In publishing this section, we gratefully acknowledge the approval of Scouts (UK) Heritage for allowing us to use many of the photographs – details are noted against the relevant pictures. 

We also gratefully acknowledge approval from the Imperial War Museum for allowing us to publish the transcripts of the Newsletters written by the 2nd Bengal Rover Crew – IWM reference details are noted on the transcripts which are available by hyperlink further down this page.  

Scouting in the War Years

~~ The Boy Scouts Are Carrying On ~~

This is the slogan which the Scout Movement adopted during the Second World War (1939 – 1945).

Scouting during the Second World War continued in a very different vein from pre-war Scouting, as during the war years Scouts in various forms (Cubs, Scouts, Leaders, Senior Patrol Leaders and Leaders) did many important jobs at home, with some going on to serve their country in the armed forces at home and abroad.

Scouts serving at home did the Scout Movement proud, as by the end of 1940 over 53,000 Scouts had trained to undertake over 170 National War Service jobs, including messengers to various home based services. These jobs covered the following areas:

Evacuations

Older Scouts were used to help organise groups of children, carry luggage and offer comfort were necessary when, on 1 September 1939, Operation Pied Piper began. This was the code name of a mass evacuation of civilians, particularly children, from areas thought to be at risk from air raids. The Government had been planning the evacuation scheme (during which 3.5 million people in the UK were relocated) and approached civilian organisations for help.

The mass evacuation programme was organised geographically, so Leaders tried their best to keep the Packs and Troops going to offer the young people some continuity.

War Years – Evacuation 1 (photo courtesy of The Scout (UK) Heritage Collection)

War Years – Evacuation 2 (photo courtesy of The Scout (UK) Heritage Collection)

Air Raids

• Preparing the county for air raids (including the imposed blackout)
• Painting white lines on the edge of roads to make them more visible in the dark (more visible, to help pedestrians and any vehicles see the edge of the road)
• Air raid shelters – teams of Scouts could be booked to build air raid shelters
  

  War Years – Building Air Raid Shelters (photo courtesy of The Scout (UK) Heritage Collection)

  • There were two main types of shelters – Anderson shelters which could be dug and built in the garden and Morrison shelters erected inside the house. By the end of 1941 over 500,000 Morrison shelters had been issued to households across the UK.
  • Here are pictures of Scouts building a shelter …

The Blitz (see pictures below)

• Supporting the Air Raid Warden’s Service
• Supporting the Fire and Ambulance Services
• Fire Watchers (often in dangerous conditions)
• Stretcher Bearers (often in dangerous conditions)
• Carrying out first aid (again in dangerous conditions)

Scout training helped to support the young people with these tasks.

Here are pictures of Scouts assisting with the Blitz:

War Years – The Blitz 1 (photo courtesy of The Scout (UK) Heritage Collection)

War Years – The Blitz 2 (photo courtesy of The Scout (UK) Heritage Collection)

Working on the Land

To limit the reliance on imported foods The ‘Dig for Victory’ campaign was introduced to encourage people to convert land for food production to help increase the amount of home produced food. As you can expect, the Scouts, who were being an enormous support to the war effort, were involved in the Working on the Land scheme.  They did this by:

• Maintaining plots of land
• Working with the Women’s Timber Corporation to fell wood for the war effort
  Collecting plants which could be used for medical purposes, including sphagnum moss which has antiseptic properties and could be used in wound dressings. We didn’t have the same medical treatments we have today, so natural resources such as the moss were vitally important.

War Years – Working The Land 1 (photo courtesy of The Scout (UK) Heritage Collection)

War Years – Working The Land 2 (photo courtesy of The Scout (UK) Heritage Collection)

War Years – Working the Land 3 (photo courtesy of The Scout (UK) Heritage Collection)

Community Involvement

The Scouts supported the community in other ways as well as all those already listed. Other support included:

• Police messengers
• Stretcher bearers
• Providing service like cafes for those in the armed forces

War Years – Community Involvement – Cafe (photo courtesy of The Scouts (UK) Heritage Collection)

• Collecting waste paper and scrap metal to raise funds for the war effort – here are some pictures:
  

