Figure 1.--Here Boy Scouts are seeing the Territorials off to the front in 1914 at Pickering Station in Yorkshire. This photograph was probably taken in September when the War was just beginning. The Territorial Army (TA) at the time was the the principal reserve force of the British Army. The British Army in 1914 was very small and the Territirials was all Britain had to reinforce the BEF that had been rushed to France when the Germans invaded Belgium. The BEF did succeed in slowing down the Germans, but losses wee very heavy. It is likely that the Scouts here knew many of the young men departing for the front. The Scouts are to the right. Put your cursor on the image to see them.

The Scouts were involved in a range of morale building activities, such as sending the soldiers off the the front. Often these were local men from the community that many of the boys would have known. We suspect that there wee also parades and civic events in which the Scouts also participated. Here Boy Scouts are seeing the Territorials off to the front in 1914 at Pickering Station in Yorkshire. This photograph was probably taken in September when the War was just beginning. The Territorial Army (TA) at the time was the the principal reserve force of the British Army. The British Army in August 1914 was very small and the Territirials was all Britain had to reinforce the BEF that had been rushed to France when the Germans invaded Belgium. The BEF did succeed in slowing down the Germans, but losses wee very heavy. It is likely that the Scouts here knew many of the young men departing for the front. The Scouts are to the right. Put your cursor on the image to see them.