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Logan Beam

HIST 4484

Dr. Williams

11/30/15

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Paramilitary Youth Organization: The Readiness to Serve

One youth paramilitary organization that once stood and continues to stand alone when

faced with the uncertainty of military service is the Boy Scouts. This paramilitary organization

sought after preparedness for military service and training that would be carried out until the

scout’s eighteenth birthday. This youth organization was on the forefront of service during every

war that involved Britain or the United States from the Second Boer War in 1892 to the Second

World War ending in 1945. The Boy Scouts, founded by Lord Baden Powell, were trained as a

youth organization focusing on discipline and devotion to one’s country before, during, and after

their country’s time of need. This paramilitary youth organization trained for years in order to

fulfill an oath of military service during their country’s hour of need, which sometimes meant

service before their oath of allegiance at the age of eighteen. Some wars pressured boys under

the age of eighteen into service, thus not allowing these Boy Scouts to complete their oath of

allegiance due to the urgent need for able-bodied men.

This paper will examine the paramilitary structure of the Boy Scouts in preparation for

military service and the decline of service during the intermediate years from the end of the First

World War to the beginning of the Second World War. The examination will focus on the

evolution of the Boy Scouts in warfare starting in the British Second Boer War leading to the end

of the First World War and transition into the American Boy Scouts. Once fully transitioned into

the American Boy Scouts, this paper will start in 1913 until the decline of the Second World

War. The preparation for military service for the members of the American Boy Scouts, while

not evident before the First World War, certainly started during the beginning of the European

conflict during the First World War. The number of Boy Scouts who participated in the First

World War as soldiers, whom were either drafted or joined of their own free-will that were once

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Boy Scouts is unknown however, the American Boy Scouts did participate in the war effort. This

is seen through government documents and pledges but a national consensus of American Boy

Scouts was not taken until after the First World War. This paper focuses on their preparation and

the eventual service to their country’s military whether it be as an active soldier, home guard, or

civil servant.

For any country preparing for war, their main priority was to figure out their troop

strength and how measures could be taken in order to build upon that strength. What these

countries failed to realize was how their reliance on these youth paramilitary trained soldiers

would be necessary, requiring these youths to serve once age appropriate. However, countries

that were involved in wars throughout the 20th century were willing to use whatever resources

available. These resources would include youths whose primary goals were eventual service and

not premature active service. For those who reached the age of seventeen or eighteen, active

service was seen as the accomplishment of their hard work in their Boy Scout organization, but

for those who were a mere fifteen or sixteen years old, service for their military was unjust as

guided by the Boy Scout foundation. The Boy Scouts who were part of an active paramilitary

defensive youth organization, sought upon the arrival of their eighteenth birthday to join their

country’s military. However, due to the course of wars throughout the 20th century, some never

made it to their eighteenth birthday and had to serve their country regardless of what preparation

was given to them in the Boy Scouts.

Historiography

There have been several articles, books, and governmental hearings concerning

paramilitary training of the Boy Scouts. Detailed reports of Boy Scout paramilitary defensive

training have been discussed in ties with the active serving of youths in warfare, especially more

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so during the Second World War. This is when the Hitler Youth, a former German Boy Scout

organization, became the reserve force for the German war machine. However, excluding the

former German Boy Scouts, the majority of Boy Scout organizations throughout the 20th century

with ties to paramilitary training have not been discussed thoroughly enough. One thing certain

however, the Boy Scout organization during the course of warfare and during the course of peace

stood ready to serve when called upon.

In 1908, the Boy Scout organization was initiated with the book Scouting for Boys by

Robert Baden Powell in London. This book described the survival instincts needed for young

men, taught them life lessons, and emphasized the need for a scout to survive on his own. The

teachings of these military styled passages would be taught originally by Robert Baden Powell

and other former members of the British Royal Guard1. The idea was to teach the youths of

Britain the responsibility of becoming a citizen, but first the youths would have had to learn the

responsibility of being a soldier. Even during times of peace, the emphasis was on training these

youths as soldiers preparing for active service with the threat of war being a constant reality.

Written in 1899, the book Aids to Scouting highlighted the need for a younger generation to

participate in warfare2. Initially, the goal was to train the younger generation to serve as

messengers or sniper scouts, but upon the release of Scouting for Boys in 1908, the focus was to

train them for service. The length of service would be granted upon their request, but for the time

being, the Boy Scouts would train their members on how to survive in the wilderness, live off the

land, fire weaponry, learn battlefield tactics, first aid, etc. The goal for any man, upon reaching

the Rank of Eagle, which is the highest rank in the Boy Scouts, was to train for service in his

1 Gilwell, Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden. Scouting for Boys: The Original 1908 Edition. Dover ed. Horace Cox, 1908.

2 Gilwell, Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden. Aids to Scouting for N.C.O's. & Men, London: Gale & Polden, 1903.

