The Boy's Brigade Camp Handbook

By Anon Anon

This early work on the Boys' Brigade is both expensive and hard to find in its first edition. It was the standard hand-book of Brigade members and includes information on camp equipment, organisation, recreations and much more. This is a fascinating work and highly recommended for anyone interested in the Boys' Brigade and its history. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Read Books Ltd.
• Release date: Dec 3, 2012
• ISBN: 9781447484615

Book preview

PREFACE

THIS Handbook is published for guidance in arranging and carrying out B.B. Camps.

There is room for divergence of method in all Brigade work, and no branch offers more scope for the exercise of individual ideas than Camp. Hence the object of this Handbook is not so much to provide a set of hard and fast regulations as to offer suggestions and give advice which each Officer must sift for himself, and use so far as it is applicable to the needs of his own Camp.

The varying size of Camps, ranging from a score of Boys to a large Battalion Camp of 600 or more, does not facilitate the compilation of a common Handbook, and it is realised that the smaller Camps will probably gain more benefit from such a publication, Battalion Camps generally being under the charge of our more experienced Officers, to whom such a Handbook is less essential.

One warning is perhaps necessary. Camps should not be over-organised, and it must not be thought that a Company holding a small Camp for the first time should start with the more elaborate organisation which might be expected in the Camp of a well-established Battalion or Company. The soundest organisation is built up by degrees, and it is far better to start with a few rules and simple organisation, and do the thing thoroughly, than to attempt an elaborate paper organisation which, when the time comes, will prove impracticable.

In order to raise the efficiency of Camps the Brigade Executive expect all District and Battalion Executives to arrange for the annual Visitation of the Camps of the units in their areas. Experienced Officers should undertake this work. The Visitation of Battalion Camps and Company Camps unattached to Battalions should be arranged by the District or Divisional Executives, and Company Camps within Battalions by Battalion Executives.

By decision of Brigade Executive, authority is given to Districts in which the actual Camp site is located to visit and report on Camps, even when no request has been received from the home Battalion or District concerned.

NOTE.—In using this Handbook it should be borne in mind that the sections on clothing, food and cooking, in particular the quantities, must naturally be adapted to current regulations.

PART I.

General Arrangements.

IT should be the aim of all Officers to take their Companies to Camp, and every effort should be made to assure the attendance of every possible Boy. Companies unable to camp not only miss an opportunity of providing their Boys with a most enjoyable and beneficial holiday, but they lose perhaps the finest opportunity the Brigade offers of developing the characters and influencing the lives of the Boys. It is hardly an exaggeration to say that a week in Camp is worth the whole of the rest of the year’s work put together; and certainly the healthy surroundings, the friendly intercourse between Officers and Boys, and the spirit of comradeship and good-will fostered, offer opportunities of which Officers would do well to avail themselves.

Most of our Battalions have well-managed Battalion Camps; and even for Companies not attached to a Battalion, it is usually not difficult either to combine with neighbouring Companies and form an inter-Company Camp, or if this is impossible to arrange a Company Camp for themselves.

The question of Company versus Battalion Camp has frequently been discussed, and it is not our purpose to debate the question here. There is room for both—frequently in the same Battalion; and it must be left to Captains of Companies to decide which is more suited to their needs. It is safe to say, however, that a Company’s first experience of Camp should, if possible, be at a Battalion Camp, or if no Battalion Camp is available, with a well-established Company at its Company Camp. For a new Company to hold a Camp of its own when its organisation is incomplete and discipline not yet fully established may prove a mistake; while to attend a well-conducted Battalion Camp has a wonderfully stimulating and levelling up effect upon a new Company.

Before embarking upon what is in the first place the experiment of Camp, Officers would do well to count the cost, and realise the responsibilities involved.

An Officer’s first responsibility is to the Boys he is taking away. To them he stands in loco parentis, and their welfare should be his first consideration. Fortunately accidents and misadventures in Boys’ Brigade Camps are rare, and this good record should be maintained by the most careful consideration of every detail, and by the exercise of the utmost care and forethought.

In a Battalion Camp the Officer’s care and consideration of his own Boys must never be at the expense of other Companies or the Camp generally. His loyal allegiance is due to those in charge of the Camp, and he must ever be ready to subordinate his own views and desires to the common good.

