Introduction

It is relatively easy to break a group’s history into statistical figures – 100 years of scouting – so many hundreds of members registered on the rolls; hundreds of camps, hikes, activities and the like held; as many hundreds of badges and awards achieved. The list could be taken to interminable lengths; however it is the human experience of the many children, youths and adults who at some point or another in their life belonged to OUR group which makes up a GREAT group.

Each and every member of the group, past or present is a guardian of a treasury of memories – rosy or otherwise; memories which conjure a smile and others which may set a tear rolling down our cheeks. Why not after all? The life of a scout group pulses with the rhythm of the times and the spirits of its members. It is the latter who make our group a vibrant, thrilling experience – a group which comes to life with the joys, ambitions, sorrows, adventures and mishaps of the youngsters who have worn the neckerchief with 1^st Cospicua’s red and blue colours round their necks and embraced the ideals of the international brotherhood of scouts. It is in honour of each and every member of the 1^st Cospicua Scout Group, that this collection has been compiled in a decade by decade testimony of a wide cross section of activities and individuals who can claim a share in the making of a great brotherhood.

It has not been an easy task to make a balanced choice. Recording over 100 years of uninterrupted activity is a daunting task and though the documentary evidence is rather dry, especially for the period between 1917 and 1947, we were very lucky to have at our disposal the private collection of photos and memorabilia belonging to Messrs John Brincat, Lino Bonnici and Victor Harmer. The reminiscences of these three veteran leaders are a veritable treasure trove and we were also lucky to be given access to the manuscript of the memoirs of Turu Dimech. The latter joined the Group in the early 1920s and went on to become Cub Master. He left a meticulous record of the Group in its early years and his writing provides a very interesting glimpse into the social fabric of our town and the Cottonera in the years preceding the Second World War.

History is who we are. We do hope that this modest collection of memories will help us to understand our present, but most of all that it will serve as a fitting tribute to all those who have shaped the heart and soul of the 1^st Cospicua Scout Group. 

1917 – 1927

The earliest documentary evidence which bears witness to the formation of our group is the official registration form filed with The Malta Boy Scouts Association (then a branch of the British Association) on the 14^th of May 1917. From the same document, it transpires that the Troop had been holding meetings since the 10^th of April of the same year under the leadership of its founders – Assweru Scicluna and Mikiel Agius. Both leaders were teachers at the Elementary School in our town and in these early years, the scout meetings were held within the school premises (in the same building which still houses the Cospicua Primary School).

The group photo of the foundation Troop offers a precious insight into the first years of our group. The members are very smartly dressed in complete scout uniform and the majority of the boys are wearing that most quintessentially scout trademark – the wide brimmed hat – then as now a most expensive item of the scout uniform. The contrast with the photos from the late 1920s and 1930s – where most of the members wear a very wide assortment of apparel in lieu of the official items of the scout uniform is striking. This leads us to presume that the group was established on solid middle-class foundations and mostly drew its members from families who could afford these expensive extras.

It is appropriate at this point to fit what was happening in the Scouting scene within the wider framework of national and international politics. The first quarter of the 20^th century was an era of great change. In Malta, especially in the Cottonera area, the period was characterised by the cycle of growth and slumps in an economy which had become intrinsically linked with British defence spending. The prosperity and the full employment experienced during the expansion of the dockyard and the building of the breakwaters at the turn of the 20^th century, soon gave way to a slump when many units from the Mediterranean Fleet of the Royal Navy were redeployed in British waters. The hardships were somewhat alleviated by the outbreak of the First World War in 1914.

The patriotic fervour accompanying the declaration of war was to have considerable effect on the Scout Movement in Malta. Scout groups mushroomed all over the island and soon scouts were engaged in all sorts of jobs to help with the war effort. The vintage year 1917 saw the birth of a considerable number of scout groups (our own included) and many scouts lent a hand in military hospitals and in relaying signals between command posts and military installations across Malta. We have pictorial evidence of at least one Scout (identified as Tabone in a group portrait) from our Group who served in the Mediterranean Naval Staff Office and the Group was present in a parade which was held on the 24^th of May 1917 to mark Empire Day.

