Welcome to 2nd Renfrew Trinity Scout Group

As Armistice Day approaches once again what does it mean to “remember” in this modern day and does it, or should, it matter?  While the question remains, everyone will have their own view which will be shaped by age, experience and contact with those who fought.

Any Scouts reading this page will, fortunately, have had little contact with war and it is likely their parents will be the same.  As the years go on, there are still fewer former Scouts who will have active contact with someone who fought in the major conflicts since the Scout movement began all those years ago.  Therefore, remembering the fallen does not necessarily have the same personal impact on them.  How can they “remember” something they have no personal connection with?  Yet, at every cenotaph around the country on Armistice Day all ages will be represented, and not just by the formal organisations.

While we, in this country, are at peace, that is not the case around the world today and we see conflict and strife in numerous areas of the world, and we even have another war on mainland Europe. In terms of relevance to 2nd Renfrew, our former Scouts contributed significantly during World War 2 (WW2) (some serving in India where they produced newsletters about their Scouting activities (copy here)) as did those Scouts that could do so all over the world.  During that conflict and in times before and since, Scouting has been banned completely by numerous regimes, such is its power as an organisation for good. The fascinating book, “The Left Handshake”, provides detail of this proscription during WW2 in particular.

Perhaps we should think of Armistice Day today as honouring the service and sacrifice of all who have defended our freedoms and way of life, including not just the armed forces and the merchant marine, but their families, the emergency services and those civilians that were also killed. It is also a day when, as a nation, we reflect on the immense cost of war and remember those who have died in military service and acts of terrorism.  Indeed, our own Rover Scouts suffered the loss of members killed during WW2, and not just on active service.

It is also a time to remember and appreciate the hard-fought peace we have in this country today; a peace that was only won as a result of tremendous human cost and suffering.

The origins of Armistice Day reflect that point in time, when the fighting during World War 1 ceased at 11.00 am on November 11, 1918 with the hope that this was “the war to end all wars”.   The reflections above provide a positive answer to the question asked at the beginning of this article, commemoration and “remembering” those who fell, still has a place today.

John Lyall
Former Cub, Scout, Venture Scout
2nd Renfrew Trinity Scout Group