It must be remembered that the good name of The Boys’ Brigade is in the keeping of every Officer and Boy in Camp; and everything should be done, and nothing left undone, to keep that name untarnished, and to create a good impression in the locality.

This should be impressed on the Boys from the outset, and it should be considered the gravest of offences to bring dishonour upon the Camp and the Brigade by bad conduct. Such offences as interference with private property, injury to crops, trespassing, disorderly conduct in towns or villages, rudeness to or lack of consideration for local residents, should be sternly dealt with, and the whole Camp made to feel that the offenders have brought disgrace upon the Camp and the Brigade.

In many districts where the same Camp has been held repeatedly, the consistently good conduct of the Boys ensures a welcome year by year from the local residents; and Officers should remember that unless they can foster these feelings and dissolve any prejudice which may in the first place exist, the Camp is falling short of the high standard to which a Boys’ Brigade Camp should aspire.

In these days with the wide development of camping by holiday makers there are bound to be camps where the standard is such as not to bring credit to camping generally. This makes it more important than ever that B.B. Camps should be beyond reproach, and Officers are referred to the code of the Good Camper on page 98 as the camping ideal to set before the Boys.

In dealing with tradesmen—and it is good policy to support local industry—all dealing should be on the most businesslike footing, and there should never be the least delay in the settlement of accounts.

When Camp is struck everything should be cleared up with the most scrupulous care, all trenches filled in, and the Camp field left absolutely clean. All services rendered should be recognised, and Officers naturally will wish to write and thank any residents—however humble—who may have helped the Camp, or shown kindness to the Boys. On Visitors’ Day, when possibly sports are held, local residents may well be invited, and throughout the Camp every means should be used of cultivating cordial relations between the Camp and its neighbours.

Finance.—No Camp should be undertaken until it is clearly seen that the financial responsibility can be met, and the question of cost is usually an Officer’s first consideration. A considerable saving in expense can be secured by arranging between neighbouring Battalions or Companies for a series of Camps to occupy the same site and use the same equipment in rotation. By thus sharing the heavy cost of Equipment, rent, etc., the Camp will cost materially less for each party, to say nothing of the saving in labour in such an arrangement.

No hard and fast rule can be laid down as to the cost per Boy, as it necessarily varies according to locality, accommodation and size of Camp.

Neither can a rule be laid down as to the amount to be paid by the Boys. While capital outlay may well come from sources other than Officers’ and Boys’ pockets, normal charges should correspond to the cost of the Camp. In these days Boys are better able to pay their own way than formerly and charges should not be fixed too low. Boys always appreciate most what has cost them most—in cash or effort, and Camp affords an excellent opportunity of cultivating thrift and forethought in systematically putting by something towards the holiday.

Though the profit motive should be a secondary consideration, a legitimate method of raising a few pounds towards the cost of Camp is by means of a well-managed Canteen, as the Camp Tuck Shop is usually called. Boys usually have plenty of pocket-money to spend in Camp, and it is no difficult matter to supply them with sweets and chocolate, mineral waters, cakes and fruit at least as cheaply as the village shop, and at the same time to aid the Camp funds.

It is reasonable that the older Boys should pay more than the younger, and of course Officers, Warrant Officers and Staff-Sergeants should pay at a higher rate than the Boys. All amounts should be paid before the start of the Camp.

Having fixed the rate to be charged, Officers should not too readily make exceptions, as it is difficult to do so without the number of apparently deserving cases tending to increase. If, after careful investigation, it is decided to assist a Boy such help should be given through the parent without the knowledge of the Boy.

The arrangements for Camp should be announced as early as possible, and Boys should be given the opportunity of starting to save from the beginning of the Session.* They should be told how much they will be required to pay, and what sum put by each week will meet this. A circular addressed to the Parents, issued early in the Session, may be of use, as in the case of the younger Boys the payment is usually met by the Parents.

This should be followed by the issue in the spring of full particulars regarding Camp, with a form to be filled in by the Parents of Boys attending.

Locality.—Having discussed ways and means, the next matter for consideration is the question of the locality and