True to form, peace was followed by an economic slump which brought about massive unemployment and hardship. In Malta, we had also a national awakening with more vociferous requests for self determination and greater political freedom which culminated in the 7^th June 1919 riots and the granting of the first Self Government Constitution in 1921.   These events had an effect on the Scout Movement too and leaders were advised to keep a low profile in case the anti-British feeling made the scouts an easy target of the popular resentment against the colonial authorities.

It seems that our Group did not manage to weather the storm successfully. The wave of emigration which prompted many Maltese to seek a better fortune abroad caught Mikiel Agius in its wake and at some point, the connection with the Elementary School was severed. The Group moved to new premises at St. Helen’s Gate in the Cospicua Bastions. Turu Dimech’s memoirs paint a bleak picture of this period. The HQ was in a state of neglect with odd pieces of equipment cluttering the meeting place. Most of the members did not own a uniform and those who did had to make do with ill assorted pieces of hand me downs. It is possible that Pawlu Grima Mifsud - the leader in charge of the Troop was still wary of the hostility which uniformed members might have attracted as Dimech states that the Scout Master did not want the scouts to appear in uniform in public. It is also possible that the opposition of the clergy, of Canon Bugelli in particular might have also kept away many potential members and hindered further progress. The clergy was particularly wary of what appeared to be a thoroughly British organisation which might be used as a vehicle for the diffusion of Protestantism amongst the younger generation. A steady drain on the membership saw several scouts leaving the group to join the other groups in the neighbouring towns of Vittoriosa and Senglea. 

1928 – 1937

The second decade in the history of our group was heralded by a momentous revival. The group ended its first decade in the doldrums. Most of the members who still made a half hearted appearance at Scout Headquarters were drifting towards another centre which was proving to be more attractive for our scouts. For some years, an amateur band of pipers – known as il-Banda tal-Kanun, had been meeting in the San Ġwann t’Għuxa area. This band was made up of townsfolk who presumably had learnt to play the Scottish bagpipes and acquired some instruments from a highland regiment which had been billeted in Cospicua whilst performing a tour of duty in Malta. Some members of the group had long been urging Pawlu Grima Mifsud, the Group Scout Master to work for some sort of merger with this band. Grima Mifsud had always resisted the offer on the premise that he wanted scoutcraft and scouting to remain the motive spirit of the group and not the bagpipe band. However it seems that by 1928, the pressure on Group Scout Master had become too hard to resist and Grima Mifsud yielded to the requests. Dimech reports that in a few months after the merger of il-Banda tal-Kanun with the Cospicua Scout Group, many members returned back to the fold and they were allowed to wear the scout uniform. A cursory glance at the precious photographic evidence which we have from the period shows us that uniformity was very difficult to achieve and that in the lean years following the First World War, many of our members had to make do with improvised odds and ends – more often than not acquired from ex-army surplus.

This decade was a very active one for scouting in Malta in general. The colonial authorities had become very suspicious of Fascist Italy’s expansionist ambitions. Italian propaganda was very active in our island and the British were becoming increasingly wary of the effects which this could have on the loyalties of the civilian population in a first class military base that was being geared for military contingency.   A clamp down on Italian activities followed and complimentary to it, the colonial authorities sought to provide alternatives to cultivate the pro-British loyalties of the population, especially that of the younger generations. Scouting was seen as an ideal vehicle of British propaganda. Groups spread all over the island and the existing ones were given a generous helping hand by the authorities.

Our Group experienced a surge in membership and the number of scouts went beyond the 100 member mark. Gone were the days when uniformed scouts shunned the streets and parades were held on a regular basis. District parades and activities brought together the Scout Groups from the Cottonera and displays of scout craft were held in such localities as Piazza Santa Margerita (ix-Xgħajra ta’ Bormla) and the glacis adjacent to the Polverista (This area was planted with trees in the fifties and has recently been refurbished and christened Ġnien Kottonera) The Group joined in the patron ship scheme too – whereby ships in the British Mediterranean Fleet adopted a group and helped with the provision of equipment, excursions on board ships, instructors etc. Records show that the Group’s patron ship in this period was HMS Despatch from the First Cruiser Squadron. The group acquired also the distinguished patronage of Dr Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici (il-Gross) whose stature and standing in the locality must have lent the group an amount of prestige. Earlier on, the Group had also been patronised by Colonel Michael Dundon, one of the founder members of the Malta Labour Party, who also served as the first Chairman of our Group’s council.