  War Years – Collecting Waste Metal (photo courtesy of The Scouts (UK) Heritage Collection)

  

  War Years – Collecting Waste Paper (photo courtesy of The Scouts (UK) Heritage Collection)

• Renfrew Scouts were involved in collecting waste paper, lead foil and tin foil, which was put in to blocks and kept at a property on Haining Road, Renfrew.
• The Renfrew boys continued collecting and delivering to Haining Road until there was too much paper and foil, at which point it all had to be moved to other premises.
• One point of note is that our boys, and we’re sure those of many other Troops, would have used the Troop’s trek cart to transfer their goods. (Trek carts were also used for transporting camping equipment and, believe it or not, accompanied the Troop on ferries when going to camp. Although it was ‘our’ trek cart we didn’t treat it as such, as in the spirit of brotherhood we lent it other Troops.) John Lyall, a former member of our Group has made a fabulous scale model of a trek cart especially for our Centenary. Enormous thanks for all your work John. Now we can all see a trek cart in real life. Here’s a picture of it – it really is a labour of love and a work of art.

Our hand-made scale model trek cart (photo Trinity Scouts)

• Being curious in nature, those researching the War Years history and the collections by 2nd Renfrew did some research and found snippets from the Renfrew Press from 1939 regarding the paper collections – the excerpts are below:

War Years – Waste Paper Collection by 2nd Renfrew Scouts 1 (Renfrew Press, 1939)

War Years- Waste Paper Collection by 2nd Renfrew Scouts 2 (Renfrew Press, 1939)

War Years – Waste Metal Collection by 2nd Renfrew Scouts (Renfrew Press, 1939)

• Renfrew Scouts were also involved in distributing posters for the Ministry of Information. We think the posters were ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’.  We haven’t included a picture, as due to the poster’s re-emergence in recent years, many of us know what it looked like.

The picture below is a thank you from Mr. John Hilton, Director of Home Publicity, to the Scout Association for Scouts’ Assistance, said letter being copied to Renfrew due to our boys’ involvement, and also published in the Renfrew Press in 1939.  We apologise for the quality, but it’s a photograph from the original newspaper.

War Years – Home Publicity Thank You Letter to Scouts (Renfrew Press)

War Years – Training the Home Guard (photo courtesy of The Scouts (UK) Heritage Collection)

1940 saw the formation of the Home Guard, which was made up of volunteers who weren’t eligible for active service due to age, health or their occupation. Their role was to slow down the enemy advance in case of invasion.

Scouts helped teach skills such as tracking, first aid and bushcraft to this newly formed force.  As before, their Scout skills were vitally important for the training roles.  Across is a picture of Scouts carrying out Home Guard training.

Of course, Scouts being Scouts didn’t rest on their laurels and expect everything to be done only by word of mouth – they even put up advertisements for their services. An example of an advert (produced by Kenton Scouts in Harrow) is below.

War years – Advertisement of Scouting Services (photo courtesy of The Scout (UK) Heritage Collection)

Due to so many of the adults being called to serve in the war, Patrol Leaders stepped up to fill leaders’ shoes, thus ensuring Scouting carried on (just as the slogan noted the Association would be doing).  The Scout Association recognised the responsibility the Patrol Leaders were undertaking and issued a special certificate to those who fulfilled the leaders’ roles – here’s a picture of the Certificate:

War Years – Patrol Leaders’ Certificate

As you’ll have realised, Scouts were playing a large part in the war effort, so to recognise this the Scout Association awarded the following badges.

War Years – Badges

We’ve managed to find the requirements for two of these badges as follows:

National Service Badge (photograph of badge owned by former member of 2nd Renfrew)

National Service Badge

Our investigations (again an article from the Renfrew Press) show that this badge was not always for wartime use as the Notice below right states (we’ve typed it for ease of reading as the original is quite small).

National Service Badge

“This badge is no longer a proficiency badge and will not

National Service Badge Requirements –  Renfrew Press

qualify for King’s Scouts. It will, in future, only be awarded for actual service. The conditions of award have accordingly been amended as follows:

The National Service Badge may be awarded by the District Commissioner to any Wolf Cub, Scout or Rover Scout who has been actively engaged in any form of National Service for such sustained length of time as in the opinion of the District Commissioner having regard to the nature of the service, justifies the award. The badge may also be awarded by the District Commissioner to any Scouter undertaking or continuing active responsible work for the Movement. The badge is worn on the right breast above the line of the pocket”.

