Although my main focus is on the experience in my own country of Britain, it would be wrong to focus solely on the British experience of WW1 and WW2, and not to acknowledge the reality in many other countries across the world For World War 1 to some extent, and WW2 in particular, could genuinely be described as world wars, with dozens of countries involved or affected to varying extents. With apologies for the limitations of my research in this area, (in some cases limited because during the war and the immediate post-war era when many of the war stories were being recorded, the details had to be censored), it nevertheless seemed only right to give some impression of what was happening in various other countries, particularly as it affected the Guiding organisations in those countries.
Rather than try to group countries according to their war experience, which in many countries were broadly similar – I have opted to list countries in alphabetical order and to list something of their experience in each world war which occurred whilst that country had Guiding. Doing so, I’d suggest, gives an impression of the breadth of both different and similar experiences, and of endurance in each. Not all stories could be told, or may ever be, of endurance or bravery – some people did not feel able to tell, either for reasons of modesty, for reasons of safety – there remained a need for confidentiality on some subjects – or because it was too painful for them to recall. And in other cases, those who might have told of their activities did not survive to do so . . . It’s also well to acknowledge that whilst some countries were in the thick of fighting or resistance, others who were not, were nevertheless involved, whether because they offered support to those affected, or because they were impacted by shortages of food and materials. Then there were the countries which didn’t have fighting ‘on their doorstep’ but whose Guides nevertheless worked to raise money or send goods to countries such as Britain for the benefit of those affected by the war. Indeed, from the lists below it can be seen that both WW1 and WW2 truly were world wars, with worldwide impact.
Anguilla
Part of UK Guiding, the movement started on Anguilla in 1933. During WW2 Anguillan Guides were involved in collecting used silver paper and tinfoil, as well as raising money for the Lord Mayor’s fund, and for Guide Gift Week in May 1940 and the BP Memorial Fund.
Antigua & Barbuda
Guiding in Antigua and Barbuda began in 1931, and Guides in Antigua raised money for Guide Gift Week in 1940.
Australia
Guiding began in Australia in 1911, and during World War 1, Australian Guides supported the Red Cross with enthusiasm, demonstrating a high level of skill, knitted garments for soldiers, and fundraised to supply a motorised soup kitchen to the Australian forces They collected several hundred cases of clothing for distribution to those in need and helping to furnish a rest hut, and raising funds for the Red Cross. Australia joined WW2 alongside Britain in September 1939, and almost a million Australians served in the armed forces during the war, in Europe, North Africa and the South West Pacific. Both men and women were conscripted for war work, in the forces or in factories. The ‘home front’ was also affected by rationing, and by bombing attacks in Northern Australia, and Guides were involved in fruit picking and preserving. Australian Guides were again busy sending over cases of homemade clothes to Britain during WW2, and Norfolk Island Guides sent money for British Guides affected by air raids. Guides from South Australia endowed a cot in Guy’s Hospital, London.
Austria
Guiding in Austria was founded during WW1, and the national organisation was formed in 1924. With the coming of the Anschluss in 1938, Guiding was banned until 1945, but a few weeks after WW2 ended, groups were formed throughout the country, and a new national organisation began to take shape, being admitted to WAGGGS in 1957.
Bahamas
Guiding came to Bahamas in 1915, with three Guide Companies being formed. During WW1 Bahamian Guides gave a concert to raise funds for the Red Cross. Due to Leader shortages, Bahamian Guiding was suspended between 1935 and 1946, so Guides weren’t involved in WW2 support as an organisation, although former and future members would have been involved in war work as individuals.
Barbados
Guiding in Barbados started in 1918. In WW2, in common with the other Commonwealth countries in the Caribbean, Barbados sent a large number of people, both men and women, to serve in the forces – merchant navy, army and air force. They raised over £100 for Guide Gift Week in May 1940, and also sent several parcels of clothes to the UK for distribution. Over 300 first aid packs were gathered and presented to the Barbados Volunteers, and a large number of garments knitted and sent to British Sailors. The Guides set up a ‘flying squad’ to deliver meals to survivors landed from torpedoed ships.
Belgium
Guiding had started in Brussels in 1915, and spread rapidly – Belgium joined the International Council in 1919, and WAGGGS in 1928. As in the First World War, so in the Second World War, Belgium’s neutrality was violated, and it suffered daily. It was on the evening of the 10th May that the invasion began with hundreds of bombers flying over to attack the cities, followed shortly by an invasion at the border. Everyone was mobilised, including the Girl Scouts. They prepared their headquarters to receive casualties, and offered their immediate services to the Red Cross and the Government. Their first assignment was to meet and unload a trainload of refugees. It had been bombed, and forced to detour, and arrived very late. When it finally arrived it was laden with hundreds of adults, their children, their livestock, and bundles of their provisions. The Girl Scouts escorted the travellers to schools and to the Scout Headquarters, some Scouts going ahead to source beds and bedding for the arrivals. For forty-eight hours non-stop the Scouts worked to house, feed, and tend to the visitors, with the ongoing threat of further bombing raids, until the group could move onwards to France, inevitably replaced by the next group. Throughout the war, Scouts set up relief camps and soup kitchens, and feeding destitute families, often using their own rations. They worked in hospitals as nurses’ aids, and worked in the underground to smuggle downed allied airmen to safety.
In the early years of the war Scouting was permitted, and camping was able to continue, though it often took the form of rest and rehabilitation camps organised for undernourished children, and held throughout the year. At these camps food was still hard to come by, and many of the facilities improvised, nevertheless the food, clothes, lessons and games benefited the children as well as drawing Scout recruits. These camps were authorised, and the government gave some help with food supplies. So – that is what the Scouts did publicly. But it wasn’t all they did.
In April 1943, Scouting was banned in Belgium, , the organisation had to be dissolved, as the Nazis demanded that lists of Scout Leaders be handed over for drafting into forced labour and Hitler Youth organisations – the Scouts refused, destroyed many records, and went ‘underground’. Meetings were held in secret locations, the individual Scouts arriving at different times and from different directions. Meeting under the guise of being choirs, gardening clubs or players of the game Vogel-pick, they continued cautiously to gather. Many, however, were found out and arrested, especially the Girl Scout Leaders. Nevertheless the Scouts continued with Leaders or not, helping the wounded, rescuing the injured, and helping the newly-homeless. One Scout set up a one-girl soup kitchen, wheeling a homemade cart which contained a stove, allowing her to heat up soup or hot drinks to serve to wounded or homeless people. It also served as cover for the batches of clandestine newspapers she dropped off for delivery by fellow Girl Scouts on her way home at the end of her kitchen shift. Many of these newspapers were also written and printed by Scouts, and contained messages received from foreign radio broadcasts on secret radios, propaganda, instructions and advice on ways to resist, and messages for underground operatives. One group of Rangers specialised in photographing secret German documents – they were stolen from desks by one of the Rangers who worked as an employee in the Government offices, photographed overnight, then replaced in the morning just before the offices opened. Blank identification cards, and ration stamps, were also stolen by the same Ranger. Many Scouts were involved in stealing and transporting Nazi weapons for use by the resistance, and in transferring downed allied airmen to the border in hopes of transferring them back to Britain to re-join the fighting. Many Scouts worked in Antwerp’s hospitals – a number of those were victims of V1 and V2 rockets.
Freedom came with liberation in the Spring of 1945. As the allies arrived, many Scouts put on their uniforms regardless that blouses would not fasten and skirts were short – they were proud of their uniforms on liberation day.
Bermuda
Guiding started in Bermuda in 1913. During both WW1 and WW2 Bermuda provided a naval dockyard and base which was invaluable, and also an air base and flying boat base. In May 1940 they raised over £450 for Guide Gift Week. They also sent supplies of clothes to the UK for distribution and contributed to the BP Memorial Fund.
Brazil
Guiding started in Brazil in 1919. Until April 1917, Brazil had been neutral, but after two instances of merchant ships being torpedoed , Brazil declared war on Germany. Brazil provided significant help through the export of foodstuffs and raw materials to the Allied powers. Brazil participated in the talks at Versailles and was a founding member of the League of Nations. In WW2 a similar scenario occurred – Brazil started the war as neutral, but following a number of attacks on it’s shipping, joined the war on the allied side in August 1942, sending several squadrons of pilots to fight in Italy as well as supporting the naval efforts in the Atlantic Ocean. Guides from Brazil contributed to Guide Gift Week in 1940.
British Virgin Islands
Guiding started in the British Virgin Islands in 1928. Guides from the British Virgin Islands were active in war service during World War 2, including contributing to Guide Gift Week in May 1940, and the BP Memorial Fund.