The limitations of the HQ in the Santa Liena Bastions were overcome in many ways by holding activities, parades and games in such places as the water catchment area on the St. Helena Naval Reservoirs (Fuq il-Ġibjun), San Lorenzo Parade Ground (Fortini) and the tennis court on St. John’s Cavalier in Birgu (where the Group was to relocate its HQ in 1961). It-Torri tax-Xgħajra and Wied il-Għajn were ideal haunts for hikes, cookouts and open spaces where the group’s members could practise their scout craft. Camps were held with some frequency too. Turu Dimech’s memoirs paint a vivid picture of these camping trips with Scouts dragging on the ropes of a trek cart which had been assembled by the scouts themselves to carry the tents and the kits. The unpleasant chore was made more bearable with a couple of pipers leading the way with highland tunes. The modern reader here has to keep in mind that camping was still a very novel way of entertainment. Most camps did not last more than one or two nights and the equipment was most basic in nature. Add to this the unrelenting hostility of some members of the clergy who insisted that no conscientious parent would allow his son to spend the night out of the family fold (Dimech gives this verbatim with min għandu kont ta’ uliedu ma għandux iħallihom iqattgħu iljieli barra ma’ l-iscouts) and the pioneering efforts of these early members become really admirable.

The aspect of service, so central to the Scout Movement was present in these early years too. Our Group lent a precious hand with the formation of a Pack for destitute boys living at the St Vincent de Paul Poor House (l-Imgieret). The leaders from our group took this pack under their charge and led weekly meetings for its members. The scouts lived up to their ideals of service to the community and on some notorious occasions, individual acts of selfless action were aptly rewarded with singular marks of recognition. In 1937 Cub Scout Joseph Cachia, was decorated with the Gilt Cross by the Governor of Malta for saving the son of Rover Mate G. Allison from drowning off the area of public wharf in Cospicua (the site of the present day Cospicua Regatta Club). The civic aspect was catered for with participation in annual events – in the Maltese colonial experience, more often than not these events centred around themes with overtly British imperialistic overtones – such as the sovereign’s birthday, Empire Day, etc. Our Group was also present in two out of the three occasions when Lord Baden-Powell visited the island in his role as Chief Scout of the World. However, the Scouts were sometimes caught in the struggle between divided loyalties. Dimech records an incident in which our Group was invited to take part in the commemoration of the Victory in the Great Siege (8 September) at Senglea. At the time, this commemoration had nationalistic overtones and was frequently used to vent Maltese aspirations of statehood and also anti-British sentiments. The Group led a cortege which followed a speech by Fr. Ġelardu Paris O.P – an orator who was considered to lean too far towards the anti-British faction for comfort (in fact, he was one of the number of Maltese nationals who was interned during the war). At one point Fr. Paris was carried shoulder high by some hotheads amongst the crowd and anti-British slogans were uttered out loud. GSM Grima Mifsud was summoned to IHQ where he was rapped on the knuckles for taking part in this show of sentiment against the imperial establishment.

1938 – 1947

These years were characterised by the build up to the Second World War, the years of conflict itself and the doldrums of its aftermath. Following the invasion of Abyssinia by the Italians in 1936, the winds of war started being felt in our island. Military preparations were taken in hand and the scouts played a significant role in helping the authorities to coach the population in the precautions to be taken in the event of the use of poison gas. J. Storace, the District Protection officer for the Cottonera area was GSM of Gżira Group and he was quite happy to rope in the scouts, especially the leaders to lend a hand with the preparations for war. A number of leaders (including Turu Dimech) joined the Air Raid Precautions Unit (ARP) as wardens, while others joined a special company for scouts or ex-scouts in the Kings Own Malta Regiment.