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respected country. For those who choose not to serve, Scouting for Boys enlightened youths to

prepare for service in their community and a life filled with respect for their country,

preparedness for conflict, and survival in the face of danger.

The boo, Aids to Scouting was the original source for the Boy Scout experience in

England. This book implied what the Boy Scout experienced originally was to take place in the

minds of future political leaders and military officers. As written about in this book, the original

purpose was to train youth soldiers in preparation for service but this preparation was to be

completed before the age of fourteen. Upon achieving the age of fifteen and after the completion

of their indoctrination, their service in the military would train them for positions such as mail

carriers, hunters, or for methodical scouting against enemy movement.3

The goals of these leaders was not to harm a youth trained for service but to use youths to

fulfill tasks needed by the military that they were unwilling to sacrifice a soldier in order to

complete. Adopted in civilian life, this book was sought to better the youths of England so they

could be taught the respect and dedication soldiers had but without sacrificing their children until

the age of eighteen by indoctrinating them into the military. For these reasons, the Boy Scout

Handbook was created allowing those prepared enough to serve, but only once he was age

appropriate4.

In Tim Jeal’s Baden-Powell: Founder of the Boy Scouts, Lord Baden Powell’s military

career is discussed as the aspect of the scouting process. What makes this leader famous among

other military leaders in the British military history is the Siege of Mafeking during the Second

Boer War. The two hundred seventeen day siege, in which the British Military held out was due

primarily to the tactics enforced by Robert Baden Powell during the struggle. As seen in modern

3 Gilwell, Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden. Aids to Scouting for N.C.O's. & Men, London: Gale & Polden, 1903.4 Gilwell, Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden. Aids to Scouting for N.C.O's. & Men, London: Gale & Polden, 1903.

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and previous Scouting books, the word Scout means, in terms of the military, a person who

provides reconnaissance on enemy positions and informs military command. The persons

prepared to report on the enemy positions and inform military command during the Second Boer

War were African youths aligned with the British aging from twelve to seventeen years old. In

this book, the drive and dedication of the former military combatant’s goal was to teach youths

on how to become prepared in warfare and civilian life and impact the way youths were used

during military conflicts, either as a defense force or an opposition force. However, without the

leadership and determination of Robert Baden Powell, there would have never been a youth

force preparing themselves for eventual military service5.

Race, Resistance, and the Boy Scout Movement in British Colonial Africa by Timothy

Parsons, details the result and the beginnings of Boy Scout movement in Colonial South Africa

in which the Second Boer War was being fought. This book details how Scouting started and

how it was enforced in Colonial supported institutions. Path finding, which is the foremost of the

scouting process, was introduced and would be the eventual influence for which the Boy Scouts

received their name. Those who were loyal to the British controlling state would first seek the

knowledge that would later be the foundation of the Boy Scout organization and the foundation

on which the organization would arise. With the conclusion of the Second Boer War, those who

were raised in the notion of path finding, scouting, and taking the oath of country during times of

war, started the foundation of the scouting organization. While the formal indoctrination of the

Boy Scouts began in 1908 in England, the unofficial start of the Boy Scout organization started

with the remainder of youth soldiers in Colonial Africa after the close of the war in 19026.

5 Jeal, Tim. Baden-Powell: Founder of the Boy Scouts. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007.6 Parsons, Timothy. Race, Resistance, and the Boy Scout Movement in British Colonial Africa. Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press, 2004.

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Between 1924 and 1928 the department of Defense of the United States implored the

support of the paramilitary trained Boy Scout organization in the support of resources needed at

world jamborees which were held every couple years. These congressional hearings petitioned

the United States House of Representatives to ask the Department of Defense, as a request from

the BSA, for supplies. These supplies would include wilderness survival tools, camping

equipment, and any needed resources including transportation while visiting the nations of

Denmark and England where the Jamboree was held. From the sources created by the

department, full support was entitled to the Boy Scouts with a budget allocated to the U.S. Navy

which was in support just off shore in case of an attack. During the course of two intermediate

peace years, the American Boy Scouts were granted whatever supplies they needed.7

Change in perspective

This paper will discuss how my work differs from other scholarly books, papers, articles,

and documents by focusing on how the Boy Scout organization contrasted in their availability to

enter service to the military. There is no service record of the age at which Boy Scouts would

serve to their actual age but the age in which the military would take these paramilitary trained

youths, though research documents will prove the actual age in which the British military and the

American military would take aims at former paramilitary trained Boy Scouts despite the age of

recruitment. After the entrance to the First World War, not much was written about the American

Boy Scouts involvement with paramilitary military training during the course of intermediate

peace times. However, the American Boy Scout involvement with paramilitary training is

revamped during the entrance of the Second World War. Authors, documents, and source

7 U.S. Government House of Representatives, Full Committee Consideration of S. 583 H.R. 18359, and H.R. 15216, To Authorize The Secretary of Defense To Lend Certain Army, Navy, and Air Force Equipment and To Provide Transportation and Other Services to The Boy Scouts of America in Connection With The World Jamboree of Boy Scouts To be Held in Denmark In 1924, and For Other Purposes, H.A.S.C No. 91-73 (Washington DC, 1923 and 1929 additions)

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materials fail to successfully mention the paramilitary training of Boy Scouts during the entire

course of the early 20th century through the time of peace talks of the Second World War.