Canada
Guiding was founded in Canada in 1910. During the First Wold War, Guiding members did a lot to support war efforts. They worked in munitions factories, made surgical dressings and bandages, knitted socks for soldiers, assisted in the distribution of leaflets for war relief societies, collected waste paper for Red Cross funds, prepared khaki clothes and made shirts and other articles of soldiers’ clothing in factories, and raised money for war charities. With so many resources and so much time directed towards the war efforts, badges couldn’t be made by the factories. That didn’t stop Girl Guide members – they made their own, embroidering them by hand. During WW2, Canadian Girl Guides organised and ran a two-year National War Service Project called “The Guide Overseas Gift Project”. From November 1940, Girl Guide members knitted and sewed over 29,665 pieces of clothing from bootees to overcoats, which were sent to the UK to be handed out to children who had been victims of bombing there.
GGC ran a Canada-wide Wartime Emergency Service Program to prepare girl members, 15-years and older (especially Rangers), to meet the war needs in their community in periods of emergency. The girls were trained and tested in the following areas:
Home Service – This included home nursing, first aid, household repairs, mending and thrifty cooking.
Child Care – This included looking after children younger than 10 years of age. It also included learning to assist in the evacuation of small children and helping to make them comfortable and happy in temporary quarters.
Transportation – This included knowing how to act as messengers in their own communities, drive a vehicle, repair motors, transport groups from a danger zone to a safe place and being able to orient themselves in strange surroundings with road maps, a compass, a watch and the position of the sun and stars.
Land work – This included theoretical and practical knowledge of any form of food production with at least one month’s part-time work or three months’ full-time land work.
Post-war, they also sent quantities of dressmaking supplies to Greece, to enable the manufacture of Guide uniforms in 1945 for the restarted organisation.
Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic, and Slovakia)
Scouting was founded in what was to become Czechoslovakia in 1912. In 1938 a four-power conference in Munich ceded the area termed the “Sudetenland” to Germany – then on 14th March 1939 German troops marched into Prague. The Girl Scouts of Czechoslovakia first took their pledge to fight for freedom in 1939. Until the summer of 1940 they were able to continue meeting in secret. But then the Gestapo began systematic searches of all meeting places and camps. They arrested all Scouts found in uniform, and sent them to prison. All Scout equipment was confiscated for the use of the Hitler Youth. Those who escaped headed home in whatever clothes they stood up in or had managed to hide. The following November, Scouting was officially disolved, all property seized, and all Leaders were arrested and imprisoned. This only served to encourage participation in the resistance. Scouts helped to build street barricades and carry messages. They worked as nurses’ aides and in soup kitchens. They took over as telephone operators in place of workers who had been deported or shot. They helped to set up and run the secret underground radio system. In the midst of this, they also carried on with Scout activities and held secret Patrol or Troop meetings – and amongst other activities, at these meetings they wrote hundreds of newsletters sharing positive news, for distribution in concentration camps throughout Czechoslovakia, to boost morale, especially amongst the Girl Scouts who had been imprisoned. The German forces were convinced that many Scouts were important members of the Underground, so where they couldn’t prove individuals were resisting, they arrested and shot Scouts without regard for age or evidence of underground activity. The International Scout Commissioner was taken to Terezin concentration camp, where she organised Scout entertainments and invested new troops. Meantime her two Scout daughters, aged thirteen and six, maintained the household, attended school, and sent parcels to each of their imprisoned parents. After school they also assumed leadership of a Girl Scout troop, one of the most active troops in the underground – their youth helped to allay suspicion that they might be involved in courier activities. Over time, the honour roll of Scouts who gave their lives in resistance work grew ever longer.
With Scouting outlawed, the occupiers set up a new approved youth organisation to replace it, called “Kuratorium fur Jugenderziehung”. It was intended to eliminate all remembrance of Scouting from the minds of the children, and make democracy appear ridiculous. German became the official language and was used on all occasions. High school students were forced to work in munitions factories, either in Czechoslovakia, or in labour battalions in Germany – youths returned from these work camps with shattered nerves and broken health. One other youth organisation was permitted besides the Kuratorium – the Club of Czech Tourists, which was also entrusted with youth education, however it’s supervision was not so strict, so was the more popular option for many including Scouts. Other Scout groups looked for ‘cover options’ to continue their activities, leading to an increase in the number of church youth groups which combined meetings for bible study in public, with other pastimes in secret.
Although underground activities were carried out by city Scouts, underground work was easier to manage in country areas where German patrols were fewer. Girl Scouts joined the partisans and carried fool deliveries from the cities to mountain hideouts, or used clandestine radios to listen for and transcribe secret broadcasts and circulate them. Others tramped through snow guiding men of the resistance across frontiers by use of lanes and byways. They supplied food and forged passes to those who wanted to leave the country in order to join up with the allies.
Five days after the occupying forces surrendered, the Boy and Girl Scouts of Prague set up barricades in the streets to fight off those Nazis who still tried to hold the capital, suffering many losses. When freedom came, so too did gifts of food, clothing and resources from the USA. Soon there were 250,000 members, with trainings being organised and headquarters being set up. But in 1948 the freedom would come to an end as Czechoslovakia lay in eastern Europe, and by 1950 Scouting was fully dissolved. There was a brief resumption in March 1968 with the ‘Prague Spring’ rebellion, but only until 1970 when Scouting had to go underground again. Only with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the following ‘velvet revolution’ was the communist government peacefully deposed was there potential for Scouting to resume again. In 1993 Czechoslovakia split into the two states of the Czech Republic, and Slovakia, with Junak being the Scout organisation in the Czech Republic, and Slovensky Skauting in Slovakia.
Denmark
Denmark has long been Scout and Guide minded, and the Movements have weathered many difficulties there. There are records dating back to 1911, and during WW1 they helped with the potato growing, nettle harvest, and making paper briquettes for fuel. Round about 1932, owing to certain political tendencies in the country, a law was passed forbidding the wearing of uniform and, of course, this was a very great blow to both Scouts and Guides. However, it was explained to them that the uniform does not make a person, and that this was therefore a challenge to them to prove that the enthusiasm and spirit of the Movements could persist and become even more effective and widespread, without any outward and visible sign of membership. It says much for their enthusiasm and spirit, that neither, wavered during the years that followed, and the work of the Scouts in their troops and the Guides in their companies continued with the same energy until the law was revised in 1934 and their precious uniform was proudly re-donned.
Denmark had declared it’s neutrality at the start of WW2. As such, they were taken by surprise when, at 4 am on 9th April 1940, German tanks rolled into the capital bringing an ultimatum. Rapidly, resistance groups rose up, many including Girl Guides. Occupation brought major changes to their lives – there were times when it was not safe to go out after dark – other times when it was forbidden to go out at any time. Many schools were taken over by the Germans, meaning pupils had to attend part time, half in the morning and half in the afternoon Eventually, Guide meetings had to meet on Sundays – but, unusually – Guiding was never actually banned in Denmark. Great care had to be taken by Guide Leaders who joined the resistance, as illegal activities had to be kept separate from the Guide Association, for fear their activities would be not just at risk of their own lives, but also at risk of fellow leaders. Nevertheless, the Underground and the Association worked closely throughout the occupation. With the Germans seeking to starve the locals by sending all available food to Germany, the Guides worked to feed the nation, by organising expeditions into the country to gather windfall fruit by night – many orchard owners were happy to leave bushels for collection too. Guides also gathered wild fruit and berries which they bottled and turned into jam to send to the poorhouses and orphanages.
The Voluntary Assistance Corps of Scouts and Guides were trained and ready so serve in messenger service, telephone operation, map reading, first aid, and identifying bombs and their effects. In addition each member had to know their own locality intimately in order to act as guides or couriers. Each member was assigned a specific duty and a particular post – and had to get there as promptly as she could by whatever means she could access.
Dominica
Guiding started in Dominica in 1928. During WW2 Dominicans volunteered in British and Caribbean forces. Dominican Guides donated to Guide Gift Week in May 1940.
Egypt
Guiding came to Egypt in 1918 – at that time there were strong links between Britain and Egypt. Although technically neutral during WW2, Egypt was invaded by Italy, and then by Germany. Egyptian Guides donated to the BP Memorial Fund, and to the Guide International Service Fund – raising money through sales and concerts, and making goods to sell. They also donated clothes and toys to the Yugoslavian Refugee Camp which was set up in Egypt.
