Malta - Scouts Public Service Emergency Scheme

[JimZ]

I had in my posession for a number of years the record book number 1 of the war records of the Sliema Scout group. I had found this record in a local antique dealer and had bought it for nothing more than a trifle, finding this an interesting item as I was once, a scout myself. When I was clearing out the bulk of my collection, these records followed suit, but thankfully found their way back to the hands of their original owners. I'll post a few scans from my database. I did have a more complete set but when my HD needed re-formatting I lost most copies of these records.

Jim

[JimZ]

Cover

[JimZ]

Detail of label on front

[JimZ]

One of the pages detailing duties. Date reads September 1939

[JimZ]

Records of attendance - September 1939

[JimZ]

Details re woodbadge course

Edited April 25, 2007 by JimZ

[JimZ]

Some details from a pioneering project

[JimZ]

Some relevant hostory:

Scouting appeared on the island of Malta very soon after the famous camp on Brownsea Island was conducted by Robert Baden-Powell in August 1907. The 1st Sliema Scout Troop applied for recognition on the 9th of November, 1908, and this was received a year later, making it the first overseas Scout Troop of the Boy Scout Association of the United Kingdom and British Empire. At this time there were 338 Boy Scouts and 3 Scoutmasters listed as members of the Malta Boy Scouts Association.

The association was formerly registered as an Overseas Branch of The Boy Scouts Association on the 15th of September, 1913.

The First World War had a significant impact on Scouting on Malta, since most of the Scoutmasters were also servicemen and were ordered to the front in Europe. Many of the Scouts also volunteered for duties as interpreters, coast watchers and messengers, as well as to serve in hospitals and other support establishments. By the end of 1915, there were 84 Scouts on war duty from the island, and only 105 Scouts and leaders on Malta. However, as the latter half of the war progressed, membership rose sharply, and the association's general meeting on the 30th November, 1917, reported 1,200 members with 28 Scout Troops on the island.

The Second World War saw similar service from the Maltese Scouts, as they supported the Allied forces throughout the aerial siege of 1940 to 1943. This resulted in the association and its members receiving a collective award of the Bronze Cross, "in recognition of their courage and devotion to duty in the face of continuous enemy action in the war for freedom". Duties of the troop during the second world war would encompass their participation as coast watchers and air raid wardens as well as collecting reading materials for the the sick in hospitals.

Jim