The requirements for this badge meant a considerable amount of learning (all of which would be put to good use), and above all, given the circumstances under which the tasks were to be performed, a confidence to be able to successfully carry them out.

To gain the National Service badge, the Scout had to:

• Be able to carry verbal messages, write them down correctly and to report either verbally or in writing on any important occurrence which he has witnessed. Be able to use the telephone competently and understand the instructions obtained in the telephone directory.
• Have special knowledge of the locality in which he is likely to serve, with particular reference to form of service, e.g. E.R.P. Stations, Casualty Clearing Stations, Gasproof Shelters, Evacuation and other rallying posts, Wardens’ and Observers’ Posts, position of gas mains, main fuse boxes, alternative forms of communications.
• Have practical knowledge of the fitting and care of civilian gas masks.
• Know the dangers of panic in case of an emergency and how to preserve discipline and good order among nervous people, and particularly children.
• Be enrolled to serve in some definite National Service, either under Scout authority or under some recognised Public Authority. To qualify a Scout must be [a minimum] Second Class, have reached the age of 14 and have permission of his parent or guardian given on the Scout National Service Form. The Scout National Service Badge ranks with the Pathfinder, Coast Watchman, and Pilot Badges for the purposes of the King’s Scout Badge. The badge will be worn on the right breast above the line of the pocket.

Civil Defence Badge

From our investigations it appears that Scouts who passed the ‘Old National Service Badge’ under the “original conditions”, i.e. those who were tested by particular criteria were, according to ‘The Scouter Magazine’ in January 1940, entitled to wear the Civil Defence Badge without being tested further. As far as we’re aware, the tasks below were to obtain the badge for those who had to sit a test:

For the Civil Defence badge, Scouts had to know how to carry messages, have knowledge of their local area, know how to fit gas masks (we had an original WW2 gas mask at our memorabilia displays so that our young people could see exactly what it what it was like and how it fitted) and know how to handle a crowd in a panic.
These skills were useful because Scouts with bikes were recruited as messengers, so being able to carry a message was extremely important in a time of national crisis. Not all Scouts would have had access to a telephone, so Scouts was a great place to learn the skills they needed.

Due to the risk of gas attacks, everyone was given a gas mask, so it was important that people knew how to wear and maintain their gas masks to keep themselves safe in an emergency.

The next item is a letter which is a transcript from a handwritten version in a jotter which was in 2nd Renfrew’s archive. As you’ll see, the letter is setting records straight with the then District Commissioner to ensure he deals with a request for formal recognition of Trinity Scouts who have been involved in the war effort.

[ ] Dumbarton Road
Glasgow
W4
2 December 1939

Dear District Commissioner,

I have had a look at this week’s edition of the “Renfrew Press” and note that 15 of the Sea Scouts have qualified for the National Service badge and also the Civil Defence Badge of which we have just heard.

However what happened to the list of Trinity Scouts eligible for the National Service badge which you received some time ago?

I will again give you the list of names and trust that you will attend to the matter this time.

The Scouts eligible are as under:

S.P.L. John Graham^
P.L. John Cook
P.L. Alex McKillop
P.L. Donald Wilson
2nd P.L. Wm Peacock

all acting as messengers to the Auxiliary Fire Service.

Trusting to hear from you regarding above badges.

I remain
[Name removed for data protection]
(Secretary)

from 2nd Renfrew Scouts

^John Graham went on to serve with the RAF in Bengal during WW2 (see also 2nd Bengal Rover Crew Newsletters, later in this article), thereafter returning to the UK and his involvement in Scouting by holding District and International posts.

Having done a bit of research, we’re delighted to advise that the boys did receive their formal recognition, printed in the Renfrew Press in December 1939.  Here’s a copy of what was reported (we took a photograph from the original Renfrew Press of 1939, so apologise for the quality of the picture, as the original print was very small:

War Years – National Service Badge Announcement, Renfrew Press

We also spotted in the Renfrew Press, this time on 19 May 1939 that to allow Scouts to focus on their National Service badge, there would be no Rally in 1939.

