I Joined The Girl Guides at 13 Years Old

I Joined the Girl Guides at 13 years old. My mother didn't want me to join, so I had a hard time getting a uniform. A friend from across the street, Maisie Sayers, gave me belt for a Christmas present. I saved up my allowance to buy a hat. That was a great day when a few friends came with me to buy the hat. The hat was Navy-blue stiff felt, with a round crown, and a very broad flat brim. On the way home after buying the hat, we were climbing the stairs in the Tram - the wind came and blew my hat right out of the Tram. I cried out "Oh, my hat!" The conductor was sorry for me, and he pulled the Bell to stop the tram. Everyone waited while I chased the hat and re-boarded the tram, and then they gave a big cheer! My mother saw that I was serious about the Girl Guides, so she bought me the rest of the uniform.

My first camp was when I was 13 years old. We camped at Tullymore Estate at the foot of the Mourne Mountains, in Newcastle, County Down. The first day, a few of us took "nick-names", and mine was Felix. A couple of things happened with that name. One day an Officer called me "Felix", I hadn't the heart to tell her different. Then at the end of the camp we were all gathering up our own silverware. I had mine beside me with Edna Bond written on them. A girl accused me, saying "that's not yours, your name is Felix." (many years later, when I would be dating, and a boy would say "let's sit here a while, I would reply "my name is Felix- I keep on walking.")

At that first camp an Officer named Florrie Morten, who lived 2 houses from me, called me and asked me if I was on cook duty this morning. I told her that I was, so she told me crisply, "get a hustle on" I thought it was some sort of apron, so went through the camp looking for a hustle!

The camp was made up of many Guide Companies, and were put into 5 Groups. The 5th group was the officers, and was called "Central". They ate with a different group each day. A song was made up about the groups.

The camp at Tullymore
Is like a hive,
The groups they numbered,
One to five.
The first group's at the top of the hill,
They started laughing, and they're laughing still.
The second fed on Birthday cake,
Their bath went sailing down the lake.
The third in Orange ties were dressed,
The wind blew East, their tent went West.
The forth, they figured in the Northern Whig,
With larder neat, but not too big.
The fifth, was Central, with lots to say.
They cadged their meals, and ran away.

I camped with the Girl Guides from 1925 until 1939, that's when I joined the WAAF (Women's Auxiliary Airforce). Girl Guide camping was real rugged, but we wouldn't have had it any other way. We traveled to the campsite mostly by train. On arrival we set to, and pitched our tents. We had no men with us to do heavy work. Each tent slept 6 girls. After the tents were up, we each took our own Palleaise (an empty mattress- like bag, made out of burlap) down the lane to the Estate workers farm, where we had fun filling them up with hay. Right there we sewed up the open end. We then had to dig a Latrine (if it hadn't been dug before hand.) We then put stakes around the oblong hole, and wound burlap around them, for privacy. A pile of lime was there with a shovel that we were to use. This was all taken down by us and the hole filled in before we left to go home. We had no lectures at camp, but good manners, courtesy, honesty and responsibility was expected by all. You were told your duties and we all pitched in.

more later....