The uncertainty of the period is reflected in the thoughts penned by Dimech in his diary who on the eve of Italy’s declaration of war expressed fear that the group would never be the same again. Part of the HQ in St. Helena Bastions was taken over as a first aid post by the ARP while some of the members had already dispersed as evacuees in safer parts of the island – away from the dockyard and the harbour.

In spite of the terrible destruction which hit the Cottonera in the war years, we have evidence that the flame of scouting, though not quite raging was still flickering beneath the rubble and havoc wreaked by the Italian and German bombers. The group went through a change in leadership. Francis Grillo and Robert Alden followed each other in quick succession. Precious little was done in the strained circumstances of a city destroyed by bombing and from the oral evidence that we have, it seems that occasional meetings were held by candlelight in a cellar in St. George’s Street – where the scouts passed the time practising amateur theatricals. The equipment belonging to the group was transferred to a store at ‘il-Pitkalija’ on the road leading to Senglea. The location received a direct hit and all the equipment was lost. As pointed out above, the HQ in St. Helen’s Gate was taken over by the ARP as a first aid post. From documentary evidence we learn also that the rest of the HQ was taken over by people who had been bombed out of their houses and at some point Fr Edward Zerafa was also running a school for children from the vicinities within the premises.

The surrender of Italy in 1943 meant that the war was practically over for Malta. Bombing raids had long since ceased and one presumes that scout meetings were held with more frequency. However, it was very difficult to set the group back on its feet. Another change in leadership saw the group passing under the leadership of Robert Alden and the Group started on the long road towards its revival. It was an uphill struggle. Most of the leaders had grown roots in the villages or towns where they had been evacuated during the war while GSM Grima Mifsud’s spirit seem to have been greatly dampened by the war. It is said that when the GSM was approached at the naval dockyard, where he was employed to revive the group, retrace the lost property and re-open the HQ, he was none too forthcoming. Grima Mifsud died soon after the end of the war and it was up to a new generation of leaders to build the group anew.

1948 - 1957

The task of reviving the group after the Second World War fell squarely on the shoulders of a young but enthusiastic Group Scout Master who had just transferred from Paola Group. John Brincat had joined the Scout Movement as a Rover Scout with Paola during the war years. The family had evacuated to the locality from Cospicua during the war however, with the return to peace, John was encouraged by many people to transfer to Cospicua Group. The transfer itself required an amount of cheek and daring in order to convince the GSM of Paola Group to agree to the transfer – in those days the quasi dictatorial powers of the group leader were very rarely questioned. However, by hook or by crook, Brincat managed to get transferred to Cospicua.

Brincat himself used to recount with a twinkle in his eye that he had found GSM Paola in an inebriated state and to prove that he was thinking (and seeing) straight, his superior signed his name on a blank piece of paper. Later on Brincat wrote his transfer above the signature and turned the letter in to DC Cottonera. On his first visit to St. Helen’s HQ, Brincat found a group of old timers preparing the drums and fifes for the Good Friday procession. He was not impressed with what he saw and at first he must have felt that he had jumped from the frying pan in to the fire as after a while, he asked the DC to approve his return to Paola. However, DC Malcolm Miles answered ‘Now that you are with us, we will not let you go!’

Within a short period of time, John Brincat found himself at the helm of the group in a most critical phase of its history. Brincat had joined a team of leaders which included Bobby Alden, Oliver Zerafa, Harry Harmer and Ġorġ Allison. It was thanks to the efforts of these leaders that the Group managed to remain on its feet and start on a long but steady recovery.

At this point, we can start drawing information from concrete documentary sources. A cursory glance at the records held in the Group’s archives shows that action was taken to reclaim the HQ at Santa Liena from the authorities and to retrace the lost property. Compensation was claimed for the loss of the Group’s belongings and the bagpipe band was refurbished. It was not an easy task to convince the parents to start sending their sons to scout meetings again. A good number of families did not return to their hometown from the villages where they had been evacuated during the war and the area surrounding the HQ still bore the scars of the heavy bombing which our city had experienced during the blitz. Moreover, then as now, the St. Helen’s Gate area (Fuq Santa Liena) did not enjoy such a salutary reputation.