Although Scouts’ skills helped them serve during the war and allowed them to train other organisations like the Home Guard, the Scouts could still come across tasks for which they were not equipped, as shown in a ‘Lament by a Patrol Leader’, printed in the Renfrew Press on 1 December 1936 (as taken from “The Scouter”):

Lament by a Patrol Leader – Renfrew Press, 1939

The Boy Scouts Are Carrying On slogan proved itself once again when, in 1943 bombs landed in and around the Trinity Church halls. After some relaxation had taken place, organisations were given permission to meet in the evenings provided that no person under fourteen years of age was present and that not more than seventy five people were there at any one time. The Brownies, the Guides and the Cubs arranged to meet on Saturday afternoons and the Scouts on Friday evenings, provided capable wardens were present in case of emergencies.

The most unusual item we have in our archives (and was on display at our memorabilia events) for War Years Scouting is a series of Bulletins from the 2nd Bengal Rover Services Crew. This Crew, which started in 1944, was set up by Scout servicemen in Bengal, India. We read through all Bulletins and were delighted when we got to the last one (why is it always the last one?!), to discover that John Graham (the same John Graham who received the National Service Badge and was one of our Scout Leaders) was a member of that Crew. Due to their age some of the bulletins were difficult to read and the paper was very fragile, so we had them transcribed, printed in to booklets and encouraged visitors to take one away. A PDF version accompanies this article – it’s available here.  We were all fascinated by the Bulletins and hope you enjoy reading them as much as we did.  The PDF is typed exactly as the originals, except we’ve added some information which is marked as ‘Editor’s Note’.  (Bengal Bulletins – see also Footnote 2.)

After some (more) research, we discovered that Bengal wasn’t the only place to have a such a wartime Crew – Crews were set up in many parts of the world. The most challenging ones were in occupied areas of the far east, particularly for the Rover Crew in Changi, Singapore. At the Far East camps all evidence of Rover Crews had to be undertaken in secret for fear of retribution. It was therefore pleasing to read in Alex Harvie’s* Jamboree Log from 1946 at Blair Atholl that, at the Jamboree, Alex noted “the Chief Scout presented Ronald Whitfield** (a Hong Kong Scout) with a new medal for bravery and outstanding courage in a Japanese Prison Camp. Whilst incarcerated Ronnie had passed his first class and six badges, finding his own examiners and teaching himself”.

2nd Renfrew thinks this is a prime example of dedication and determination. We were delighted that the Harvie family lent us the diary for the displays, so to prevent the original being handled, we had professional scanned copies made which allowed visitors to read through the diary.  We’ll be having a copy available here, but need to do a bit of work to get it to upload.  Please therefore visit again.  The diary is a fascinating read and, like the Bengal Newsletters, a copy was sent to Scouts Scotland, who were delighted by it, as although they have camp memorabilia from 1946, all prepared by the organising side, the diary is the only piece of memorabilia they have which was prepared by an attendee at the 1946 event.

*Alex Harvie was a former 2nd Renfrew Group Member, Leader and Group Scout Leader.

Although we’ve mentioned John Graham who served in Bengal, we know that other members of our Troop served elsewhere in the world. We’re also aware that sadly some did not return from their service and are buried overseas. We will always be grateful for the sacrifices they made.

Whilst some of our Group travelled abroad, we knew that others would have stayed at home due to their occupations, so we looked at the original list of Troop members, compared it against the details of those who lost their lives in the 2nd world war as detailed on the Renfrew Cenotaph, and one name on the cenotaph corresponded with our list.

One of our former Explorers, who is now a Beaver Leader, did some research on the boy in question. Here’s what she discovered:

Our Scout’s name was William Hunter Cunningham. William was born on 21 February 1918, lived in Victory Gardens, then moved to Broadloan. He joined the Cubs, then went up to the Scouts on 22 January 1932, becoming a member of the Otter patrol.

