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Very but with "real" Germans!Looks John Buchan 'Greenmantle'- tastic. - I.
Good stuff. I went to his alma mater, and, oddly enough, of about 600-odd boys there, only a very few were in the Scouts (aka "Skits"). The rest of us were in the CCF. I suppose it was the attraction of Lee-Enfield rifles and itchy battledress that did it. The way we felt at the time about being imprisoned in a public school (very-unScouting) when the 60's were getting under way foreshadowed the film "If...", which came out in 1968, a few years after I was "asked to leave".'Scouting for Boys' - Robert Baden-Powell
Wish I'd read this as a boy. Things could have turned out so differently.Good stuff. I went to his alma mater, and, oddly enough, of about 600-odd boys there, only a very few were in the Scouts (aka "Skits"). The rest of us were in the CCF. I suppose it was the attraction of Lee-Enfield rifles and itchy battledress that did it. The way we felt at the time about being imprisoned in a public school (very-unScouting) when the 60's were getting under way foreshadowed the film "If...", which came out in 1968, a few years after I was "asked to leave".
The poor old Scouts were the butt of many a nasty trick and remark.
It's a very instructive book. Even if the scouting, woodcraft etc. bits were left out, and notwithstanding some of the more "Imperial" aspects, it's still an excellent description of what goes (or used to) to make a well-formed, well-mannered, responsible and civilised citizen.Wish I'd read this as a boy. Things could have turned out so differently.
Like I say. I wish I'd read this when I was young.a well-formed, well-mannered, responsible and civilised citizen
I haven't got to that bit in Baden-Powell's book yet. Only read the first few chapters.generally set fire to stuff, and smoked tabs and got pissed.
Like I say. I wish I'd read this when I was young.
We had bayonets, blanco and blank ammo, but by the sound of it, you had a better time of it. The army surplus tinned Maconochies Irish stew on field days was vile. My great-grandfather was very pro-Scouting, and laid the foundation stone of our Scout Hut here in 1948. My grandson has recently joined, but my offer of clasp knives, belt with rings and clips, mess tins etc didn't go too well, and they are rather more contemporary now; so I am severely informed.Ah! Scouting for boys. That's probably illegal these days, in the modern parlance! I confess to never having read said volume, but I was in the Scouts as a saucepan, and it has to be said, it was probably one of the best times of my life. My mates all went into CCF and made much of how we scouts tied improbable knots and helped old ladies across the road, whilst they were square bashing, stripping down Lee Enfields and polishing boots, but generally imagining themselves on a battlefield, whilst we got up to all manner of cool shit. We all carried 6" sheath knives (good luck with that in 2021) and played British Bulldog (banned years ago for generally being violent and against H&S), rode horses, went canoeing, climbed cliffs, went potholing (where I nearly drowned 500m below the surface in a flooded sump) and generally set fire to stuff, and smoked tabs and got pissed. Hmm, let me think, would I rather have polished boots and wrapped puttees round my ankles whilst being griefed by an 18 year old NCO? Lemme think...
A great game classic - apart from the short story The Man Who Would be King - the best of Kipling for me. I'm just about to re-read the following, my sister sent me a handsome vintage Penguin edition. - I.View attachment 76755
Revisiting Kim - just wonderful, so atmospheric...
“He drew from under the table a sheet of strangely scented yellow-Chinese paper, the brushes, and slab of India ink. In cleanest, severest outline he had traced the Great Wheel with its six spokes, whose centre is the conjoined Hog, Snake, and Dove (Ignorance, Anger, and Lust), and whose compartments are all the heavens and hells, and all the chances of human life.”