Luckily, the group had shed the shackles which had hindered progress before the war. The Italian air force had effectively ‘killed’ the Italian question and though the issue of the loyalties of the population was to take a different dimension within a short period of time, the issue of Italian vs British loyalties was laid to rest. The patronage of the Hon. Dom Mintoff the up and coming young politician who hailed from Cospicua – newly appointed Minister of Works and Reconstruction in the first post-war labour government was sought and achieved. The Group council was reformed and the Nihil Obstat of the church was obtained and sealed with a pastoral visit of Archbishop Gonzi to the group’s HQ in 1949. The band was revived and the younger members instructed in the playing of the bagpipes.

The scouting spirit was revived with the organisation of activities – with the highlight being a summer camp that was held at St. Thomas Bay in 1948 – no mean achievement when one considers that the group had lost all its camping equipment during the war and the civilian population was still living under the stringent restrictions of rationing (including basic foodstuffs and clothing). GSM Brincat kept up an efficient campaign of PR with frequent reporting of the Group’s activities in the press appearing under the pen name of Skymaster. The Group took part and held various parades which gave scouting in Cospicua a high profile which pretty soon eclipsed the other groups in the Cottonera area. The hard work of a dedicated team of young leaders was definitely the main cause of this revival.

This decade saw the taking of a crucial step. After more than fifty years of sojourn at St. Helen’s Gate, in 1954 the Group’s HQ was relocated to more spacious accommodation in the basement of the Conservatorio San Giuseppe in St. Margaret Square (nowadays the site of the senior citizens’ home in Cospicua). The old HQ suffered from several deficiencies, chief of which being the low repute of the area and the lack of space. The latter problem was greatly exacerbated when half the premises was requisitioned to open a new roadway that was cut through the bastions to allow for the better flow of modern traffic.

The new HQ was rented from the Church at the exorbitant rate of ₤ 35 per annum. No mean sum when one considers that at the time the weekly wages of a skilled worker at the dockyard amounted to ₤ 4. Two fairs were organised each year to balance the accounts and cater for the running costs of the group. The balance sheets from the period deserve a study in their own right and they stand as a monument to the thrift and the management skills of a group of dedicated volunteers who had to make ends meet with very limited financial means.

The closing year of this decade saw also the celebration of the 50^th year of the birth of the Scout Movement – which was marked with a Jamboree that was held in the UK in 1957. This Jamboree was attended by GSM Brincat and Scout Saviour Richards from our Group.

1958 – 1967

In the period following the Second World War, life was steadily but only very slowly returning back to normal. However, the Cottonera was a shadow of its former self and it never fully recovered the lustre of the reputation which it had enjoyed in the years preceding the war. The social fabric suffered from the migratory movements of the population which was seeking a better standard of living in other towns. This decade witnessed also mass emigration from Malta. The group was not immune to these influences and a number of leaders of long standing and repute left our shores in search of better opportunities abroad. The political issues had their effect on the Group too. These were the years which saw the escalation of the campaign for and against the political integration of Malta with the United Kingdom, the drive for the political independence of our country and the electoral campaigns in which the Church imposed spiritual sanctions on those who supported the Malta Labour Party. The Cottonera was a hotbed of political activity and as a district which was so closely associated with the Labour party, the leaders of the Cospicua Scout Group had a difficult time steering a course between Scylla and Charybdis. The Labour Party had set up the Labour Brigade – a movement for youngsters complete with uniforms and marching bands – which often found itself in direct competition with the scouts for members, especially in localities such as ours where the scouts had a marching band within their ranks. A strictly neutral stance saw the Group passing largely unscathed through these events without becoming embroiled in the struggle for loyalties which developed during this decade, thus preserving its good reputation with both sides of the political divide.

