The Prince of Wales started a great fund for helping people in distress. At the time when I write these words he had collected the enormous sum of nearly four millions. The Prince also joined the Grenadier Guards as a subaltern and trained with great enthusiasm. To his bitter disappointment Lord Kitchener did not consider him experienced enough to go to the front yet awhile.
King George was unwearied in visiting his troops in camp, and the wounded in hospital. This in addition to all the heavy daily work he had to do with his Ministers.
Unlike the Kaiser, our King did not boast and rush about making silly speeches. He just set to work and did his duty like the modest gentleman that he is, and the example of coolness and courage that he showed was an inspiration to the whole Empire.
Among all the people who helped on the outbreak of war, I do not think any did better than the Boy Scouts.
They did excellent work, especially in guarding railways and bridges, and about this I heard at the time an amusing story.
A man who was certainly old enough to know better resolved to play a practical joke on some Boy Scouts who were guarding an important railway bridge. Taking a little bag with him, he crept stealthily along the line. Soon the Scouts challenged him, and then this foolish man pretended to be a German! “Ach!” he cried, trying to imitate the German accent, “Liddle boys, I vill blow up zis bridge.” Here the Scouts interrupted him to such purpose that he had to spend a considerable time in hospital! There, let us hope, he repented of his silly joke.
Many hundreds of Boy Scouts did regular coastguard duty in place of the coastguards who were called away on active service. As the weather got cold the Scouts found themselves in urgent need of warm clothing, and Sir Robert Baden Powell, the Chief Scout, appealed for mittens, comforters, stockings, and so on.
Here I may say that every boy and girl ought to help in making such things. Your elders will tell you at any time what things are particularly wanted for the soldiers and sailors exposed to wind and rain and storm on land and sea.
An exciting story of a London boy who would not give his side away is that of Freddy Ascher, aged sixteen. Freddy was at school near Peronne, in Belgium, when the war broke out. One Sunday morning after church he decided to cycle to Peronne to look for Germans, who were said to be close by.
Just outside the town, two German soldiers on bicycles suddenly pounced on him and took him into the German lines. There he was searched, and from letters which he had from his parents, the German officers discovered that he was English, and of course they began questioning him as to where he had seen the English troops, and if any were near.