Boy Scout kilts

[Chas]

Chas...I think you're right...no clue who the other guy is, but not B-P. What is the pin that BP is wearing on the side of his campaign hat in this pic? Any clue? I assume that this uniform is his military uniform as a Lieutenant General and that this portrait was taken when he was long since retired?

Hi Longhuntr,



In the UK, that type of hat was called the 'Boy Scout' or the 'lemon squeezer'. It was chosen by B-P himself for these reasons:

1. The brim keeps the sun out of your eyes
2. The brim keeps the rain from dripping down the back of your neck, and
3. It can be used in an emergency to carry water.

It was made of moulded brown felt with a leather belt round the base of the crown (1/2" wide for the boys and 1" for leaders). Not shown in the picture is the hat badge - worn immediately above the belt and partially covering it. Each country had their own design, so as 'Chief Scout of the World', B-P probably wore none so as not to favour one country over another. In the UK, there was also a brown boot lace which tied as a bow in the front on the brim, below the hat badge. Again, ever practical, this bootlace could be used as an emergency boot lace (it was long enough) or as a chin strap during windy weather.

A bit of background to your question.

The badge on the side of the hat was a rank and position badge. In the UK, there were the following personnel:

Headquarters staff (HQ) - Running the Boy Scout Association on a national basis.

County Commissioners (CC) - In charge of all Scouting activity, within their county. Reports to HQ.

Assistant County Commissioners (ACC) - In charge of the various sections under the CC. (Wolf Cubs, Boy Scouts, Rover Scouts, Air or Sea Scouts, Any other area of expertise). Reports to CC

District Commissioners (DC) - In charge of all Scouting activity, within their district. Reports to CC.

Assistant District Commissioners (ADC) - Same as ACC, but on a district level. Reports to DC.

Group Scout Masters/Leaders (GSM/GSL - Responsible for the running of a Scout Group. The Group could comprise many elements - 3 Cub Packs, 2 Troops and 1 Rover Crew or just one - 1 Scout troop (at a boarding school). Reports to the DC

Scout Masters/Leaders (SL) - Run a Scout Troop. The Scout Troop could be one of many hundreds in a city, or the only one in a village, or be amalgamated with others to make a reasonable sized troop. (from my own Assistant Leader days - 1st Downham Market, Barroway Drove and Nordelph (Lord Abnorth's Own). Reports to the GSL

Assistant Scout Masters/Leaders (ASL) Assist the SL in the running of the Troop. Reports to the SL

Wolf Cub Scouts became Cub Scouts and the leaders CSMs and ACSMs
Boy Scouts became Scouts
Rover Scouts became Venture Scouts
Masters became Leaders

To get to your question - finally.

Each of these people wore a badge on the side of their hat. It looked rather like a Scottish Armiger's cap badge. A ring (not rope) with the Fleur-de-lys inside. Behind the badge and sticking up above it was the 'plume'. The badge looked rather like a flat paintbrush. The plume was in various colours to match the rank or position.

Full green was for trained Leaders (SLs and CSLs and VSLs),
Yellow/Green/Yellow was for Assistants,
Full Yellow was for Leaders without Portfolio (could be sent anywhere or do any job with very little notice) (often called the Yellow Perils),
Black were for Padres (of any religion),

This is where old age and senile decay kicks in. There were also Purple, Yellow/Purple/Yellow, Red, Red and Green, White and all the various mixtures. I forget who wore what.

When the uniform was re-vamped, we got the beret and the rank badge from the side, became the cap badge in the front. Then later all cap badges were the same for boys and leaders and leaders wore a rank strip above the County badge.

B-P wore either a Green or Red plume - I have seen pictures of him wearing both (I do not know why).

The jacket that he in wearing was standard Scout Leaders uniform (all ranks and positions) at that time. They wore a uniform shirt and tie and the military style jacket (4 button, single breasted, belted, with patch pockets in a khaki colour). Note there are no epaulets. It was designed to be a cross between military and civilian dress - military enough to be a uniform, but not military enough to be too expensive.

I hope this answers the question. Yours in Scouting.

Regards

Chas