Fiji
Fijian Guiding started in 1924. During WW2 the Fiji Defence Force served alongside the New Zealand Army, and the Fiji Infantry Regiment fought in the Solomon Islands Campaign against the Japanese. Guides from Fiji were involved in war work, and donated to Guide Gift Week in May 1940, and the BP Memorial Fund.
Finland
Guiding started in Finland in 1910, but the years that followed saw great political upheaval, resulting in a ban on Girl Guiding. The Movement was officially revived in 1917, and it has expanded steadily and gained strength ever since. The first Brownie pack was started in 1925, and the first Ranger company in 1930. 1939 saw Finish Guides working in Helsinki hospitals. In spite of wartime hardship and trial, service was freely given in the form of fire-watching, blood transfusion, hospital work, and help in orphanages ; fir cones were collected for fuel, and every effort was made to lighten other people’s burdens.
France
The Scout Movement began there round about 1911. The man who began it in France translated the word Scout literally into the French language, called the boys Eclaireurs, and formed an Association. Then some girls started, and they naturally adopted the same name too, but put it into the feminine gender and called themselves Eclaireuses, and wore brown, and they called their Brownies Petites Ailes (Little Wings.) The leaders and members of this Association were largely of the Protestant religion, and they were a splendid group of people, and worked hard. Later the Roman Catholic Church and leading Catholic men and women became interested, and started up another Association, and called themselves ‘ Scouts ‘ (pronounced SCOOT ‘) and ‘ Guides ‘ (pronounced GEEDES. ‘) They wear dark blue with white collars, and their Brownies are called Jeannettes, though the Wolf Cubs of both Associations took the name Louveteaux and the Rovers are always known as Routiers.
There were other sections of Scouting and Guiding that started up too, and worked on their own for a time. But then they realised that ‘ unity is strength,’ and that it was best for all the Associations to go hand in hand, and so although they could not alter their names and uniforms, they have all come together in a ‘ Federation,’ and both Scouts and Guides all over France come under the direction of one Headquarters which functions as le Scoutisme Francais, though each Association keeps its own identity.
In 1939, French Guides set up canteens for soldiers in train stations, offering not just food, but also washing facilities and bunk beds. In June 1940, France’s turn to face the threat of war came. As the threat drew nearer, thousands of people fled Paris, some in cars, more on bicycles, in carts or on foot, taking only what they could carry or haul. On 21st June, France officially surrendered, and the north and south were separated. But though the Government may have surrendered, a number of the people had not, and underground networks soon developed. These were extensive – not just dealing with the basics of rebellion, but in holding training classes on sabotage and weapons handling, and in having a laboratory to develop chemicals to sabotage machinery and vehicles. Girl Scouts from the various Scout organisations in France – the Eclaireurs Unionistes, the Eclaireurs de France, the Scouts de France, the Eclaireurs Isrealites, the Eclaireuses and the Guides – were all involved in many aspects – helping the sick and wounded, comforting bewildered children, working with the refugees who streamed through France, working in soup kitchens, and maintaining rest centres for invalided soldiers, carrying messages between occupied and unoccupied France.
Following the invasion, Scouting was banned, but as the Scout Directors had been able to act in time to destroy records in time, no membership lists remained which could be seized. Not only did Scouting continue underground, but so did Scout training courses. In the south, the Scout organisations joined together, as Scoutisme Francais – and during the war membership tripled. Scouts in the south worked to support and help those in the north, whose experience was far more difficult. Scouts secretly collected extra milk from farms and distributed it to undernourished children. Girl Scouts worked on farms to harvest crops and care for livestock, preventing food from being diverted into the Government supplies. Guides worked as messengers for the resistance, transmitting sabotage instructions, or carrying messages between resistance units. In Alsace local Girl Scouts helped French prisoners to escape from prison camps by crawling under the wire and distracting the guards, giving the prisoners a chance to crawl under the wire and run to the hidden trucks. Seven of these Scouts were arrested and imprisoned, one was sentenced to death, later commuted to hard labour for life in Germany. Other groups provided false papers and civilian clothes for prisoners. But they also continued meeting, often in the guise of sports clubs, or first aid classes.
One famous story from this time was about the ‘Tricolour of Alsace’. This was a French flag which had been presented to the Alsace Guides by the leader of French Guiding Mme. Michelin, shortly before the war started. With the invasion, the flag was banned. The Guides wrapped it in brown paper, then started a dangerous game – a Guide would carry the wrapped bundle into a public place and try to touch as many Nazi officers and officials as possible with the package, unawares – they even kept score. It wasn’t long before the authorities got to hear of the game. to protect the flag, it was unpicked and separated into three parts. The red stripe was stitched into a cushion cover, the white stripe used as a tablecloth, and the blue stripe worn as a scarf – as a result of this the authorities searched for the flag in vain. As soon as the Nazis withdrew from the area, the pieces were re-united and sewn together, then hoisted proudly above the Guide House in Alsace.
As the war ended, the Guides and Scouts took on one further kind of service – at each of the main railway stations in Paris they mounted a 24 hour information desk, helping returning servicemen, prisoners of war, and those who had been in forced labour camps – sometimes as many as 1000 were on duty at the desks, providing advice, directing people to sources of help and support, tracing family members who could house and look after them – a difficult task when in many areas there were hardly any houses intact.
The list of ways in which Guides served is too long to list, likewise no numbers can be calculated of all who were imprisoned or killed due to the service they gave. When the war ended, the first free St George’s Day parade could be held in April 1945. 40,000 Boy and Girl Scouts marched down the Champs Elysees in their outgrown and worn uniforms, having travelled by Metro, bicycle or on foot to get there – and the World Chief Guide crossed the Channel in time to take the salute – it took over an hour and three quarters for them all to march past the platform where she stood.
Germany
Various Scout and Guide-type youth organisations existed in Germany in the 1910s, 1920s and 1930s, and attempts were made to encourage them to seek membership of the world Scouting and Guiding bodies, including personally by Robert Baden-Powell – but each time there were barriers to doing so, as aspects of their programmes did not fit within the rules laid down for WAGGGS membership. In the 1930s, the issues were both the near-compulsory nature of the membership, and the militarism in some of the programmes. From 1945, WAGGGS worked to establish Guiding in Germany, with the “Helping Hand” appeal providing equipment and resources for visiting Trainers, working to recruit and support Leaders. Thus it wasn’t until 1949 that the Union of German Girl Guides, representing the three official Girl Guide movements in Germany, was federated, and was recognised as a full WAGGGS member in 1954.
Ghana (Gold Coast)
Guiding started in the Gold Coast in 1921, when it was part of the British Empire. The Gold Coast Regiment fought in East Africa in what is now Ethiopia, and in Burma. Guides in the Gold Coast were active in war work including donating cases of clothes for distribution to people in need in the UK, and also donated to Guide Gift Week in May 1940, and to the Guide International Service Fund.
Gibraltar
Guiding started in the British territory of Gibraltar in 1925. Gibraltar was a key asset during WW2, notably used in coordinating the invasion of North Africa. In June 1940 the British government had ordered that all Gibraltarians who were not involved in the war effort were to be evacuated to French Morocco, which was the nearest allied territory, so Gibraltar could be turned into a military fortress. However, after the capitulation of France, the new pro German government of Vichy France insisted on removal of the Gibraltarian evacuees from Morocco. Gibraltar Guides donated to Guide Gift Week in May 1940, and also donated clothes for refugees in the UK.
Greece
The Guide movement had started in Greece in 1932. The war in Greece began on 20th October 1940 – Italy sent them an ultimatum, which they rejected flatly. Following this, the Italians invaded from Albania, and the Greek nation mobilised for battle to fight off the invasion, and within six months had succeeded. This, however, was just the start, as a year later, Nazi Germany attacked and superior numbers and firepower meant the surrender was forced to surrender within a fortnight. Athens was invaded on April 27th 1941, and the invaders remained for four years, despite constant guerilla warfare, which soon developed into an organised resistance movement.