He subsequently became an electrical welder, a job we assume would have been carried out at Babcock & Wilcox (now called Doosan), or at the shipyards. The nature of William’s job meant that he was a reserved occupation, as a result of which he did not go to war as his skills were needed at home. His war service was therefore in his home town as he served in the Home Guard, 2nd Renfrew Battalion.

Unfortunately staying at home did not protect William as he died at 0040 hrs on 6 May 1941 as a casualty of the Clydebank Blitz. The Register extract for his death notes that he died on Glebe Street, Renfrew, the cause of death being “Due to war operations. Multiple injuries (bomb splinter)”. William was 23 years old, so still a Rover Scout. He is buried in Arkleston Cemetery, Renfrew.

If anyone reading this can give us more information on William, please contact us using the Group e-mail address.

Interestingly, there is another young man, John Moran, noted on the same Register extract as William. John died at the same time as William but was in a shelter in Queen Street. We have no knowledge as to whether the boys had been at a social event and were on their way home, or if they were perhaps killed carrying out Home Guard duties (if indeed they were both out in that capacity).

You’ll have already read that the Scouts helped to train the Home Guard, so due to the reserved nature of his occupation, William’s Scouting knowledge meant he was well prepared for Home Guard duties and may have helped to train his fellow Guardsmen. We don’t have a record of John Moran as having been a Trinity Scout, but he may have been a Scout with a different troop.

Finally … although 2nd Renfrew wasn’t formed until after the First World War, we think it only right to record that Scout Troops who had been formed by 1914 provided service during that war. Their tasks covered:

• Guarding the shores
• Pedal power
• Working the land
• Doing your bit
• Every penny counts
• Other duties

We’re also acutely aware that although we’ve highlighted the work of Scouts during the war, Guides, the Boys’ Brigade and other organisations also provided service, and that many from these groups also lost their lives while serving, or even just returning home from their unit meetings.

—– oOo —–

This War Years display was written to formally highlight our gratitude and respect to those who served, be it at home or abroad and continue to do so.

In doing do, we hope it has increased everyone’s knowledge of what Scouts did during the War years, in whatever their capacity – Scouts, firewatchers, coast watchers, home guard or in the armed forces further afield. We also hope that it has shown how the skills learned at Scouts can be put to good effect in terms of service and duty, and stay with us for a lifetime.

—– oOo —–

Footnote 1:

**Curiosity got the better of us, so we did a little research on Ronald Whitfield’s badges. Here’s what we learned: “During his time in Stanley Incarceration Camp, Hong Kong, despite receiving daily slappings and beatings from his captors, air raids, an operation for appendicitis and living in appalling conditions, the badges Ronald passed were: Handyman, Swimmer, Ambulanceman, Public Health Man, Missionary. His Handyman and Ambulanceman badges had been well earned as he helped a blacksmith and doctors at the camp hospital, worked as a carpenter’s apprentice and buried “garbage of all kinds”. Post war, Roland became a King’s Scout. Ronald definitely is a fine example of what Scouts can do, and what we are.  Ronald’s story is noted in the Scouting book ‘The Left Handshake’.

Footnote 2:

After our Centenary year, we carefully considered the importance of the Bengal Newsletters and decided that although they’re valuable to 2nd Renfrew, they possibly had a more national importance.  With that in mind, we contacted the Imperial War Museum (IWM) to ask if the Newsletters could be of national interest and something the IWM would be interested in preserving, particularly as the IWM’s website has a note of a negative of a photograph of the 2nd RAF Bengal Services Crew.

We were delighted that the IWM was very interested in the Newsletters, agreeing their importance is national, and that they would be happy to take ownership of them.  We were sorry to see them leave our possession, but are happy that they are being well looked after – where better for important memorabilia to be stored than at the Imperial War Museum?

When sending them to the IWM we asked if, because we were the original owners and the Newsletters have a specific relationship our Group, it would be acceptable for us to retain them on our website.  We are pleased that the IWM gave permission, asking that we ensure we include their reference on the documents.  Please, therefore, do not copy or replicate any of the Newsletters.  If you wish to use or refer to them, please ask for permission from the IWM, advising the reference number on the document.  Thank you.)