Scouting in the 70th (1932-1968)
The Bushmans Thong (Fig. 24) was the highest Scouting award for backwoodsmanship and survival skills. In 1947, Scouts had to gain the First Class Badge, the Venturer proficiency badge, then gain two further proficiency badges from the following list of Camp Warden, Forester, Naturalist, Meteorologist, Pioneer, Tracker or Astronomer. All of the badges in the list were relevant to bushcraft and survival skills, but it was not permitted to use both the Meteorologist and Astronomer badges towards the award. The Bushman's Thong was also made an obligatory requirement for the King's Scout Badge in 1948. It is not clear when the award came into being. It is referred to in 1938 and might have been in existence before that (http://www.inquiry.net/scouting_dictionary/star_life_eagle.htm).
Figure 24 The Bushman's Thong
The requirements may also have changed slightly between 1947 and 1968 and between different countries. For example, Canadian Scouts in the 1960s had to gain the First Class Badge, the Campers proficiency badge, then choose one proficiency badge from a group of three (Naturalist, Stalker and Tracker), and the other badge from a group of four (Forester, Pioneer, Starman and Weatherman) (Fig. 25).
Figure 25 Proficiency Badges that were relevant to the Bushman's Thong in Canadian Scouting during the 1960s
Figure 26 The positioning of badges on uniform, and where to wear the Bushman's Thong and Scout Cords.
The sort of skills required to gain the Bushmans Thong involved activities such as making a bivvy and sleeping in it, lighting fires, backwoods cooking, skinning and cooking a rabbit, or gutting and preparing a fish. Moreover, a Scout had to make his own Bushmans Thong from two brown leather thongs or strips. As well as being an award, it was meant to be a practical object with a variety of uses, including the stringing of a fire-bow. It was worn round the right shoulder (Fig. 26). There is no reference to the Bushman’s thong in any of the 70th's records covering the thirties and forties, but by the 50s and 60s it was viewed a kind of 'rite of passage' between the First Class Badge and the Queen's Scout Badge. The award was discontinued in 1968.
Scout Cords were worn over the right shoulder and are remembered by several 70th 'Old Boys' from the fifties and sixties. It is possible that Scout Cords were the successors to All Round Cords, which existed in the thirties and forties. The All Round Cords were prestigious, with only three 70th Scouts achieving them during the thirties.
It has been difficult to find information about Scout Cords or All Round Cords, but the Canadian Boy
Scout booklet of the period identified three grades;
*Green and Yellow double Cords awarded to Second Class Scouts with six proficiency badges.
*Red and White double Cords awarded to First Class Scouts with twelve proficiency badges
*A Gold single Cord awarded to King's Scouts or Queen's Scouts with eighteen proficiency badges.
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Only the highest grade cords were worn and they may have been sewn onto the shirt above the right hand pocket (Fig. 27). Assuming that All Round Cords were the same as Scout Cords, they were removed from UK Scouting in 1968. Other countries chose to continue the concept of Scout Cords but with different requirements; for example Australian Scouts gain red, blue or green cords corresponsing to a training scheme involving Pioneer, Explorer and Adventurer badges.
The 1968 changes to the progressive training scheme were intended to make Scouting more relevant to the swinging sixties. The Tenderfoot, Second Class, and First Class badges were replaced with the Scout Badge, Scout Standard, Advanced Scout Standard and Chief Scouts Award, while the Queen's Scout badge was renamed the Queen's Scout Award and moved into the new Venture Scout section. Several awards such as the Bushman's thong and Scout cords were stopped altogether.
One justification for the name changes was that the term ‘Second Class’ might make Scouts feel like second-class citizens until they gained their ‘First Class’ badge. The requirements for each badge were also revamped with a greater emphasis on service and expedition skills such as lightweight camping, stove lighting and hiking. However, many of the Scoutcraft skills that had been integral to Troop programmes and activities were dropped. For example, tracking, estimation, observation, signalling, splicing, stalking, and bird identification were dropped completely, while other Scouting skills such as axemanship became optional. After 1968, further changes in the progressive training scheme were introduced, but, in 2001, the idea of a progressive training scheme appeared to have been abandoned completely.
Figure 27 Scout Cords
3.6 Proficiency badges.
Proficiency badges (Fig. 28) were circular in shape and were earned for specific skills, hobbies or activities. They were also a requirement for the Bushmans Thong, Scout Cords and the King's Scout Award. After the Second World War, square-shaped proficiency badges were introduced specifically for Senior Scouts (Fig. 29). All proficiency badges were asssessed by external examiners and each district had a designated list of approved badge examiners. Scouts were also meant to be re-assessed to ensure that they maintained the skills represented by a proficiency badge. In theory, a Scout could lose a proficiency badge if he failed a reassessment, but there are no recorded instances of this in the 70th records.
Figure 28 Examples of Scout Proficiency Badges (Observer?, Swimmer, Athlete, Collector, Librarian?, Guide?, Jobman?
Figure 29 Examples of Proficiency Badges for Senior Scouts .
3.7 The Court of Honour
According to 'Scouting for Boys', a Court of Honour was made up of the Scout Master and the Patrol Leaders, although in small troops Seconds might also participate. The Court of Honour was intended to provide Scouts with a say in how the troop was run, with the P.L.s representing the Scouts in their patrols. The Court met on regular occasions - about once a month. Records from the thirties and forties show that the P.L.s of the time took this role extremely seriously and there are several occasions where the Scouters failed to get their own way. It was also common practice in the 70th for the patrol Seconds to attend.
The Court of Honour was disbanded during the great 'shake up' of 1968, and was replaced with the less grand sounding 'Patrol Leaders Council' (P.L.C). With the simultaneous changes in section age ranges, the patrol leaders were younger and it is questionable whether the PLC was as powerful as the Court of Honour.
1.4 The Rover Crew
At the age of 18, a Scout could join the Rover Crew if he wished to continue in Scouting, but did not desire a leadership role. At their best, the Rover Crew provided support for other sections in the group, as well as pursuing activities such as hiking, climbing and camping. Indeed, there is evidence that this happened in the 70th Group during the 30s and 40s. On the other hand, a former Greenock District Commissioner stated that many Rover Crews were no more than Old Boys Clubs, where young men aged 18-25 met socially to chat and to smoke pipes and cigarettes. Rover Scouts wore the same uniform as the Scouts and Scouters, but had green coloured epaulettes on their shoulders (Fig. 30).
The Section was disbanded in 1968, although it continues to this day in countries such as Australia. In the UK, Venture Scouting was introduced to cater for 16-20 year olds and this continued until 2001. Currently, the 'senior' section are the Explorer Scouts catering for 14-18 years olds, with a rather loose organisation called the 'Network' which is aimed at 18-25 year olds.
Figure 30 Rover Scout Epaulette