olave organized the British "Girl-Guides", an organization of the feminine scouts. In 1919, a Scottish Country Squire offered the scouts the "Gilwell-Park", near London, as a as a training centre for scoutmasters. The year 1920 was a great year for Baden Powell. On the London Olympiad Centre, 8.000 scouts from 27 different countries were assembled for the first international "Jamboree". On this occasion, Baden Powell was declared the first and only " Chief Scout of the World " . In 1929, the King of England declared that B.P. was elevated to Nobility, and the name of the park "Gilwell" was added to his name. In 1931 Baden Powell's wife Olave was declared "Leader of the World Girl-Guides." In 1937, Baden Powell appeared for the last time officially at the Jamboree in Holland. There he said good by to the scouts, and charged them to continue his work with the younger generations. The last three years of his life, B.P, lived privately in his house in Nayevi, Kenya. From there also at the end of 1940, he wrote his farewell letter to the continuously growing number of Boy-scout organizations in the world. Baden Powell died on the 8 of January 1941. On his Tombstone is a circle with a dot in the middle. It is one of the international road signs, only known by the scouts, through which a member of the organization can transmit his secret information above all language barriers. This information from Baden Powell means : " I have done my mandate, and I went home." The goal from B.P. is : - Reinforce the character of the youth.- Make good citizens of the youth. - Cover with a uniform the difference in socialdiversity. - Promote the health of the youth through sport, country and nature games His methods were : - Small groups.- Leading by a minimum of adults. - Learning by doing " - Programs adapted to ages: Tenderfoot, Scouts, Eagle. - System of requirements - Merit Badges - Rules for the Scouts - Scouts promises as confirmation. |
| B.P.'s last Letter |