A cursory glance at the log books from the period shows that the scouts from all the sections in our group were engaged in a very busy programme of activities. The scouts were busy with the training schemes both within and outside the movement and the group’s archives hold a rich collection of log books compiled by scouts on their journeys, camps, expeditions, hikes and all sorts of different projects for the different badges, the Queen’s Scout Award, the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme, etc.

This decade saw also the transfer to a new HQ in the bastions of the neighbouring town of Birgu. St. John’s Bastion and Cavalier had been used as a HQ by the Vittoriosa scouts for many years. In the 1920s, our Group had occasionally used the bastion for meetings and activities – this presumably came to an end when the site was requisitioned for use as an air raid shelter during the Second World War. The upper tier of the cavalier was also the site of a light anti-aircraft gun.

Some years ago, the author of this monograph was lucky enough to welcome inside the HQ a British veteran of the Second World War who had served in Malta. The veteran recalled that he had been stationed at the gun post on the cavalier and he also started dating a local girl. One day, in between raids he went down to meet his sweetheart. Suddenly the air raid warning sounded and the couple took shelter in the cavalier’s door on Main Gate Street (the back door to our HQ which gives access to the camping store). Suddenly all hell was let loose and earth shaking tremors were felt. After the raid, the lucky couple came out of the shelter and found that the gun post had been completely obliterated with a direct hit. The gun and tons of debris had tumbled down into the street below and the young man’s companions were dead. It was certainly a lucky escape! For many years, this corner of the bastions remained in abject ruins.

In 1961, restoration work had just been completed when GSM John Brincat was informed that a ‘to let’ sign had been hung on the gate of St. John’s Bastion. Vittoriosa Scout Group which had fallen on hard times and it suffered from a lack of enthusiastic leaders to keep the flame of scouting burning in that historic town. GSM Alfred Ritchie had surrendered the key of the HQ to the Lands Department and so Brincat appealed successfully for the transfer of St. John’s Cavalier to the Cospicua Scout Group.

A lot of work was done by the scouts themselves to clear the site of the debris left after the conclusion of the restoration works on the war damaged parts. Within a relatively short period of months, the scouts could boast of a meeting place which in its uniqueness never fails to impress visitors.

The first distinguished visitor to be welcomed by the Group at its new HQ was the Chief Scout of the United Kingdom, Sir Charles Maclean who visited Malta in February 1964. Sir Charles paid a 10 day visit to Malta during which he visited our group and met all the sections at work and at play in our new HQ.

The Independence of Malta was the highlight event of this decade. Senior Scouts Victor Harmer and Stephen Bunce from our Group were part of the contingent of 17 scouts from all over the island who acted as ushers during the ceremonies. Both scouts appear in various pictures from the highlights of the proceedings, including the momentous ceremony when the Union Jack was hauled down to be replaced with the Maltese colours on midnight September 21^st 1964.

1967 – 1977

Scouting had to keep apace with the changes that were fast catching up with Maltese society. In 1966, the Malta Scout Association came into being as an independent body in its own right and no longer a branch of the UK Association. The Scouts adopted a new look with berets replacing the old scout hat, scouters took on a new nomenclature with the word ‘leader’ replacing the ‘master’ of old and the training programme was updated to meet the needs of contemporary youth.

Our Group too passed through a significant change when in 1972, after a tenure which lasted nigh on twenty-five years, John Brincat relinquished the post of Group Scout Leader and transferred to IHQ as Scout Shop Commissioner. The task of leading the group fell on the ‘Skipper’ (as Scout Leaders have been known since the first years of Scouting). Lino Bonnici was not new to the Group. He had started his career in Scouting way back in the 50s and has since remained actively engaged with the Group in several ranks and roles.

The seventies were a time of great change and adaptations in our country and Scouting was not immune to the winds of change. The sections were reformed; leader training received a greater impetus and activities were diversified. The senior and junior Troops were amalgamated into one and the Rover Crews of old gave way to the Venture Scouts. Our group, largely at the prompting of GSL Lino Bonnici started experimenting also with the ideas of co-education at a time when it was still taboo in our island. Young women were encouraged to join the group as Venture Scouts and some of them stayed on as leaders with the Pack. The group stepped up its campaign of PR with public rallies in which scouting displays were held on a grand scale every two years.

