Figure 1.-- G. Herbert Russell, Assistant County Commissioner of Scouts Associations wrote, "A young French Boy Scout, for example, was captured by a body of German soldiers, and ordered to point out the position of the French troops. He refused, and was told that refusal meant death. Still he declined to give the information, and was shot." We know of no such proven incident in World War I. We wonder where Russell and similar authors got their information. Wold he have knowingly written false information. The caption here read, "The Brave Boy Scout: He walked with firm steps to a telegraph post, stood aginst it, and with the green vinyards hehind him, smiled as they shot him dead."

We are not sure at this time how much of the British anti-German was the direct result of stories planted by the War Propaganda Bureau and how much was the imagination of private British authors and illustrators. The War Propaganda Bureau engaged the services of important authors. We are unsure to what extent they directed their work. Of course after reading newspaper items, authors wrote stories that were not created by the War Propaganda Bureau. It is probably impossible to differentite between the two at this time. And of course with the press censorship at the time, material could not be published unless the Government approved. An example here is an article by G. Herbert Russell, Assistant County Commissioner of Scouts Associations. He wrote an article entitled, "Boy Scouts in war-time," for a childrens'd book--Victory Adventure Book (Collins’ Clear-Type Press: London and Glasgow). Russel writes, "A young French Boy Scout, for example, was captured by a body of German soldiers, and ordered to point out the position of the French troops. He refused, and was told that refusal meant death. Still he declined to give the information, and was shot." We know of no such proven incident in World War I. We wonder where Russell and similar authors got their information. Wold he have knowingly written false information.

Created: 6:46 AM 5/15/2006
Last updated: 6:46 AM 5/15/2006