Through writings and source material, this paper will focus the attention not only on the warfare

in which the Boy Scouts were trained for but also the tactics of the intermediate peace years of

the 1920 and 1930’s.

Origins

The Boy Scout organization in England started with the founder Lord Baden Powell. In

1899 when Lord Baden Powell was a Colonel in the British Army during the Second Boer War

in South Africa, the exercise known at the time as “scouting” was invented. This exercise was

eventually made into a book Aids to Scouting which taught primarily soldiers how to survive

under the harshest of environments with games and activities to sharpen their minds. These

series of exercises as previously mentioned were made into a book and upon Lord Baden

Powell’s return to England in 1903, this book made national fame. While the book was grand in

the eyes of military commandants, the reason for the mainland success was due to Lord Baden

Powell’s defense at Mafeking. The success of their defense and the tactics employed by the

commanding officer allowed for the British to defeat the Boers and the eventual defeat of the

Boer nation, ending the war in 1902. With the return of this national hero and the popularity of

the book Aids to Scouting, a refurbished book was written to tell of the scouting purposes but

was not meant to be adapted as it would be8.

Scouting for Boys would become the non-militarized version of Aids to Scouting and

was written due to British youths employing these tactics before being instructed. This non-

militarized version written by Lord Baden Powel would employ tactics used by Boy Scouts for

8 Gilwell, Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden. Aids to Scouting for N.C.O's. & Men, London: Gale & Polden, 1903.

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the need to track animals, the need for survival, and the cause of patriotism9. Other countries

would soon follow the example of the Boy Scouts and the organization reach international

proportion in countries such as the United States, Spain, and Germany. The initial instructions

were to teach youths the responsibilities of being a citizen, preparing for life, and wilderness

survival. Responsibilities of becoming a citizen included the notion of preparedness for either

civil or militarily defense, the preparedness to harness the ability to survive in adulthood, and

survival techniques to be able to rely on yourself. These stances towards the leadership of one’s

life made the Boy Scouts exemplary for the development of future soldiers.

The purpose of these temporary trained youth soldiers in the eyes of their country was to

train as a youth organization under the command of former or reluctant British and later

American leaders for paramilitary defense. Only when one of these Boy Scouts reached the age

of eighteen was that youth to practice paramilitary offense within the ranks of the British or

American military. Before entering into their country’s military, the purpose of their paramilitary

training in the Boy Scouts was to teach two important tactics. First, these youths would train in

paramilitary defense so that each individual, if chosen to, would join their respected country’s

military. Second, in times of warfare as seen during the First and Second World War for Britain

and the United States, this paramilitary youth organization would provide a reserve force of

defense against a mainland invasion. As seen during the Battle of Britain, nearly one half of

those defending their country against the bombardment of the German Luftwaffe were the older

British Boy Scouts usually ages of fifteen or sixteen years old. The true purpose was to train for

paramilitary defense if their country was ever in need of former paramilitary trained personal

which, by the age of sixteen, Boy Scouts were. In times of the First World War, paramilitary

9 Gilwell, Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden. Scouting for Boys: The Original 1908 Edition. Dover ed. Horace Cox, 1908.

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defensive soldiers were greatly needed, and in the eyes of Britain, the Boy Scouts who served in

air raid shelters or in an anti-aircraft gun were of much needed use.

Paramilitary training

In 1908, the Boy Scouts immediately started training in paramilitary tactics but it was not

until 1909, with the official Boy Scout Handbook 10 , that the style of training that the youths

would endure would mark the beginning of paramilitary training. Only with the completion of

their paramilitary training and reaching the Rank of Eagle, could the decision of joining the

military be made for the Boy Scouts. The tactics, including that of paramilitary tactics in 1908,

were seen as the preliminary phase of the Boy Scout organization as it was not until 1909 that the

Boy Scout organization officially started. With the start of the Boy Scout organization in 1909,

the Boy Scout official guidebook would be introduced and the paramilitary training would take

affect with supervision. Each chapter of Scouting for Boys presented the scout with specific

guidelines which targeted each scout to prepare for service to their country either through

military practice or civil service in their community. While their training was not as evasive or

strict as other youth organizations with the forced reputation to join military service, their

training none the less prepared them for whatever service they decided to join. Although the

British Boy Scout organization started training before the First World War for possible careers of

service, the American Boy Scouts did not constitute military service until after the First World

War as a possible career. This is the main difference for the Boy Scouts of England and of

America: not the choice of military service but the timeline of it.

The Boy Scout paramilitary training consisted of civil duty, wilderness survival, hunting,

and being prepared physically and mentally for any challenges that await. The paramilitary

10 Seton, Ernest Thompson, and Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden Gilwell. Boy Scouts of America: The First Edition, 1911. Red Bank, New Jersey: Boy Scouts of America, 1911.