Officially, the Guides disbanded rather than join a dictator-controlled youth movement. But in reality it was otherwise – the Greek Guides were involved in all sorts of roles – in making toys and clothes for children, in running soup kitchens (often stocked using their own personal rations) and helping in their towns and villages. The landscape in Greece was to the advantage of the resistance, and the Girl Guides were prominent in the resistance work both in attacks, and in supporting the people. They sheltered allied soldiers and helped them escape, and worked to support the widows and children of executed patriots. They sheltered Jews who were in hiding, and operated an underground news service, as well as serving in the secret army. Guides in Athens set up childrens’ canteens, as children were dying of starvation and cold, providing food, warmth, and games, as a break from their surroundings – despite the Guides being increasingly hungry and poorly clad and shod too. The public face of the canteens provided cover for the secret work listening to illicit radios to gather news which was published in their underground newspapers, which they also distributed. As well as printing illegal newspapers, propaganda posters and pamphlets were created, duplicated and, following power cuts often deliberately organised by Guides equipped with cable-cutting tools, distributed and pasted on walls. One group of Guides collected food parcels to take to the patriots held in a local prison, then bribed the guards in order to deliver them – as well as food, the parcels contained bandages, and news from outside. Whilst there they were able to collect names and addresses, so they could let families know where their missing relatives were. The Guides worked with the resistance in the mountains, not just unravelling old woollen garments to knit into jumpers, but also smuggling clothes, guns and ammunition after dark to the fighters in the countryside, and sheltering resistance workers at home before helping them escape to the coast.
Crete was especially heavily bombed – in April 1941 it was a nightly target – although the towns were evacuated the Guides carried on working. One, a nurse in the local hospital, helped carry the wounded from the battlefield to the local hospital, then cared for them, Greek and German alike. Towards the end of May the German invasion attempt finally overcame the resistance and they reached the hospital. Those patients who could had already left, but the nurses all stayed to look after the remainder. Each night, after her nursing shift was finished, the Guide helped Greek and British soldiers escaping from the nearby concentration camp – sometimes hiding them in the hospital’s palliative ward as patients. Although questioned several times by the Gestapo, and at one point arrested on espionage grounds, she carried on until overwork and malnutrition forced her into one of her own hospital beds. She recovered shortly after the liberation, then went quietly back to school.
Other Guides did spy work – monitoring the movements of troops, ships and aeroplanes, and reporting the detail, stealing and photographing secret documents by means of skeleton keys and micro-cameras, rifling through safes and filing cabinets.
Pre-war, Guiding had not been especially widespread in Greece. But during the war, they became legendary, and many girls who had not heard of them, or had not thought to join, now longed to do so. Post-war, Greek Guiding expanded rapidly.
Grenada
Guiding came to Grenada in 1925. As a colony of Britain, Grenada was involved in WW2 from September 1939. War work was extensive, both in defending the island and maintaining services, and in those who opted to travel to Britain to sign up for the army or air force. Grenadan Guides also contributed to Guide Gift Week in May 1940, and the BP Memorial Fund.
Guyana (then British Guiana)
Guyanese Guiding started in 1922, as British Guiana was at that time a British colony, and thus also involved in WW2 from September 1939. A number of Guianese adults volunteered to serve in the British forces during WW2, and much work was done on the home front too, including the Guides raising money for Guide Gift Week in May 1940.
Honduras
Guides from Honduras donated money to Guide Gift Week in May 1940, and the B-P Memorial Fund.
Hong Kong
Guiding in Hong Kong started in 1916. As a British colony, many residents left Hong Kong during WW1 fearing an attack, but none came. However it was otherwise in WW2 – the Japanese fought a gruelling battle in December 1941 before finally occupying Hong Kong, and deporting many of the citizens to China. Air raids and mine laying by allied forces did not alter the situation, until Japanese forces surrendered in September 1945. Hong Kong Guides gave over £150 to Guide Gift Week in May 1940.
Hungary
Hungary, too, experienced invasion, and surrendered to try to lessen bloodshed. Scouting was permitted to continue, but as a relief service only. Older Scouts organised and ran emergency food centres, and ran nurseries and out-of schools for children of working parents. Younger Scouts made children’s clothes, worked in hospitals as nurses’ aides and helped on farms and in factories. Girl Scouts nursed in hospitals looking after the wounded, whilst Brownies organised play sessions for poor children.
India (including Bangladesh and Pakistan)
There were units in certain schools in India during World War 1, involved in making clothes for Indian troops, and also performing entertainments to raise funds for prisoners of war in Germany – these units were mainly for British girls. India’s own Guide organisation was founded in 1928 – in this era India encompassed the lands now known as India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. As part of the British Empire, India joined WW2 on the allied side in September 1939. The Guides were involved in War work in WW2, including raising over £500 during Guide Gift Week in May 1940. Guides were involved in active service in Red Cross work parties, canteens, entertaining troops, and caring for evacuees from Burma.
Indonesia
Then part of the Dutch East Indies, war also affected the island of Java, where there was a prison camp at Bandoeng. In December 1942 a Ranger Leader was imprisoned there and immediately sought to find all those who had been Girl Scouts and enrolled new members. Meetings of the “Stormbirds”, as they named themselves, were held secretly in different rooms in the camp. They had neither uniforms nor badges, instead they carved neck chains out of bamboo which they wore at all times. As well as carrying out activities at their meetings they worked to improve morale in the camp, giving concerts and plays, and doing storytelling to occupy the younger children.
Ireland
Ireland was part of the UK, and started Guiding in 1910 at the same time as the rest of the UK. As a result, during WW1 many men from Ireland served in the army, particularly in the Irish regiments. However, during WW1 the political situation in Ireland was complex, and the unrest in Dublin in 1916 which led to the independence declaration meant that those returning from war having served with the British forces found themselves in a difficult position. During WW1 the Irish Guides collected sphagnum moss and made it into dressings. They knitted for soldiers and also acted as hospital orderlies and helped in canteens, made jam and sewed sandbags for use at the front, and worked for the War Service badge. In 1917 Irish Guides carried out a national scheme of starting allotments to grow vegetables for food, and were also involved in working as hospital auxiliaries and running the canteen of a soldiers’ club. By WW2 Ireland was a free state, and opted to remain neutral throughout. Guides collected sphagnum moss and made wound dressings; grew food; sent clothing abroad; helped in Red Cross depots in Cork and Dublin; assembled gas masks, and sent money for relief to European countries and to Guides in Northern Ireland.
Italy
Italy’s position was rather different, in that although Guiding started in 1912, it was suppressed as early as the 1920s, and replaced by a state-authorised youth group, the Balilla, membership of which was effectively compulsory, and which had a far stronger military influence. Due to the political situation, where Italy allied with Germany during WW2, it was invaded by the allies and there was fighting throughout in 1943 and 1944 as the allies fought their way northwards. Yet as soon as it was possible, Guiding resumed, in 1944. Flags and uniforms which had been hidden away for years were unearthed, and the old Scouts and Guides, many by now parents themselves, set up units as soon as they were at liberty to, from 1943 onwards. Italy became a full member of WAGGGS in 1948.
Jamaica
Jamaican Guiding started in 1915. As part of the British empire, Jamaica supported the allies during WW1, with many of the members of the British West Indies Regiment coming from Jamaica. Guides in Jamaica were involved in fundraising to support the effort made by British and Empire Guiding to establish a rest hut for soldiers off-duty during WW1. With the coming of WW2, again many Jamaicans volunteered to serve the ‘mother country’ by joining the army or air force. In addition, Jamaica was home to a haven or detention centre for displaced Europeans who had arrived from 1937 onwards, and for internees once war broke out. Jamaican Guides donated over £250 to Guide Gift Week in May 1940, and also donated to the BP Memorial Fund.
Japan
Guiding began in Japan in 1919, brought by a visiting British trainer, and it grew rapidly, joining WAGGGS in 1928. Officially banned in the 1930s, nevertheless some units continued, and in 1947 a group got together to revive Guiding in Japan, re-joining WAGGGS in 1952.
Liechtenstein
Liechtenstein Guiding started in 1931 – and during WW2, like it’s neighbour Switzerland, Liechtenstein remained officially neutral. At the end of World War II, Liechtenstein Rangers and Rovers helped in refugee camps.
Luxembourg
Guiding started in Luxembourg in 1915. On May 10th 1940, German troops poured into Luxembourg. In a country of only 2500 kilometres, there was little which could be done, nevertheless what little could be, was. As refugees came crowding into the capital, the Guides stepped in, setting up soup kitchens. As demand grew, they begged help from the Red Cross, who supplied food, clothing and funds to support the work. This enabled the Guides to set up and train a relief corps. All of the Guides helped – Brownies ran errands and helped the younger refugees. At first, the occupying forces did not interfere with the Guides’ work, but after a month the Nazi Civil Governor summoned the Guide Commissioner to his office and ordered her to oust from the movement all children who were Jewish or non-German – if she did so then Guiding could continue, but according to Nazi standards and regulations. She refused. The Komandant then demanded the lists of members. She advised that there were no records, that the Guides had destroyed all records when the invasion occurred. Unfortunately, even without lists, the spies were able to collect information. One by one, Guides were summoned to the Gestapo headquarters, questioned, and threatened with torture and imprisonment unless they agreed to go to Germany as members of the ‘Jugend’ and study under the ‘modern’ education system developed there. None accepted.
