That Boy Scout founder disobeyed
own law doubles memorabilia price
Documents suggesting Boy Scout founder Lord Baden-Powell illegally executed a prisoner-of-war have been sold for £3,740.
Papers relating to the Second Matabele War in 1896 say Baden-Powell, then a Colonel in the British Army, ordered the shooting of an African chief.
The chief, Uwini, had been promised his life would be spared if he surrendered.Staff | BBC
The Daily Mail/UK offers more damning details:
Turns out his lordship was a liar and war criminal
These days, the enthusiastic young officer is best remembered as Lord Baden-Powell, founder of the Scout Movement and hero to generations of young people schooled in his motto, Be Prepared."Tellingly," the Daily Mail reports, [Tim] "Jeal states in his biography that Baden-Powell had an extraordinary fascination with executions, almost a bloodlust for them, and relaxed by painting watercolours of firing squads."His scouting manual teaches them proficiency in survival and sports, but it also stresses that they must adhere to the tenets of decency and honour enshrined in the Scout promise sworn by the camp fire: that a scout can always be trusted and that if he gives his promise he will never break it.
But newly discovered papers, which have just been sold at auction, reveal that this highly regarded man did not always match up to his own standards.
The papers show that, while serving in Rhodesia, Baden-Powell proved himself the worst sort of colonial stereotype, illegally executing one of the country's bravest tribal chiefs - after promising that his life would be spared.
He then falsified the evidence against the victim and changed entries in his own diaries to re-write history and ensure a cover-up. Today he would be described as a war criminal.
The 50-odd documents which went under the hammer in Cirencester are part of an archive belonging to General Carrington, who was Baden-Powell's boss in Africa.
They include Baden-Powell's own handwritten justifications for his actions. But there are also eyewitness accounts of the incident - accounts which, had they been made public at the time, would almost certainly have spelled an end to Baden-Powell's glorious career.
For even though he was hauled before a Court of Inquiry in October 1896, he escaped with his reputation intact.Glenys Roberts | Daily Mail/UK
Baden-Powell had other critics and shortcomings that have escaped the Boy Scouts notice.
As reported by www.britishempire.uk.co:
'B-P' [as Baden-Powell was called] joined the 13th Hussars in 1876 as a 2nd lieutenant. He was excused the Sandhurst course because of his high placing in the exam and gazetted straight into the regiment, then stationed in India. From the start he showed an aptitude for and enjoyment of military scouting and irregular warfare. He also developed an aptitude for pig-sticking, winning the inter-regimental cup in 1883. He was detached for scouting service in Africa, in the Ashanti (1895) and Matabele (1896) campaigns.Notice that the first rule of the Scout law is to tell the truth.
In 1897 he transferred to the 5th Dragoon Guards which he Commanded. While he was on leave in England in 1899 he was summarily appointed to raise a force of mounted rifles to be based in Mafeking with the secret aim of making raids on the Boers in Transvaal. Baden-Powell was a publicity-seeking man and his hour had come. Mafeking was beseiged by a superior force of Boers on October 12th 1899 which lasted for 217 days until May 17th 1900. The relief of Mafeking was celebrated throughout the Empire as it was the first victory the British had achieved in the Boer War. But was Baden-Powell (he pronounced his name 'Poel') deserving of his hero status? He was certainly inovative, resourceful and cool under stress, but he had his failures. Nowadays, one hundred years after the event, what we find most unforgivable was his treatment of the black population of Mafeking.
It was an unstated agreement between Boers and British that no blacks were to be involved in the war. B-P took the unprecedented step of arming 300 Africans (with rather antiquated weapons), and christened them the 'Black Watch' setting them out to guard part of the perimeter. As it happened, they proved invaluable. What was infinitely worse, was his forced expulsions of blacks. On one occasion, 700 Baralong women were persuaded to attempt a mass exodus. Only 10 got away, the rest returned, many having been stripped and flogged by the Boers.
B-P was appointed Colonel of the 13th in 1911. He remained as such through the amalgamation with the 18th Hussars.
Scout law
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posted by Tom Nadeau at 8:13 AM
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