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tactics of such youth organizations that used rocket propelled armaments or tanks was never a

characteristic used by the Boy Scout organization, unlike the Hitler Youth, but rather the tenacity

to survive in whichever environment the scouts were in. The wilderness became the scouts

reliance if a threat would ever develop such as if a battle would erupt in which the scouting

process was first used. Wilderness survival for a scout was key to the overall education of the

youths and the primary tool needed for all scouts to succeed. The first three chapters of the Boy

Scout Handbook, written in 1909, detail wilderness survival that included camping, hunting and

the identification of animals, roots, and vegetation. The knowledge formed around the ability to

survive in the wilderness allowed the scout to determine the edibility, poisons, and remedies of

any living creatures and also allowed the scout the necessities to live in the wilderness11. This

wilderness survival was specialized by Lord Baden Powell who explained, that “warfare no

matter how grand, will always turn to the wilderness in flight”12.

For those training for war, the Boy Scouts sought out the necessity for physical and

mental training when incorporating paramilitary training within the minds of the Boy Scouts.

Another key element in the origins of the Boy Scout organization, aside from physical and

mental health, was the notion of chivalry, patriotism, and skills needed to survive in warfare

amongst other soldiers. This style of training transformed the Boy Scouts with the need of health,

endurance, chivalry, first aid, life-saving, patriotism, and finally practical citizenship. These

standards molded a scout to become either a trained youth soldier or the ideal citizen. Skills

needed to survive in warfare or skills needed to have a successful life were maintained in the

Boy Scouts. Their training kept scouts physically strong and mentally awake, tasked them with

11 Seton, Ernest Thompson, and Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden Gilwell. Boy Scouts of America: The First Edition, 1911. Red Bank, New Jersey: Boy Scouts of America, 1911.12 Powell, Robert Baden, “Referencing the Environment of Warfare”, London 1909

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the desire to save a life whether on the battlefield or at the emergency room, and the need to

serve ones country in civic duty or in the military.

British Boy Scouts

The Boy Scout organization, first called the Brotherhood of British Scouts, is a scouting

organization founded on the key element of militarization and the determination of discipline of

the youths of the British streets. The known selling completion is unknown for Scouting for Boys

in its debut on January 24 1908 but by April, thousands had picked up the book to realize how

the defense of Mafeking was accomplished. This defense during the Second Boer War was of

nationalistic fame as the attempt to fend off invading Boer soldiers was a complete success. With

the knowledge of the Battle of Mafeking, the manual of defense in which Aids to Scouting was

written on; the desired purpose of the book was to capture the minds of the youths of Britain13

The main purpose and style of the defense guide involved the observation of nature, tracking of

animals, and games to strengthen the decision making abilities of the youths. This book would

emphasize structure of morality, good deeds, and citizenship to one’s own country.

With the formation of the Boy Scout Association in 1909 and the latter accounts of other

Boy Scout Associations started by 1911, including the Boy Scouts of America, a full class

formation and graduation would take place before the First World War. The amount of

preparation the British Boy Scout accounted for when war broke out can never be accounted for

as warfare is never announced in preparation but also was never an immediate thought for the

scouts themselves. However, on July 28 1914, the First World War began and the training in

which the British Boy Scouts were orientated for was starting to become reality. The Boy Scout

organization had started in 1909 with the foundation accounting for males fourteen years or

13 Gilwell, Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden. Aids to Scouting for N.C.O's. & Men, London: Gale & Polden, 1903

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older, which meant by the start of the First World War, a full graduating class of the original

sixty thousand youths would have attained the Rank of Eagle and have been eligible for service.

With the foundation of the Rank of Eagle presented to a scout, each scout had the option

to either join the military or to become a citizen at their own free will. However, with the

outbreak of the First World War, in the minds of the British, this option levied as a guarantee of

service rather than a choice. The aspect of choice was indoctrination into the Boy Scout

organization and foundation as this organization was never a mandatory service. For those who

had attained the Rank of Eagle, as well as those who would soon attain the rank, being either

seventeen or eighteen were however, not immune from the draft into military service. The

immediate response to the draft of Eagle Scouts was to only give this award out once the scout

had attained the age of eighteen, but Rank was never an exclusion from the draft. This meant that

the draft board could not summon the scout until he had either reached the age of eighteen while

not completing the rank of Eagle or attained the rank on his eighteenth birthday. The problem

that the British Boy Scouts faced was that the war had taken its toll on resources including men

that were age appropriate and by 1917 the draft age was lowered to seventeen. While the total

number of scouts under the age of eighteen is inconclusive with active military service, at least

two hundred fifty thousand Boy Scouts under the age of recruitment served the British in reserve

during the First World War. However, details provided by the British War office provided the

use of scouts as members of the Home Guard which acted as a reserve paramilitary force.

