"The three most famous Generals I have known in my lifetime have won no great battle over the foreign foe. Yet their names, which all begin with a B, are all household words. They are General Booth, General Botha and General Baden-Powell. To General Booth we owe the Salvation Army; to General Botha, United South Africa and to General Baden-Powell the Boy Scout Movement."
Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister (1940-1945)
Baden-Powell (shown left), affectionately known as BP, was educated at Charterhouse School, one of England's most famous Public Boys' School, he served for the British Army from 1866 until 1910 in both India and Africa. BP wrote many books whilst serving in the Army and aquired a lot of his Scout training through his experiences. It was through these books he wrote his most famous piece of literature 'Scouting for Boys' which was published in 1908. It was during the writing of this book that the Scout Movement really began. In 1907 Baden-Powell tested his ideas with 20 young boys on Brownsea in Dorset. Since then it has developed into the largest youth and uniformed organisation in the world with a current 24 million members.
Brownsea Island is situated in Poole Harbour just off the south coast of England. The Scout Camp ran from 1st August 1907 to 9th August 1907 and many of the concepts and ideas that were used during that week are still readily used in Scout Camp programmes today. As previously stated, BP invited 20 boys on to the Scout Camp all from various social backgrounds. This was a revolutionary idea in the very class conscious Edwardian England. Ten of the boys came from well-to-do Public Schools (most of whom were sons of BP's friends), seven came from Bournemouth Boys' Brigade and three from Poole Boys' Brigade. Below is the stone which now stands on the island marking the very first Scout Camp. It reads 'This stone commemorates the experimental camp of 20 boys held on this site from 1st - 9th August 1907 by Robert Baden-Powell, later Lord Baden-Powell of Gilwell. Founder of the Scout and Guide movements.
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The most famous painting of BP.
Boys and girls accross the country soon began setting up Scout Troops and the movement inadvertently started, first a national and later an international obsession.
In 1912 Baden-Powell met the woman who would become his future wife, Olave St. Clare Soames on the ocean liner Arcadian heading for New York, where he was headed to start one of his world Scout tours. Although she was a young woman of 23 and him aged 55 this was not an uncommon age difference of the time and coincidentally they shared the same birthday. When BP became engaged it was a media sensation due to his high-level of fame and therefore to avoid public intrusion they married in private on 30th October 1912.
BP later died on 8th January 1941 and he is buried in Nyeri on St. Peter's Cemetary. His gravestone bears a circle with a dot in the centre. This is a sign used in tracking (a common Scout activity) and means 'I have gone home'.
The Gravestone of Robert and Olave Baden-Powell
depicting the Tracking Sign saying "Gone Home"
