Wartime Service: Group

Cambridge District Scout Archive

Cambridge Archive

The following are taken from a card index possibly c 1941/2, hand written for personal reference and not always clear.  They list the Scout Leaders that were on Active Service and those left behind. 

The listings are not uniform, only the 1^st clearly list local roles and the terminology is variable. There is no clear distinction between War Service, National Service and Active Service. Active Service came to mean in the fighting forces or actually fighting. National Service could cover any role that had altered your employer and /or function as a consequence of the demands of the war.

Where recorded from this card index groups that closed are also identified.

Numbers of female leaders are also identified.  No women were listed as being on service.

Group/ Number of leaders/ Number in service/ Roles/ Service

1st	4 (1f)	4		Home guard x 2, Wardens x 2
2nd	3	0
5th	5	1	ASM	War Service
7th	7	3	ASMs	RA, RAF, Infantry
9th	7	2	ASMs	War Service
11th	2	1	SM	War Service
12th	10 (1f)	0
13th	4	1	SM	On National Service
15th	4 (2f)	0
23rd	7 (2f)	3	ASM	RAF, Military Police
			ACM	RAF
25th	5	2	SM & ASM	Service
26th	1	0
28th	2 (2f)	0
29th/42nd	5 (2f)	0
36th	3	2	SM & ASM	On Active Service
42nd	2 (2f)	0
54th	4 (2f)	0
55th	4 (4f)	0
64th	1	0
65th	5	3	GSM & SM	On Active Service
			ASM	Killed ’41 D Custerson
Suspended
30th				Suspended Sept 1940
41st
53rd				Suspended during war time

Two Groups listed their Rover Crew

• 12th 10 Active Service, 1 ARP, 1 killed on War Service
• 23rd     3 RAF overseas, Internal 7, Army 7, Not serving 2

 A note attached to the 13th appears to read ‘Norway 27/11/40′ but this was several months after the Norwegian campaign.

The 7th record ‘several members volunteered for the ‘Scout Water Service’ to fetch water in case of severe damage to water supply’.

JWR Archivist Feb 2019