During the course of the First World War, the British would use the British Boy Scouts

accordingly as paramilitary defensive soldiers but would not recruit these Boy Scouts as active

soldiers until the age of conscription was valid. The British Boy Scouts who were still under the

age of recruitment would serve as the Home Guard and would be issued military commands in

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service to their countries safety during the war. As directed by the British War office in the office

letter No. 144/Miscellaneous/3098(C1) dated August 10th 1914:

“The Army Council have recently had under consideration the question of the continued employment of boy scouts and Cadets of recognized Cadet Units in Commands, and have decided that to ensure uniformity in their employment the following conditions must be enforced.That no boy scout or recognized cadet is to be employed on any military or semi-military duty such as the protection of or watching any vulnerable points, or stores, or in situations where there is any possibility of their being brought into contact with the enemy.That while scouts or recognized cadets may in future be employed as orderlies, messengers, telephone operators, or on other light duties connected with military offices, such appointments must result in saving the employment of a serving soldier.That no scout or recognized cadet may be employed who is liable to attend school.That no scout or recognized cadet is to be paid more that 1s 6d per Diem”14

This focused military command proves that the British Boy Scouts were an organization that

would provide for its country’s military in a time of crises and would perform duties accordingly.

This could have accounted for in measures of payment which scouts worked for, their

employment as servicemen, or even facing measures that a soldier would be involved in. These

operations in which Boy Scouts would be commanded by were necessary orders for the war

effort included while in uniform:

“Guarding or patrolling bridges, culverts, railway and telegraph lines, stores, etc., against damage by individuals.Collecting information as to available supplies, transport and accommodation etc.Handing out notices to inhabitants and other duties connected with billeting.Carrying our relief measures among inhabitants.Carrying out communications by means of dispatch riders, signalers, wireless beacons etc.Assisting families of men employed in defense duties, or sick and wounded, in their homes.Establishing first aid dressing stations, or temporary hospitals, refuges, dispensaries, soup kitchens, etc.Acting as local guides and orderlies etc.

14 United Kingdom. War Department. No. 144/Miscellaneous/3098(C1) August 10th 1914 Westminister, United Kingdom

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Forwarding dispatches dropped by aircraft.Sea Scouts can assist Coastguards in their duties, and can assist in guiding friendly vessels in unbouyed and unlighted waters."15

While not a conclusive paramilitary active or defensive organization during the First

World War as seen during other military conflicts, this conflict failed to protect the British Boy

Scouts from having causalities in the defensive roles with those ages sixteen or younger. George

Taylor, fifteen at the time of his death, was the most well-known Boy Scout to have been killed

as a defensive paramilitary youth soldier while on active patrol by the German military as it

bombed Scarborough16. While he was the only Boy Scout casualty on British soil during the

course of the First World War, three others scouts were known to have died during the course of

the war, however, these were active servicemen above the age of eighteen who had attained the

rank of Eagle. The direct correlation between the British Boy Scouts and the rising death toll for

the British during the First World War are unknown, however, the service nonetheless provided

Britain with a safe haven of relief work, provided security and Home Guard. After the

completion of the war, the British Boy Scouts would continue their efforts to provide their

country with much needed support towards Home Guard and man power and would carry the

organization to new levels. These levels would be produced in two hundred sixteen countries and

be the stepping stone for the other countries to follow including the United States who would use

their scouts in this very same war in similar roles.

Boy Scouts of America

In 1911, the United States would follow suit from the British Boy Scouts and would start

their own Boy Scout organization entitled the Boy Scouts of America or BSA and became one of

15 United Kingdom. War Department. No. 144/Miscellaneous/3098(C1) August 10th 1914 Westminister, United Kingdom16 Historical Boys’ Uniform. “English Boy Scouts: World War I (1914-1918).” Accessed November 8, 2015. http://histclo.com/youth/youth/org/sco/country/eng/chron/1910/ebs10-ww1.htm

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the first countries not to be controlled by the British to have a Boy Scout organization. The start

of the scouting efforts in America came with a story of a Chicago publisher names William

Boyce who had gotten lost in the fog when out of the blue a Boy Scout came to his aid and

directed him to his destination17. The tale continues with the payment for this good deed but the

Scout declined the payment of cash and returned with the acceptance of his good deed. The

prominent publisher wrote on the story and organized other youth organizations to follow suit

such as the Sons of Daniel Boone and the Woodcraft Indians which would eventually be

incorporated into the Boy Scouts of America. The BSA, along with other organizations tied in

with this one, would incorporate the regulations that its founding organization taught and would

find its foundations based on the same teachings.

