The Scout and Guide movement in Malta is served by three organizations: The Malta Girl Guides Association, member of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts The Scout Association of Malta, member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement Baden-Powell Scouts Malta, member of the World Federation of Independent Scouts
History of Scouting in Malta
Founded in 1908, The Scout Association of Malta (TSAM) is the largest Scouting organization in Malta. TSAM has always maintained a high and respectable Scouting tradition. Its leaders and members are committed to further the ideals of Scouting in line with those as traditionally established by the youth movement's Founder, Lord Robert Baden-Powell of Gilwell, and as further developed by the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM). TSAM is a forward looking youth movement which, as a non-governmental organisation (NGO), enjoys great respect both locally and internationally. It is the only association in Malta which is recognised by the WOSM, and is also a member of the European Scout Region.
Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement with the stated aim of supporting young people in their physical, mental and spiritual development, so that they may play constructive roles in society. Scouting began in 1907 when Lord Robert Baden-Powell of Gilwell, a Lieutenant-General in the British Army, held the first Scouting encampment at Brownsea Island in England.
This brief summary and highlight of events and other notable dates of the Scouts in Malta prior, during and soon after the end of the First World War (WW1), gives a very good insight of other Scout activities during this period. Being part of the British Empire, Malta was one of the first countries where Scouting started.
The history of scouting in Malta is truly rich in events that mark its chequered history. The close connection the Islands have with the Scout Movement's founder, Lord Robert Baden-Powell started when he served in the rank of Captain as Assistant Military Secretary to his uncle, General Sir Henry Augustus Smyth who then was Governor of Malta, between 1890 and 1893.
Scouting in Malta started in 1908, only one year after its establishment in Great Britain, and the Maltese Scouts were the first Association formed outside of the British Isles, together with Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and South Africa. Maltese scout troops were officially recognised in 1909 and by the end of the year a total of one hundred and forty four Scouts were enrolled in seven different Troops (Mizzi, 1989, p40). The 1st Sliema Scout Troop applied to be registered by The Boy Scouts Association of the United Kingdom on October 12, 1909, and, a year later in 1910, it was registered as the second overseas troop with The Boy Scouts Association. At this time there were 338 Boy Scouts and 3 Scoutmasters listed as members in Malta.
Chief Scout Baden-Powell returned many times to the island, including during a part of his delayed honeymoon with Lady Olave, in February 1913, and when he inspected six Troops from Baracca, Dockyard, Floriana, Sliema, Tigne and Valletta. Baden-Powell recognised and shook hands with two of the Scouts he had tea with in London, during the Coronation in 1911.
On 15 September 1913, the Malta Boy Scouts Association was formally registered by Imperial Headquarters in London as an Overseas Branch of the Boy Scouts Association. The first known Maltese scout troop which was registered was the ‘Sliema Land Scouts’ in September 1909 (interestingly, the 1st Sliema Scout Group - Bernard's Own - is the oldest surviving active Scout Group outside the UK and Australia, and in 2009 they celebrated the 100th Anniversary of scouting in Malta), followed by ‘Barracca Land Scouts’ in December 1911. The Boy Scouts Association formed a local association in Malta on 15 September 1913 which became The Boy Scouts Association Malta Branch.
War was declared in August 1914. The First World War had a significant impact on Scouting on Malta, since most of the Scoutmasters were also British and Maltese Servicemen, and who were ordered to the front in Europe. Within weeks of the declaration of hostilities, these Scouts from Malta were on their way to the Western Front. As camps were cancelled, the Scouts volunteered for war service as interpreters, in hospitals, in convalescent centres and in tea rooms, in the censor's office and as coast watchers and messengers.