Scouting

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLIX, Issue 21960, 12 May 1941, Page 10

Scouting

By

“D.C."

SCOUTING NEWS FROM BRITAIN Secuts on duty at a northern hospital were able to prove the value of their training when the surgeon called for their assistance. He had been giving artificial respiration to a patient for some time and could keep it up no longer. A team cf live was assembled —two of them Scouts—and the fight to save the patient’s life was continued but, unfortunately, proved unsuccessful. Aircraftman Cyril Geoffrey Faulkner, of Lancing, who was recently a *»rded the Military Medal for saving a British fighter pilot from his blazing 'plane, is a Scout of the Ist Lancing Troop. Twenty-five Holme Valley Scouts have trained as fire fighters and now that they have passed their final test they nope to be given a trailer pump for which they will take entire responsibility. Scouts showed their resourcefulness when the gas failed in an outer London area recently. The boys turned out in full force and assisted the refugees by cooking for them over open fires! Scouts of the Ist Ystrad Troop assembled, folded, packed and counted 12,350 envelopes and pamphlets at the local Blind Institute recently. They then distributed the envelopes. A Canadian troop recently operated a “Corn-on-the-Cob” (refreshment) stand near the entrance to a street carnival. They did big business and the mrniey raised was sent to the Red Cross i und. The stand bore the Union Jack, the Red Cross banner and the troop flag. Bill and Mike Palmer, Sea Scouts of Durban, South Africa, have been thanked by the Mayor of that city for their generosity in giving their yacht to the Liberty Fair which wa» organised in aid of the Governor General’s National War Fund. The boys bought the yacht with their savings, but they recokoned the sacrifice well worth while. SCOUTING ACROSS GERMANY! In a letter to his mother describing his escape from the Germans into Switzerland, Sergt. McKay, a Scoutmaster of Inverness, writes: “Please tell the Scouts to keep the troop in full swing. My officer is a Scoutmaster and with only a compass and a map we led 50 men over 120 miles of woodland Into Switzerland. How is that for Scout training?” ’ FINGERS BEFORE SHOVELS Scouts of a London district showed fine courage when a bomb made a direct hit on a railway arch which wa# being used as a shelter. The explosion brought bricks and debris down upon the people sheltering there, but the Scouts were soon on the scene. There being no tools available they used their hands and dug the people .out. The authorities of a Southport hospital are so pleased with the work done for them by Scouts that they have sent a cheque to the District Scoutmaster to be used for the benefit of the The Plymouth “Carry Your Gas Mask’’ procession through the city was well supported by the local Scouts, who turned up in large numbers and carried slogans such as “Delay is Deadly—So is Gas,” etc. • • • • Twenty-nin; Scouts of New Zealand, now stationed with the Expeditionary Force in Egypt, have formed a Rover Scout Crew to continue their peacetime interest. OVERSEAS VISITORS TO SCOUT CAMP Broadstone Warren has been well used by Scout campers this year in spite of war conditions, and each week a Scouts’ Own has been held in the open-air chapel. One day some Australian soldiers on trek discovered the camp and, after a welcome wash and a swim, they stayed to the camp fire and contributed several songs and stunts. On another occasion some French Scouts provided a number of items and told some thrilling tales of their experiences In France. A novel feature was demonstrated one week-end. when some camouflage enthusiasts built their own accommodation in a large tree. It held three boys comfortably and was thoroughly practical as well as picturesque.