Even with the grouping of other youth organizations in the United States, the BSA did

not rise to popularity as fast as the British Boy Scouts, but the course of the First World War

would change that. The mainstream preparation for the BSA came when the United States started

to prepare for their eventual involvement in this war. Upon the break out of the First World War,

the BSA would grow in size and the youths of America would prepare themselves, not for

service as their adult counterparts would soon do, but for the service to their country in its hour

of need. 1914 was the break out year that fighting started for countries involved in the First

World War most of which were European countries but it would not be until 1917 that the

United States and the BSA become physically involved in the fighting. With the entrance to the

First World War for the United States, alike the British Boy Scouts, the BSA provided a service

for their country through home defense, the preparation of resources, and provided services to

the local economy. The slogan for the BSA has always been “Do a good turn daily.” However

17 Davis, Richard Harding. The Boy Scout. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1914.

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for the first time, the national slogan had been changed for the time to “Help Win the War”18.

Until the war was concluded for the United States, the BSA would involve themselves for the

betterment of the war effort and would not cease until the conclusion of the war.

The BSA, during the course of the First World War, conducted themselves differently

than the British Boy Scouts for completely opposing reasons, the primary of which was the the

length of war involvement for their countries. Britain had been at war and in alliance with the

Allied Powers for three years by the time the United States had entered the war. By the time of

the American advance in this war, only ten months of fighting would last until the completion of

the First World War. The BSA saw themselves in the war effort as an organization that could

conduct themselves as man power, provide resources, and be the availability that America

needed to fuel the war effort.

The main motivation for the scouts was the conversation corps, rather than a defense

contractor such as the British Boy Scouts provided. These conversation corps tactics involved

selling Liberty bonds, collecting nutshells and peach pits made for gas masks, the distribution of

proxy government literature, and the aid in food and fuel conservation. This type of conservation

would continue for the BSA into the year 1918 with the new motto “The War is Over, but Our

Work is Not”19 which references the conclusion to the First World War. War was over but the

necessary steps granted to the scouts was not until the last service man had returned, only then

was the original motto reinstated and their national service to the war effort was over.

For the BSA, the interwar years were certainly a challenge to incorporate the American

youths into a direct youth organization especially during the Great depression of 1929 to 1942.

18 Boy Scouts of America. “History of the BSA Highlights.” Accessed November 8, 2015. http://www.scouting.org/About/FactSheets/BSA_History.aspx 19 Boy Scouts of America. “History of the BSA Highlights.” Accessed November 8, 2015. http://www.scouting.org/About/FactSheets/BSA_History.aspx

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However, the organization did continue to grow and serve their country accordingly as the years

progressed. After the conclusion of the First World War, the foundation of the BSA started

preparation for another oncoming war to present itself, but for America no war or conflict of

great significance would happen until the Second World War. Without conflict, the BSA would

have to find other outlets to perform their duties, and without conflict the BSA could prepare

from what its foundation was built upon, wilderness survival. Aside from wilderness survival,

the organization started their own outlook into the Boy Scout Handbook to set a foundation for

the betterment of themselves and their community.20 This handbook, which had been written

during the foundation of the BSA in 1911, was a carbon copy of the British Boy Scout handbook

and plays off of their founder’s book Scouting for Boys 21 . This handbook utilized the growing

capacity of the Scouting movement and would be the foundation for how the scouts learned to

survive and to be constantly prepared.

Records of daily life surrounding what the Boy Scouts trained for during the interwar

years are lost but what is not lost to history is the governmental record and material highlighted

by the BSA which includes the worldwide celebration which takes place every five years.

However, what can be said about the interwar years for the BSA is that before the stock market

crash, the government was in full support of the BSA and their worldwide interactions. After the

stock market crashed in 1929, the government became dependent on the BSA rather than the

government becoming a source of material support and dependency. During the intermediate

years of the First World War and the stock market crash, the BSA endured significant increases

in their wave of leniency and well-being not only in their own right but in international

20 Ernest Thompson, Seton and Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden Gilwell: Boy Scouts of America: The First Edition, 1911 (Red Bank: Boy Scouts of America, 1911).21 Gilwell, Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden. Scouting for Boys: The Original 1908 Edition. Dover ed. Horace Cox, 1908.

19

foundations as well. In 1920, the BSA, along with a combined total of thirty four other countries,

was invited to the First World Jamboree, which took representatives from the Boy Scout

organizations to train in that country’s respected field of scouting. Due to the course of the First

World War, the United States did not sponsor this event, but in 1924 and 1929 after the war

effort and stabilization, the United States Department of Defense allocated resources to send the

BSA to the Second and Third World Jamboree in 1924 and 1929.22

Governmental hearings in 1923 and in 1928 were announced to authorize the Secretary of

Defense to lend equipment from the Army, Navy, and Air Force and to provide the

transportation to Denmark in 1924 and to England in 1929 for the Second and Third World

Jamboree23. At the time, the Department of Defense did not allocate their funds and supplies to

indoctrinate the BSA into a paramilitary outfit, as will be seen in later years, but would use

supplies from the war to support the BSA while in foreign countries. These supplies consisted of

food similar to the K-Rations of the Second World War, which included tents, blankets, flags,

coats, and supplies deemed necessary by military command for the BSA while at the World

Jamboree.