A new generation of leaders had come into being and their contribution helped to usher in a new phase in the group’s history. In addition, a good number of scouting activities were organised and run by the group as a whole or by the three sections. The group’s archives are rich in the logbooks and mementos from camps in different sites all over the island, hikes, expeditions, cookouts and all the activities which constitute the basic fare of any scout group the world over.

During this decade, the scouts had to face the harsh realities of the cuts in British defence spending. As long as the connection with the Royal Navy and HM Forces lasted, the scouts had been the recipients of generous aid and assistance. However, by the turn of the seventies, British military presence in Malta had long since come under the axe of the exchequer and with the demise of the naval base and its ancillary facilities, the scouts had to explore different pastures for sponsorship and help. To mention but one example, our scouts had grown used to camping trips in properties owned by the services – such as Għadira Rest Camp in Mellieħa Bay, Hal Far and Għajn Tuffieħa Barracks. Pretty soon, the scouts had to find suitable alternatives as the former military facilities were either leased and converted to civilian use or else fell into a state of dilapidation and neglect.

1978 – 1988

This was a period of adaptation which was not free of momentous adjustments. In the year 1980, GSL Bonnici set in motion the process which was to transfer the overall direction of the 1^st Cospicua Scout Group into the hands of Victor Harmer, who at the time filled the role of Scout Leader.

The true transition of the Group into the modern era was to be experienced under the leadership of Victor Harmer, whose name like John Brincat’s before him came to be associated indelibly with Scouting in Cospicua.

For the first phase of Victor Harmer’s stewardship, the Group was in the doldrums as the social maelstrom which was being experienced by the three cities of Senglea, Cospicua and Vittoriosa was leaving its toll on the Group as well. The naval activity, on which the prosperity of the area had been based, had long since withered and the dockyard had lost its status as the main source of employment in the island. The Cottonera became a shadow of its former self and for a time it was unable to cope with the reversal of its fortunes. The District was experiencing a negative growth in its population and to make matters worse, the old families, which had provided the Group with recruits and leaders were moving out of the area. The newer families that flocked to the Cottonera area, particularly Cospicua in search of cheap housing had no roots in the town and could never quite feel the same sort of sentiment which the old timers had for the social life of the area in general and Scouting in particular.

One has to keep in mind that this was also the time in which the whole island was experiencing great social, economic and political upheaval. Malta was coming to terms with the times and slowly finding its feet after the political processes that had led to the formation of a sovereign, independent nation.

The Scout Association as a whole was in a state of flux as it struggled to come to terms with the changing social conditions and to prove that it was still relevant in a world which was changing fast. It was in this context, that with the help of various people, the 1^st Cospicua Scout Group tried to break down the traditional barriers which kept it hemmed in and threatened its existence.

As John Brincat recounted to the author, Victor Harmer was quite disheartened at the fact that the Group had somewhat reached a standstill. Brincat encouraged the leaders to think outside the box and with his help, they organised a recruitment drive centred at Marsascala, where many young families had relocated from the Cottonera. The initiative was rewarded with a considerable success and the children whom it attracted, enjoyed their experience in the scouts and brought over other youngsters. In a relatively short period of time, the HQ was inundated with requests for membership from children who lived in Marsascala and Żabbar. The net spread wider and wider as problems of mobility became virtually non-existent as many parents made it easier for their children to make it to the Scout HQ with a short trip in the family car.   The new recruits spoke highly of the Scouts with their school mates and this brought in more children seeking admission.

1988 - 2005

Soon, an average of 100 members and more became the norm for 1^st Cospicua. A bigger number of children demanded new facilities and more activities – and of course more leaders. Thanks to Victor Harmer, his team of leaders and the able assistance of the Group’s Committee, the Group could equip itself with better equipment and to organize more attractive activities to keep the ever growing number of members as happy and as busy as possible.

Scouting in Malta was experiencing a general renaissance and a number of new Scout Groups were formed or re-formed in the 90s. With the eclipse of the other groups, Cospicua Scout Group had become the senior group in the South District and as such, it became instrumental in the formation of new groups – both in the provision of a model and also in more practical terms with material assistance.