Following this failure, the Gestapo then confiscated all the funds of the Guide Association, and officially abolished Guiding, in it’s place setting up the ‘Popular Youth Movement’ which was a misnomer; it took courage not to enrol. Nevertheless none of the Guiders joined. Some weeks later, as a result of this, it was declared that membership of the Hitler Jugend or Bund Deutscher Maedchen (BDM) would be compulsory for all children aged 10 or over. Unless they could prove they had joined, they could not attend school or university, or serve an apprenticeship, or take professional training. Those who refused had to give up their studies, and many were punished severely and sent to correction camps in Germany before becoming forced labourers in German factories. Those who could not avoid joining tried to cooperate as little as they could get away with, and some formed a quiet resistance group to carry out sabotage activities. This turned to open revolt when the authorities tried to introduce military service for the young boys of Luxembourg – there was a national school pupil strike in protest, factories downed tools and shops closed. In revenge, the Nazis shot all the prisoners they could take, without trial. Hundreds of people were imprisoned. Whole school classes were taken from schools to correction camps in Germany. Mass deportations became daily routine. But in the meantime, resistance increased and became better organised. In the forests were deserters from the army and young draftees avoiding conscription, and they needed food, and to be spirited out of the country. Guides and Scouts worked to supply their needs.
Yet Guiding continued, and each year on 22nd February, those who remained would go to the country on ‘picnics’ and deep in the woods, out of sight and hearing, would renew their Promises, wearing their precious tenderfoot badges concealed on their clothing.
On 10 September 1944, American forces arrived to liberate Luxembourg – and uniformed Guides appeared on the streets to welcome them.
Kenya
Guiding started in Kenya in 1920 – and it was the country which Robert and Olave Baden-Powell lived in during he early years of World War 2. During WW2 thousands of Kenyan men were conscripted into the British army, fighting in East Africa and in Burma. Kenyan Guides were active in war work, and donated to Guide Gift Week in May 1940, and to the Guide Relief Fund and BP Memorial Fund. They also collected herbs for medicinal use.
Lesotho (then Basutoland)
Lesotho Guiding started in 1925. Then known as Basutoland, and a British territory, with the outbreak of World War II they joined the war on the allied side. Basutoland Brownies made crafts, including wool flowers, to raise funds for war causes, including for Polish Guides in Britain.
Lithuania
Guiding started in Lithuania in 1926. In 1939 Lithuanian Guides were involved in supporting exiled Polish refugees, especially Polish Guides, collecting clothes and supplies for them, as well as buying toiletries and essentials. Guiding was banned by the Soviet Authorities in 1940, and the ban was continued by the Nazi authorities between 1941 and 1944, and resumed with the Soviet authorities when they took over again in 1944.
Malaysia (then Malaya)
Guiding came to Malaysia in 1916. Malaya had been a British colony, but was invaded by Japanese forces in December 1941, they remained in power until 1945 when the British returned. Malayan Guides gave over £200 during Guide Gift Week in May 1940, and also donated to the Guide Relief Fund.
Malta
Guiding started in 1918, and it’s geographical position made it a key base in WW2. From June 1940 until November 1942 it was under constant siege by the Italian and German air forces. Maltese Guides donated to Guide Gift Week in May 1940. The Guides also helped at the emergency camp for orphans, including organising it’s ARP. Guiders trained in home nursing, and worked in ARP centres, First Aid Posts, and hospitals. Guides were involved in making operation stockings, bed socks, cot covers and washing squares, and in making or altering garments for refugees. Maltese Guides also donated to the BP Memorial Fund.
Mauritius
Guiding started in Mauritius in 1926. At the outbreak of World War II in 1939, many Mauritians volunteered to serve under the British flag in Africa and the Near East, fighting against the German and Italian armies. In the initial stages of the war, locally recruited military formations were raised in order to defend the country in case the British imperial troops had to leave. On 24 March 1943, the Mauritius Regiment, was created as an imperial unit and a new subsidiary of the East Africa Command (EAC). Mauritius Guides were active in war work and donated to Guide Gift Week in May 1940, and the BP Memorial Fund.
Montserrat
Guides from Montserrat donated money to Guide Gift Week in 1940 and the BP Memorial Fund, and collected scrap metal to raise money to send to Britain. Rangers helped to staff casualty clearing stations.
Myanmar (then Burma)
Burmese Guides contributed over £100 to Guide Gift Week in May 1940, and also gave money to the World Bureau for Polish Guides, and the BP Memorial Fund.
Netherlands
Guiding started in the Netherlands in 1911. In May 1940, the Netherlands was invaded with planeloads of parachutists. Though the Dutch sought to resist, against the German mechanised forces they were overwhelmed after four days of fighting, during which time the Guides served in shifts day and night at first aid dressing stations, dealing with thousands of wounded people. Suspecting there might be resistance, the city of Rotterdam was bombed, levelling most of the city, and as a result all open resistance ended.
Other forms of resistance, however, did continue. The occupying forces had hoped that Dutch girls would join the BDM of their own free will. But by April 1941, most had not. The Gestapo arrested the Guide President, who found herself imprisoned along with other Girl Scout Leaders. A week later she was released – carrying some confidential information obtained by a Senior Scout who worked as a cleaner in the building. Shortly after, Scouting was banned in the Netherlands. All Girl Scout possessions were confiscated – uniforms, materials, meeting places, office equipment, funds – everything. The wearing of Girl Scout uniform was forbidden on pain of death.
Thus – Scouting went underground, with individuals and Patrols continuing to operate in hundreds of towns and villages. Many new girls joined too. On Thinking Day they sought to gather to mark the day – in 1942 a Thinking Day gathering in Rotterdam was discovered, and all of the girls discovered were imprisoned for a week. Meantime, resistance work continued, especially the carrying of messages. At first this was done by bicycle – when tyres gave out they rode their bikes without tyres, until the bikes were confiscated, and they travelled by foot. When shoes wore out and pre-war footwear became unavailable they reverted to clogs, until the wood for clog-making became impossible to find – but still the messages got through.
The hardest times came in the winter of 1944/45. Girl Scouts, weak with hunger, spent heat-less winter mornings in bed, too weak and cold to get up. With what little strength they could muster, in the afternoons they would report to the underground headquarters to collect the day’s messages. Often walking barefoot through the ice and snow they would dodge patrols to get the messages through, before returning home to bed in a desperate attempt to be fit for the following day’s work. Others carried counterfeit ration and identification cards between the counterfeiters and allied airmen in hiding – both Guides and Brownies. Some near the coast studied and reported enemy ship movements, others hid stolen machine gun parts and ammunition, to smuggle to the resistance. But arrest was a constant risk, and prisoners were regularly tortured.
On 2nd August 1944, Ranger Annie Vreeland met secretly with her Leader, and was heading home through the fields near Arnhem. From behind the nearby hills she heard the muffled sounds of many aircraft. As dozens of them approached, hundreds of parachutes dropped from them. The allied invasion had begun! The anti-aircraft fire began, and Annie realised that some of the parachutists may need help. She ran towards the nearest parachutist, who lifted his gun. Annie did not have English to explain, so instead gave a Guide salute – and was delighted to receive a Scout salute in return. The parachutist put down his gun, they worked together to hide the parachute, and she guided him towards the farmhouse where she lived. As they arrived, Annie heard a car, so hastily pushed the parachutist into the cellar and closed the door on him. It was a German police car, and in it were three captured parachutists, and also her Ranger Leader, also captured. Annie could not show any recognition. The car drove on, taking it’s passengers, including the Ranger Leader, to their death.
The Netherlands were liberated gradually – and whenever an area was liberated, Girl Scouts unearthed their outgrown uniforms, and paraded with pride. In the years of the occupation, Girl Scout membership doubled.
New Zealand
Guiding started in New Zealand in 1908 – so before the UK. During both WW1 and WW2, though far from the battlegrounds, Guides in New Zealand were involved in work to support the war. During WW1 they knotted camouflage nets for the army, gathered rosehips to make rosehip syrup (which was rich in valuable vitamin c), knitted for the forces and raised money for charity. In WW2 they raised over £800 during Guide Gift Week in May 1940, and also sent many cases of clothes for distribution to those in need in the UK. They collected rags, and made nets.
Nigeria
Nigerian Guiding started in 1919 – Nigeria was a British colony, and was of key importance to the allies during World War 2, both in respect of the Nigerian men who fought, but also in terms of the produce grown there which was essential for the war effort, especially rubber. Nigerian Guides were active in war work, and also donated to Guide Gift Week in May 1940, and the BP Memorial Fund.