Governmental support would be short lived after the Third World Jamboree for the BSA

as the stock market would crash only two months later, making any international transactions

between scouting organizations left to the organization itself. After the stock market crash, the

national depression would soon take over and just like the governmental support of the BSA,

22 U.S. Government House of Representatives, Full Committee Consideration of S. 583 H.R. 18359, and H.R. 15216, To Authorize The Secretary of Defense To Lend Certain Army, Navy, and Air Force Equipment and To Provide Transportation and Other Services to The Boy Scouts of America in Connection With The World Jamboree of Boy Scouts To be Held in Denmark In 1924, and For Other Purposes, H.A.S.C No. 91-73 (Washington DC, 1923 and 1929 additions)23 U.S. Government House of Representatives, Full Committee Consideration of S. 583 H.R. 18359, and H.R. 15216, To Authorize The Secretary of Defense To Lend Certain Army, Navy, and Air Force Equipment and To Provide Transportation and Other Services to The Boy Scouts of America in Connection With The World Jamboree of Boy Scouts To be Held in Denmark In 1924, and For Other Purposes, H.A.S.C No. 91-73 (Washington DC, 1923 and 1929 additions)

20

resources would nearly dry up in terms of international relations until the entrance to the Second

World War. This would mean that the BSA, for all intents and purposes, would be a national

organization with no resources disposable to them by the federal government as previously

allowed.

While the Great Depression took place, the BSA continued their mission to provide

support to their nation while the organization continued to grow. Because the BSA was a

privately funded organization, the Great Depression did not cripple the BSA but would make

them rethink their organization strategies which would encompass setbacks. Despite the

setbacks, there had become an outcry of support set out by the Federal Government in an effort

for the BSA to help out their communities as best as possible. The overall thinking of the

organization from the general public was a youth organization of the Red Cross. In 1933, the

President of the United States at the time was Franklin Roosevelt and in his declaration he had

asked for the BSA to help the United States prosper and to help with the distressed and needy.

With this outcry and proclamation from the President of the United States and former Scout

leader, the BSA entered in a Nationwide Good Turn and collected nearly two million items

including clothing, household furnishing, foodstuffs, and recycled material24. This type of

organized restoration to the national economy and community relations would inspire the

President to create the First National Jamboree 1937. Similar to the World Jamboree, this

National Jamboree would pair BSA organizations across the United States and within the troops,

structure and survival tactics would be learned in variations depending on their background. This

would benefit certain organizations and troops who lived in urban area compared to those who

thrived in rural areas.

24 Roosevelt, Franklin Delano. “Informal Extemporaneous Remarks of the President Ten Mile River Camp of the Boy Scouts of America Ten Mile River, New York.” Lecture, Boy Scouts of America, August 23, 1933.

21

The foundation of the Boy Scout organization highlighted the teaching of wilderness

survival, the crafting of materialistic means of survival equipment, citizenship to their

community and nation, and overall loyalty to the call of service. This call to service would be

seen more often than not towards the end of 1941 when the United States issued the

proclamation to the entrance into the Second World War. When the United States entered the

Second World War, the Great Depression was something of the past, and for the BSA, their roles

nearly returned to what their roles had been during the First World War. However, unlike the

first global conflict, the United States involvement would last a total of three years instead of

merely ten months. The growing consensus of the BSA was to mobilize themselves into

formations like those during the First World War, but the Unitized States War Office and

Department of Defense needed them in other departments. The involvement of the BSA during

the Depression recognized the need to organize and come together for the betterment of their

country by gathering supplies, and distributing them accordingly. The need for this paramilitary

organization during the course of the Second World War would allow for certain positions to be

issued to the scouts which would render support to the war effort.

These positions, similar to those of the First World War, included working as fire

watchers, assisting in emergency medical units, serving as messenger and dispatch bearers. All

of these jobs would serve the scouts for the betterment of the war office and allocate a free

working service which would render the scouts a national Merit Badge in the process25. This

Merit Badge along with other merit badges accounting for twenty one to attain the Rank of

Eagle. Under these certain provisional jobs without pay, a scout could earn this national Merit

Badge which during the intermediate war years or times of peace was considered the Merit

25 Boy Scouts of America. “History of the BSA Highlights.” Accessed November 8, 2015. http://www.scouting.org/About/FactSheets/BSA_History.aspx

22

Badge, Citizenship in the Community or Citizenship in the Nation. As a requirement to attain

this Merit Badge, these free working service jobs or the distribution of supplies during the Great

Depression had to be completed to attain the Merit Badge. These supplies would consist of

collecting aluminum, wastepaper and salvage, the distribution of posters and war bonds, the

collection of rubber, and finally the call to service. These skilled jobs called upon these youths to

use their skills for the betterment of their nation and of the United States’ economy so the war

could be won. In the process, countless commodities were gathered for the betterment of the

local and national economy and the war effort, including millions of pounds of rubber, metal,

wood, and raw material. 26

The organizational efforts of the BSA allowed for the Second World War not to come to

a close based on their efforts but on the belief that their reliance and strong-will helped the

