Ecole Libre Saint-François Régis: The Scouts

Figure 1.--Saint-François had a small cub pack of about nine boys. They wear a beret rather than the peaked cap worn by British cubs. The boys have pitched a tent to show off their scout skills.

Saint-François had its on scout troop. Photographs show both cubs and scouts in their uniforms. Scouting was not as popular in France as in England and the limited participation in the school scouts and cubs is a reflection of this. Scouts were not always well considered by the Catholic hierarchy. Participation in scouting was concentrated in urban areas and usually finacially well-off parents. Scouts were virtually non-existent among farm families and rare among workers (apart some ethnological explanations there was the cost of the uniform and loss of time to help for the farm, the garden and domestic works). There was no single French Scout association. The boys at Saint-François presumably belonged to the separate Scout de France. It was the French catholic Scout association, but outnumbered the other associations. Most French boys were Catloic and the French church actively promoted the Scouting movement. The school also had a cub troop. Unlike the scouts, the cubs wore berets. Both the cubs and scouts were well turned out for the photograph with all the boys wearing the full uniform.

The Cubs

Saint-François had a small cub pack of about nine boys. Given the size of the chool, it seems like a small group, suggesting scouting was not very popular. The wear a beret rather than the peaked cap worn by British cubs. The berets are back, most with badges on them. They wear kerchiefs, long-sleeved shirts and short pants. I'm not sure what color the uniform garments were. The shirt was perhaps a light blue, the shorts were navy blue. All the bous wear kneesocks, several with sandals, primarily English style school sandals.

The Scouts

The scout troop at Saint-François was only slightly larger than the cub pack, suggesting scouting was not very popular. The scouts like the cubs are all completely togged out in complete scout uniforms. The boys wear the traditional Smokey the Bear cap, kerchief, shirt, shorts, and kneesocks. The uniform was a khaki shirt worn with navy blue shorts. Most seem to wear long sleeved shirts worn up, but one boy wears a short sleeved shirt. Many seem to have the same kind of medal on their pocket. One of the younger scouts wears sandals like the cubs.

Figure 2.--The Scout troop at Saint-François was larger than the cub pack.

Created: November 13, 1999
Last updated: December 2, 1999