Norway
Guiding began in Norway as early as 1912, but it was in 1920 that the organisation was officially founded. Norway, like other Scandinavian countries, had declared it’s neutrality at the start of WW2. As such, they were taken by surprise when, at 4 am on 9th April 1940, German tanks rolled into the Capital, Oslo, bringing an ultimatum – at the same time as in neighbouring Denmark. Rapidly, resistance groups rose up, many including Girl Guides. They travelled on skis through woods and mountain regions, cooking, caring for the wounded, and shooting when necessary. They helped evacuate children and old people to the safety of the country, distributed food and clothing in war-stricken areas, and worked as chauffeurs, telephone operators and hospital orderlies. Initially the Germans hoped to achieve friendly relations with the Norwegians, but the locals were impervious to this – their sole desire was to have their country back. As the Germans did not offer this, the Norwegians set out to make the occupiers’ job as difficult as possible. Acts of petty sabotage were an everyday occurrence, and fishing boats were stolen and sailed over to the Shetland Islands of Scotland, to create a link known as the ‘Shetland Bus’.
Norway’s situation, with so many small villages and hamlets located in isolated locations on each fjord, linked by ferries more often than by road, made it difficult to organise a national resistance, but this also meant that the Guides were accustomed to acting on their own initiative. So when the Germans prohibited all Scouting and confiscated all property, the Scout associations went underground. Many uniforms were buried to avoid them being confiscated. Some troops continued meeting at Leaders’ houses, other Scouts and Guides joined other clubs such as Sunday Schools, YWCA clubs or other youth organisations, where they ‘just happened’ to meet other ‘former’ Guides. But every activity had to be carried out in strictest secrecy, as the Germans and the Quislings were ever-suspicious, and every day, Guide Leaders were being detained and questioned by the police.
Guides continued to work as underground volunteers. They listened to hidden radios and spread the news amongst friends and neighbours. They wrote and duplicated newspapers, and delivered them. They photographed documents and created fake identity papers. They brought food supplies by boat to families in hiding – some were drowned in doing this. They hid refugees and prisoners, before helping them to escape. Some took on varied high-risk jobs, others worked steadily at routine tasks – but all were working with the same aim of freedom, and many gave their lives for it.
Philippines
Guiding in the Philippines had not long started when war broke out. It was started by Josefa Llanes Escoda, who was born in the Philippines, and qualified as a social worker there, then received a scholarship to study in the USA. While there in 1939 she trained with the Girl Scouts of the USA, and on her return to the Philippines she started to train Girl Scout Leaders and set up units. On May 26th 1940 the President of the Philippines signed the charter establishing the Girl Scouts of the Philippines, with Josefa as the first National Executive. Japanese troops arrived to invade the Philippines, and after only a year in existence, Girl Scouting officially ceased operation. Unofficially, however, it carried on under Josefa’s leadership, underground. They were involved in conveying messages of families to prisoners of war, keeping records of the names and addresses of Filipino prisoners of war, collecting food, medicine, clothing and other supplies and delivering them to both Filipino prisoners of war and American internees in prison camps, acting as messengers in the resistance movement and setting up community kitchens to feed the hungry in Manilla. In 1944 Josefa’s work was discovered, and she was arrested and imprisoned in the infamous Fort Santiago. There she was last seen alive in January 1945, weak and showing signs of having been severely beaten, she was being transported from the Fort to destination unconfirmed.
Despite the loss of their founder and leader, following liberation the Girl Scouts of the Philippines were able to quickly reorganise, becoming associate members of WAGGGS in 1946, and full members in 1948.
Poland
Scouting was first founded in Poland in 1910.
In a sense, WW2 started with Poland. By September 1939 Czechoslovakia had already been invaded, and Hitler was demanding that Poland hand over the Free City of Danzig and the ‘Polish Corridor’, lands which had been granted to Poland in the settlement of WW1. Poland refused. On 1 September, German forces entered. Polish Girl Scouts were among the first called upon to play a leading part in the defence. At that time, there were over 200,000 Scouts, including 60,000 Girl Scouts. For five and a half years, they paid daily with their lives in resisting the invaders. During the 21-day siege of Warsaw in 1939, they fought with the resistance, only giving way when killed or captured. Otherw worked in homes for children, as hospital nurses, and giving out food to the evacuated at railway stations – in at least one case a Guide Patrol was killed by a bomb whilst doing this. Membership of Scouting was declared illegal, and some Scouts were shot in public executions. But others, aged 12-20, continued with underground Scouting and resistance work, including producing and distributing secret newspapers, disrupting transportation and blowing up power plants, and acting as couriers and intelligence agents. Those who could not work directly in the underground served in hospitals and soup kitchens.
In the summer of 1944 the Polish resistance movement in the Warsaw ghetto mounted an uprising, starting on 1st August. Some Girl Scouts and Leaders took part directly in the fighting. As the Home Army would not accept children as recruits, many fibbed abut their age and sometimes gave false names, so they could sign on. Over 4000 female doctors and nurses, most of them young Guides and Rangers, set up numerous first aid posts, and supplied some 560 medical patrols to work with combat units. They dealt with the wounded and dying, giving what aid they could. Others worked as couriers above ground, ever alert to the risk of being stopped and searched for the compromising papers they might be carrying, having to find ever-more elaborate means of hiding the messages, and routes for getting them through. More Guides worked as liaison officers, crawling through the sewer network to lay communication cables and deliver messages. The plan was for the uprising to last for a few days, on the basis that Soviet troops might soon arrive. In reality, the uprising lasted two months, and the result was grim.
Many of the first aid posts lasted only a few days; many Guides and Rangers were killed. But some hospitals survived longer, such as the one in the basement of the PKO bank. Guides were involved in rescuing and treating casualties from bombed buildings, acting as stretcher bearers, as medics, and at times as rescue coordinators. At times the German forces invaded hospitals, threatening the staff. In the Old Town Hospital, the staff were lined up and first the doctors were shot, then the Guides who were serving as nurses – one survived because she fell down with the rest and lay there even as the jewellery was taken off her, and for some hours thereafter. She was one of five survivors, staff or patient. As well as hospitals, Guides also operated a hostel for mothers with babies. But as August wore on, with no relief, starvation was setting in, and many of those batallions which still fought were made up of Boy and Girl Scouts and their leaders, many of whom fought until killed.
Once all was hopeless, those in districts which could not be defended used the underground sewers to evacuate. The Guides learned to navigate the sewer network, dodging the grenades being dropped down manholes by the Germans – later the Germans realised the extent to which the sewers were being used, and gassed the drains. Those who were captured were shot in the street, or herded into trucks to be sent to concentration camps. By 2nd September it was clear that the uprising was over. On 3rd October, over 100 Guides and Scouts gathered in the remains of Wilcza Street, in the presence of the Chief Commissioner – from Guiders and Scoutmasters who served in the Home Army through the large body of teenagers, to the twelve-year olds, all had served. Forty of them received gallantry awards, then they recited the Scout and Guide Promises, sang the Polish National Anthem, recited the motto, ‘Czuwaj’, and then dismissed, destined to become prisoners of war, or labourers in concentration camps. Few would survive.
Yet Polish Scouting continued ‘underground’, as did the resistance work. Food became almost impossible to obtain, with the well-stocked shop window displays containing goods only available to Nazi shoppers. The average ration consisted of soggy black bread, three and a half ounces of sugar, and 3 and a half ounces of meet per week. Hours of queueing might also result in a few matches and some ersatz coffee. Ration stamps might be able to be swapped for some food, barely enough to keep full starvation at bay. As a result, smuggling was the only option, and many of those who risked their lives to source vital supplies for their fellow citizens were Scouts. As well as smuggling, Scout resistance also continued, hanging banners with slogans over the wires for the trolley buses in Warsaw, meaning that the buses could not run until the flags were removed, and this required special tools, to remove the flags and restore the current, meaning the slogans were on display for hours. Slogans were painted on walls, Nazi flags were stolen from the buildings on which they were displayed. Nevertheless, arrests continued, and countless numbers of Scouts were killed, either whilst carrying out acts of resistance or service, or in concentration or extermination camps.
Following World War 2, Poland was in the ‘Russian Zone’ and found itself behind the ‘Iron Curtain’. Polish Scouting reformed with a communist ethos in Secember 1944 and was fully disbanded in 1949. In 1956 a new organisation was formed, which had some independence from the communist party. It was only after 1988 that Polish Scouting and Guiding was able to be revived – nevertheless, revived it was, the ZHP or Zwiazek Harcerstwa Polskiego re-joining WAGGGS in 1996.
