The Brownsea boys

T

T his month, 110 years ago, twenty boys headed for Brownsea Island for what turned out to be a hugely historic event. The ‘experimental camp’ that took place between 1 and 8 August 1907 effectively launched the worldwide scouting movement, which today boasts 31 million members in 216 countries.

I was privileged to interview one of the pioneer campers, retired carpenter Terry Bonfield, in 1989 when he was 96. He remembered the 1907 camp in remarkable detail and was one of only two survivors from the original twenty boys, many of whom died in World War I.
Terry told me that Robert Baden-Powell, the first Chief Scout, deliberately selected boys from different backgrounds to see how they would mix. Terry was one of seven from Winton Boys’ Brigade in Bournemouth. Three came from Poole Boys’ Brigade, while the other ten were the public school-educated ‘sons of Baden-Powell’s friends’. The Winton boys travelled to Sandbanks on Henry Robson’s grocery lorry from the Triangle and were ferried to Brownsea on the Hyacinth, one of Harvey’s pleasure boats. The other boys sailed from Poole Quay.
‘We didn’t know where we were going or what it was about,’ Terry told me at his home in Winton. ‘It was all very secret because Baden-Powell didn’t know whether it would be a success. His idea was to bring youngsters of different nationalities together so they would learn one another’s customs and ways and then there would be no wars. Unfortunately, it hasn’t gone that far.’
Bedding for the fledgling scouts was a groundsheet, two army blankets and a kit bag that doubled as a pillow. Camp equipment included the flag that had flown over the besieged town of Mafeking, South Africa, in the Second Boer War. Major Baden-Powell was known for his role in commanding those who withstood the 217-day siege.
The Brownsea boys were divided into four patrols – Curlews, Wolves, Ravens and Bulls. In keeping with the class structure of the day, patrol leaders were chosen from the public school boys. Terry and Winton pals Bert Watts, Archie Vivian and Reg Grant were all in Curlew, led by George Rodney, son of Lord Rodney. Terry recalled that they were called ‘tenderfeet’ – a term still used to describe new recruits. ‘We got the bottom part of the scout badge when Baden-Powell made us second-class scouts and the top part when we became first-class scouts,’ he added.
Those who, like me, have slaved over a frying pan on an open fire in a dewy field at stupid o’clock in the morning may be surprised to learn that the pioneer scouts had two cooks to prepare their food; no such luxury was available to the 1st Sturminster Newton Troop in the 1960s.
At 6.30 each morning, Baden-Powell woke the boys by blowing his South African kudu horn. Each evening they gathered around a campfire, listening to the founder’s tales of the Boer War and other adventures. During the day he taught them life-saving, first aid, knot-tying, tracking, observation and other skills. ‘He taught us how to find our way using lichen and the bark on trees, and he used to go out and drop things about and we had to see if we could spot them,’ Terry recalled. ‘For tracking exercises, we wore the steel impression of a deer’s foot on our feet. Twenty minutes later, the other boys set off to follow us.’
Terry described Baden-Powell as a ‘fine man, very friendly. There was nothing military about him and he couldn’t half tell stories.’ Terry always maintained his link with the movement and was the proud holder of the Silver Wolf – the highest scouting award, presented to him for ‘dedication to scouting’.
Also at the Brownsea camp was the future Poole Registrar, Bert Primmer, who, early in 1908, founded the 1st Parkstone Troop. In 1928, scouts from around the world visited Brownsea to celebrate the movement’s twenty-first anniversary. Former member of the 1st Parkstone Troop Bob Field told me how, in the following year, he met Baden-Powell himself when the Chief Scout – who had married at Parkstone in 1912 – became a Freeman of Poole. ‘We were presented to him and his wife in the foyer of the Regent Cinema, Poole, and every one of us was asked about our interests and aims in life. On the same day we were given our shoulder flashes stating we were Lady Baden-Powell’s Own Troop, in accordance with her husband’s wishes.’
At the World Scouting Jamboree in Birkenhead in 1930, one morning, as the Parkstone boys were cooking Irish stew, four VIPs entered the kitchen. ‘The smallest of the four asked us what we were cooking and could he have a taste,’ said Bob. ‘We handed him a ladle half-full of stew, warning him to be careful, as it was very hot.’ The well-spoken VIP blew the stew to cool it, then sipped. ‘Very nice, lads,’ he pronounced, adding: ‘Have a nice time, boys.’ As the official party moved on, a scoutmaster asked if the boys knew who the man was. They didn’t, so he enlightened them: it was the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VIII until his abdication.