United States come closer to end their overseas conflict and to end this war. The bases of the

Boy Scout organization allowed for these paramilitary trained youth members to be called up for

military service if needed or the readiness to serve upon reaching the Rank of Eagle. However,

for the BSA, the paramilitary skills were not used as a military style of fighting but a structured

form of reliance, dependency, and self-service to their nation in their hour of need. There had

been a difference for the BSA in how operations took place in relation to the First and Second

World War, as the BSA organized themselves into a militarized home guard during the first

conflict but reformed into a self-serving organization during the Second. This self-serving

organization helped the war effort continue to expand and grow as needed with the support of a

national economy, partly due by the efforts of the BSA. This self-serving organization also

participated in military roles cumulating in the allowance of military supplies, aid, and fortune to

be presented to the organization when needed. While trained in a paramilitary style organization,

26 Ibid, “History of the BSA Highlights”

23

as their founder had set out, the BSA served as a national youth organization for the betterment

of the economy, the betterment of the war effort, and the lasting effect of readiness to serve.27

Conclusion

The Boy Scout organization trained in paramilitary tactics on the basis of warfare always

being a constant threat, as well as the betterment of themselves and their nation without the

notion of glory, or decisive conflicts which resulted in victories or losses. The Boy Scout

organization started with the belief that the youths of Britain had the right to discipline their

youths for the betterment of their society and give purpose to those without discipline. The

foundation of this youth organization started off with fire-bombings in British streets by youths

unprepared to be led but would soon develop into a youth organization that built upon the

emphasis of the building of a nation, paramilitary training, and the preparation for service. While

service to the military or service to the scout’s community was a choice to be made upon

reaching the Rank of Eagle, the Boy Scout organization did force the decision of their youths.

Lord Baden Powell founded this options as an allowance towards all the scout’s work that a

scout would put into his country and his community. The foundation for this youth paramilitary

organization was based on the belief that the foundation of a similar youth organization founded

in the organized chaos of the Second Boer War. The initial teachings of the scouting process was

to teach native South African youths to fight against rebellion and the initial teachings of the

British youths was to build a better community. However, with stern discipline and the devotion

with a purpose, this youth organization would strengthen themselves to fight if instructed. Like

27 Boy Scouts of America. “History of the BSA Highlights.” Accessed November 8, 2015. http://www.scouting.org/About/FactSheets/BSA_History.aspx

24

similar circumstances later seen during the First World War these Boy Scouts did not serve as

youth soldiers by their countries but their status was as the home guard servicemen.28

Through the outbreak of the Frist World War for both the United States and the British,

Home Guard and the serviceman mentality was what the Boy Scouts had endured prior to the

outbreak of the war through training, making them ideal candidates for the positions. However,

their training and upbringing compared to their actual service were different in comparison.

Their role in this war dramatically changed their organization traits from a fully endorsed trained

paramilitary organization to an organization trained in paramilitary preparedness with traits

linked to the betterment of their nation. After the conclusion of this war, the Boy Scout

organization in America became a fully endorsed youth organization filled with resources

provided and resources salvaged for the betterment of their nation. In doing so, the government

came on board with the notion of the well-being of the Scouting organization and still continues

to this day. The Boy Scouts, since the beginning of their foundation have always had

governmental support to the point of President Taft allocating resources to the Scouts in their

earliest of formations29. Through times of warfare, as seen in the First and Second World Wars,

the Boy Scouts of America have always found a way to support their country. This is due to the

support of the government during the times of peace as seen during the intermediate war years of

the First World War and the support of the Boy Scouts in times of relief as seen during the Great

Depression.

Awaiting the satisfaction of the endorsement of their community and their nation, the

Boy Scout organization stands ready for the service needed to support their country whether in

28 Boy Scouts of America. “History of the BSA Highlights.” Accessed November 8, 2015. http://www.scouting.org/About/FactSheets/BSA_History.aspx 29 Boy Scouts of America. “William Howard Taft.” Accessed November 8, 2015. http://www.scouting.org/RTN/History/Taft.aspx

25

times of peace or in times of conflict. This paramilitary youth organization while originally

trained for the outbreak of war, has been the source of paramilitary defense and services rendered

within their community or as servicemen in the Home Guard. The services provided during

conflicts as seen during the First and Second World War can been seen as being used as a home

guard servicemen which included patrolling, messenger riders, dispatcher, firemen, and coast

liners. Their fulfilment to their community, their nation, and themselves may have changed from

the founding organization, but the Boy Scouts have still provided services whenever their

country was in need of them whether as a paramilitary organization or a volunteer movement.

For both the Boy Scouts of America and the British Boy Scouts, there is still a guarantee of

service in relation to paramilitary training which included wilderness survival and service to their

nation. The Boy Scout organization readies itself to serve its community, its nation, its military,

and its foundation.

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