Portugal
Guiding in Portugal started in 1919, although there were British units there before this, and Portugal became a member of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) in 1963. During WW1 Guides in Portugal held entertainments to raise money for the Red Cross, sent parcels to a hospital in Malta, and collected fruit and vegetables to donate to minesweepers when they were in harbour in Oporto. They made donations to the UK Guides Relief Fund during WW2.
Saint Lucia
Guiding started in Saint Lucia in 1925. St Lucia Guides contributed to Guide Gift Week in 1940, and the BP Memorial Fund.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines started Guiding in 1914 – and they donated to Guide Gift Week in May 1940.
Sierra Leone
Guiding came to Sierra Leone in 1924. Sierra Leone remained a British colony throughout World War II. As such, it fought alongside the Allies against the Axis. The colony played a critical role in supporting the Allies throughout the conflict, with Freetown acting as an important convoy station. Sierra Leone Guides were active in war service, and donated to Guide Gift Week in May 1940.
Singapore
Guiding started in 1917, as part of Malaya, and during WW2 Guides initially helped by knitting, packing garments and supplies, collecting foil and rolling bandages – but after the occupation all Guiding had to cease until 1946, when Guiding reorganised and re-established itself.
South Africa (including Namibia)
Guiding started in South Africa in 1910. In WW1 South African Guides were involved in fundraising for war charities, including the Guides’ rest hut on the western front. In WW2 there was debate before South Africa opted not to remain neutral and again joined the allies, fighting mainly in Africa and Asia, as well as supplying materials. In May 1940 they raised over £2500 for Guide Gift Week, and also donated several cases of clothes for distribution, and a mobile canteen.
Sri Lanka (then Ceylon)
Guiding started in Ceylon in 1917. During WW2 many volunteers served on the allied side, both in the Ceylon Defence Force, and with the British forces. Guides from Ceylon donated over £250 to Guide Gift Week in May 1940.
St Kitts & Nevis
Guiding first started in St Kitts & Nevis in 1931. During World War 2, St Kitts & Nevis Guides contributed to Guide Gift Week in May 1940, and the BP Memorial Fund.
Sudan
Guiding began in Sudan in 1928. The Sudanese Girl Guides contributed to Guide Gift Week in May 1940, and to the BP Memorial Fund.
Switzerland
Guiding started in Switzerland in 1913. In both WW1 and WW2 Switzerland mobilised it’s forces to protect it’s borders, but maintained it’s neutrality. During WW2 Swiss Guides were heavily involved in meeting and supporting refugees, as well as camping on farms in order to help with the harvest. They helped in military hospitals, collected scrap goods, knitted garments for soldiers, and helped the Red Cross.
Tanzania (then Tanganyika and Zanzibar)
Guiding came to Tanzania in 1928 – Tanganyika and Zanzibar were under British control at that time, so fought with the allies during World War 2. The Tanzanian Girl Guides were involved in war work, and donated to Guide Gift Week in May 1940, to the World Bureau, and to the BP Memorial Fund.
Trinidad & Tobago
Guiding started in 1914, and as the islands were a British territory, there was significant fundraising and many goods were supplied including chocolate, sugar, bandages and crutches, with Brownies making treasure bags and towels for wounded soldiers, and Guides raising funds for a rest hut, and for the Red Cross. WW2 saw US bases being established on Trinidad as well as many volunteers fighting on the allied side. Trinidadian Guides donated over £100 to Guide Gift Week in May 1940, with a further sum from the Guides in Tobago. They collected silver paper, tinfoil, milk bottle tops, toothpaste tubes and tea packets. They were also involved in collecting Kapok from below the silk cotton trees, cleaning it and sewing it into pads for the Red Cross, as well as sewing and knitting garments for a number of causes. Guiders and Rangers also trained to serve in the Voluntary Aid Detachment.
Uganda
Uganda was a British Protectorate, and Guiding started there in 1922. Ugandan Guides donated to Guide Gift Week in May 1940. Some of the funds were raised by carrying loads of earth and stones to help build a new road. Exiled Polish Guides went to a settlement in Uganda, and much work was done to support them, including organising a joint camp.
United States of America
Girl Guides were founded in the USA, and were succeeded by Girl Scouts, which were founded in 1912. During WW1 Girl Scouts were taught skills such as cooking, sewing, and first-aid. They promoted War Bond drives and worked with the Red Cross to roll bandages, make dressings, raised money for the wool to then knit goods for servicemen. They maintained gardens for food and helped with farm work – and trained to became home demonstrators, spending their weekends and school holidays showing others how to preserve and can food in their homes and communities. They also sent knitted garments across to Britain for distribution to Boy Scouts doing coast-watching. They made scrap books and puzzle cards which were sent to convalescent hospitals in France.
It was similar 30 years later – Girl Scouts were involved in helping to sell war bonds, tend victory gardens, and collect scrap metals and fat to be reused. Girl Scouts also formed “Defense Institutes” for teaching women necessary skills and ways to comfort children during possible air raids. Troops even made calendars instead of Girl Scout cookies, to help with food rationing. They also raised a World Friendship Fund which sent milk, clothing, food and school equipment to Guides in Europe and China.
Yugoslavia
The start of the war for Yugoslavia was rather different to that of other countries. It was a monarchy, ruled by a Prince Regent as the King was not yet adult. The Prince Regent sought to try to negotiate with the Nazis even as their demands became more acceptable, but the children rebelled, staging sit-down strikes at school, and painting slogans on walls. Members of youth organisations, too, protested. The people rallied round their young King, and overthrew the government. Enraged, Hitler threw a strong attack against Yugoslavia, with mass executions and terror attacks, leading to many refugees heading from the cities to the country – but as they did so the cities were burning, and the countryside laid waste. After 11 days of onslaught the country officially surrendered, but many of the people formed guerilla bands and continued to fight, ambushing the Nazi patrols and securing weapons and ammunition to stock their scant arsenal. Girl Scouts were actively involved in the guerilla effort, and fought for their freedom.
Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia)
Guiding came to Rhodesia in 1912. Rhodesia was then administered by the British South African Company. A large number of Rhodesians volunteered to serve in the armed forces in WW1, others raised funds of donations of equipment or food. Some individuals fought on the western front, others in Rhodesian regiments in Africa. Though a self-governing colony by WW2, Southern Rhodesia’s government was nonetheless quick to declare it’s support on the allied side. A particular focus of their efforts was in running training schools for aircrew, although their soldiers also fought in many areas, including North Africa, Italy, the Balkans, and Burma. Rhodesian Guides donated over £250 to Guide Gift Week in May 1940.
SECTION UNDER CONSTRUCTION – RESEARCH ONGOING, CONTRIBUTIONS WELCOME.
Bangladesh – 1916 – Bangladesh was part of the greater India, and during WW2 was part of the then British Empire – and as a result, when Britain declared war, India was included. As such, many people from Bangladesh served in the army on the allied side, in Europe, North Africa, and Asia, and also in both the navy and air force. Meantime, on the home front, employment was provided by the demand for uniforms and food.
Belize – 1937 (British Honduras) – During WW2 British Honduras was home to a US Air Base, as well as being a source of Bauxite which was vital for the manufacture of aircraft. 900 members of the British Honduran Forestry Unit served in Scotland during WW2, cutting timber for military use. Military service was in the British Honduras Defence Force, and the British Honduras Home Guard.
Botswana – 1924 – in 1939 Bechuanaland, as it then was, automatically declared war on Germany when the UK did, unlike the Union of South Africa. About 10,000 men joined the British Army’s “African Pioneer Corps”, serving in the Middle East from September 1941, mainly by building fortifications and guarding camps, later as gunners, specialist bridge-builders, drivers, mechanics etc. Others served in Italy. Meantime a similar number of men went to South Africa as miners, again encouraged into this by the British authorities in the country. Meantime, back at home, with the 10% most capable of the workforce gone, the women and children were nevertheless urged to improve production on arable farms and cultivate more land than before, to provide ever-greater quantities of surplus grain, to distribute to the African troops, and to help feed Europe. Wayfarer Guides had been established in 1936
Cameroon – 1943 – Cameroon had been German territory, but was occupied during WW1 and split between Britain and France, with France having the larger portion. Nevertheless many German settlers remained. When WW2 began British and French officials seized the German plantations. Following the fall of France Cameroon opted to support the Free French, thereafter their role was confined to supplying raw materials for the war effort. Guiding was carried out in conjunction with the Nigeria Girl Guides Association.
Chile – 1913 – early in WW1 Chile joined the Axis side, and from then on was involved in various naval battles, before eventually signing an armistice in February 1918. In WW2 Chile promptly declared neutrality, and relations with Axis countries were broken off in 1943.
(Republic of the) Congo – 1927 – then known as ‘French Equatorial Africa’, it rallied to the Free French forces during WW2. As such it supplied both troops for the Free French Army in Africa, but also raw materials to the Allied forces.
Democratic Republic of Congo – 1928 – when Belgium was invaded in May 1940, Belgian Congo (as it was then called) remained on the allied side, administered by the Belgian Government-in-exile. DRC provided raw materials such as copper and rubber to both the UK and USA, as well as uranium needed to produce the first atomic bombs. Congolese troops of the Force Publique fought alongside British forces in the ‘East Africa Campaign’, a medical unit in Madagascar, and in the Burma campaign, as well as providing garrisons in Egypt, Nigeria and Palestine. Colonial rule brought strikes and riots which were violently repressed by the Belgian authorities.
Cook Islands – 1928
Costa Rica – 1922 – Costa Rica joined the Allies in December 1941, following the attack on the US Naval Base at Pearl Harbour in Hawaii.
Cyprus – 1912 – During WW1 Cyprus supported the British in Macedonia, particularly through mule drivers. During WW2 Cyprus sent a regiment to the western front, with infantry and transport infrastructure, again including mule drivers who served in Europe and Africa, often carrying equipment into areas inaccessible to vehicles.
Ecuador – 1919 – Ecuador joined the war on the allied side in February 1945, allowing the United States to use one of Ecuador’s islands as a base.
Estonia – 1919 – an August 1939 pact between Germany and the USSR led to occupation and Estonia being taken into the USSR, occupation by Germany with conscription, and then re-occupation by Russia.
Faroe Islands – 1926 – At the start of WW2, the Faroe Islands were part of Danish Territory. Following the occupation of mainland Denmark and it’s nearby islands in April 1940, the British Government launched an operation to establish a friendly invasion of the Faroes, and protect them from takeover by Axis powers. The Faroese Parliament reluctantly accepted the invaders, and continued operating throughout the war.
Gambia – 1923 – During WW2 as part of the British Empire, it was home to the Gambia Company of the Royal West African Frontier Force, the Gambia Home Guard, and the small Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve. Guiding nationally became dormant in 1943 due to lack of Leaders, and was revived in 1946.
Guatemala – 1934 – until 1941 Guatemala was neutral, it then opted to join the war on the allied side. There was internal unrest, leading to a change of Government in 1944, but Guatemala remained on the allied side.
Haiti – 1942 – Haiti was neutral during WW2 until December 1941, and the bombing of the US Naval Base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, after which it entered the war on the allied side, and supplied food and some pilots to the war effort.
Iceland – 1922 – Iceland was a free state in union with Denmark, however once Denmark was invaded in 1940 Iceland lost all contact with it’s head of state. British forces invaded Iceland in May 1940 with the aim of securing the use of the island as a base and simultaneously denying Germany the opportunity to secure it for the same purpose. Although the Icelandic government formally protested the invasion, they provided de facto cooperation. In July 1941, control was transferred to the USA, and in June 1944 Iceland became a permanently independent republic.
Kiribati – 1926 (Gilbert Islands) – the Gilbert Islands were part of UK Crown Territory, but were largely administered from New Zealand. Japan seized part of the islands during WW2, and there was fierce fighting as a result.
Latvia – 1921 – at the start of WW2 Latvia had declared neutrality, nevertheless it was first compelled to accept red army troops on it’s territory, soon followed by an occupation, and then annexation into the USSR. Following this the USSR forces were driven out by the Germans – who imposed conscription. At the end of WW2 the USSR regained control.
Lebanon – 1937 – During WW2 Lebanon was under the control of the Vichy French regime, which allowed Nazi Germany to move aircraft and supplies across the territory to Iraq in order to be used against British forces. As a result of British fears that Nazi Germany might gain full control of Lebanon, they sent their army in. Once the fighting concluded, the French commander, General de Gaulle recognised Lebanon’s independence under the authority of the Free French government, which was declared in November 1941.
Madagascar – 1942 – in this era, Madagascar was part of French territory, and as a result many Madagascan citizens were conscripted into the French army. Following France’s defeat in 1940, it was governed by Vichy France, raising concerns among the British and Free French that it’s many ports might be used by Axis powers. Britain opted to mount an invasion in May 1942, and the battle continued until November 1942 when an armistice was signed and control taken by the British and Free French.
Mexico – 1930 – At the start of WW2 Mexico had declared it’s neutrality, nevertheless it spoke out about each of the invasions of European countries by the Axis powers during 1940 and 1941, and following the bombing of the US base at Pearl Harbor in 1941 it broke off all commercial exchange with the Axis countries. Following some attacks on Mexican ships, in May 1942 Mexico declared war and joined the Allied Forces.
Monaco – 1929 – at the start of WW2 Monaco was neutral, however Italy invaded in 1942, the Italian forces then being replaced by German ones in September 1943, after the Italians had switched from the Axis to the Allied side. The German forces remained until September 1944.
Curacao – 1930
Aruba – 1941
Pakistan – 1911 – Pakistan (then part of India) was part of the British Empire, and as such contributed significantly to the allied effort in both World Wars. In WW1 they fought in Egypt, Palestine, Mesopotamia and Gallipoli as well as in France and Belgium. In WW2 the Indian army underwent massive expansion, and fought in France, East Africa, North Africa, Syria, Tunisia, Malaya, Burma, Greece, Sicily and Italy.
Palestine – 1912 – Palestinian Guides were involved in war work during WW2, and donated to Guide Gift Week in May 1940.
Papua New Guinea – 1927 – As part of Australian territory, Papua New Guinea joined WW2 on the allied side. They were invaded by Japanese forces in 1942, and remained under Japanese control until 1945.
Puerto Rico – 1926 – alongside the USA, Puerto Rico entered WW2 on the allied side following the Japanese attack on the US base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii in 1941. Many men served with the US Army or Army Air Corps, and many women in the Army Auxiliary Corps or as nurses.
Romania – 1928 – Guiding existed in Romania between 1928 and 1938 as part of the countrywide Straja Tarii youth movement, before going underground during WW2. Due to political change, Guiding ceased until 1990
Slovenia – 1922 – World War II in the Slovene Lands started in April 1941 and lasted until May 1945. The Slovene Lands were in a unique situation during World War II in Europe. In addition to being trisected, Drava Banovina (roughly today’s Slovenia) was the only region that experienced a further step—absorption and annexation into neighbouring Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and Hungary. The Slovene-settled territory was divided largely between Nazi Germany and the Kingdom of Italy, with smaller territories occupied and annexed by Hungary and the Independent State of Croatia. Throughout this time there was active resistance, and deportations to concentration camps.
Sweden – 1910 – In both WW1 and WW2 Sweden remained neutral – and as a result faced pressure from both sides.
Taiwan – 1919 – Taiwan was under Japanese rule, so during WW2 many Taiwanese people served the axis powers. Taiwan was host to many naval and air bases.
Togo – 1942 – Togo was part of French West Africa, and was under Vichy French rule during WW2.
Tunisia – 1934 – During World War II, the French authorities in Tunisia supported the Vichy government which ruled France after its capitulation to Germany in 1940. After initial victories to the east the German General Erwin Rommel, lacking supplies and reinforcements, in 1942 lost the decisive battle of al-Alamein (near Alexandria in Egypt) to the British General Bernard Montgomery. After learning of Allied landings in the west (Operation Torch), the Axis army retreated westward to Tunisia and set up defensive positions. The British following on his heels eventually broke these lines, although Rommel did have some early success against the “green” American troops advancing from the west, until the arrival of General George Patton who stopped Rommel in battle. The fighting ended in May 1943. The German Afrika Corps surrendered on May 11. Two days later, on May 13, after the collapse of the 5th German Tank Army, the fall of Tunis and the surrounding of the 1st Italian Army, still holding the line at Enfidaville, the Italian general Messe formally surrendered to the Allies.
Turkey – 1912 – The then Ottoman Empire joined WW1 as one of the axis powers, attacking Russian ports on the Black Sea. War was declared between the Ottoman Empire and Russia, and then between the Ottoman Empire and Britain over the Suez Canal. Turkey remained neutral during most of WW2, only declaring war on the axis powers in February 1945 – as a result no Turkish forces were involved in any fighting during WW2.
Leslie's Guide War History 