The Group has also given a number of people to occupy key positions in the Scout Association of Malta – the most notable of whom were Leslie Bonnici, who went on to occupy the role of Chief Commissioner of the Scout Association; John Brincat who rose to occupy the rank of Deputy Chief Commissioner; and Lino and Martin Bonnici who served as South District Commissioners.

An instrumental part of this resurgence was the Group’s Committee – which under the direction of Mr Stephen Bunce overhauled the HQ, most of the kitchen and camping equipment and gave the Group a sound financial base. More leaders joined the management of the Group as more adults were needed to take care of the increasing numbers of children who sought membership.

During this period, we welcomed several guests at our HQ – including parties of foreign scouts and guests, but the most noteworthy visit occurred in 1998 when Dr Jacques Moreillon, the Secretary General of the World Organisation of the Scout Movement paid a visit to Malta. The Secretary General was welcomed to our HQ for a most pleasant meeting with all the members of the Group who were engaged in scouting displays all over the site.

This was also a period of time when the Group started venturing on trips abroad – primarily to Germany – where we were lucky enough to establish a long lasting and fruitful relationship with the scouts from the town of Neuenrade in the North Rhine Westphalia. This friendship started in the year 1988 after a contact was established on the air during JOTA. Parties of scouts from Neuenrade have camped several times as guests in our HQ and different parties from our group have reciprocated with stays at Neuenrade. We have even camped with our friends in foreign countries: Glorenza (on the Italian Alps) in 1998, Macanet de Cabrenys (on the Spanish Pyrenees) in 2000 and at Appiano (on the Italian Alps) in 2017.

2000 -

The Group entered the new millennium in a healthy and vibrant mode, but true to form and to the traditions which had been laid by others before him, after a tenure of a quarter century in which the 1^st Cospicua Scout Group had been completely restructured, Victor Harmer passed on the baton to a new leader. In the summer of 2005, Mr Harmer proposed that the direction of the Group should pass on to Mario Ellul, the author of this monograph, who at the time occupied the role of Scout Leader. In August 2005, the Group Scouters’ Conference was consulted in the process and in a unanimous vote, Mr Ellul was elected Group Scout Leader – a role which he officially took over during the Founder’s Day Parade which was held in February 2006.

In recent years, the Group has continued to flourish and grow stronger – largely thanks to the solid base which was built with the contribution of its members and leaders throughout the years. Though in essence, the spirit of Scouting and the Scout method have been preserved, the Group has changed radically – most notably in recent years with the introduction of a section for Beaver Scouts in January 2011 and the enrolment of girls in the same year.

It was indeed a momentous decision taken unanimously by all the adult stakeholders in the Group after consultation with the members themselves and with their parents.

The experiment was successful and the Group had proven that it was prepared to boldly step in where others feared to tread.

The years rolled faster towards a unique landmark in the history of the Group – the celebration of the 100^th anniversary of its foundation. Preparations started in 2015 and no stone was left unturned in the celebration of this unique milestone with a number of activities between December 2016 and April 2018 – reaching the peak in May 2017 with the launch of a prestigious volume recounting the Group’s history and a parade during which the President of the Republic, Her Excellency Marie Louise Coleiro Preca unveiled a commemorative marble plaque in the presence of other distinguished guests and the members of the Group.

As part of the anniversary celebrations and in perpetual commemoration of its founders, the adult members of the Group unanimously decided to revert to the original pattern of the Group’s scarf as designed by Mikiel Agius in 1917 – a square neckerchief made up of a blue and a red triangle. The scarf had been modified in the 1970s and featured a small blue triangle in one of the corners of a red triangular necker.

The 1^st Cospicua Scout Group is entering the second century of its existence with great confidence in the future. The Group, which at the moment includes 205 members of all ages spread between the Beaver Colony and the Rover Crew and according to the latest census issued by the Scout Association of Malta in August 2020, is the largest Scout Group in Malta.

The resilience of the Group and the tenacity of its members has come in useful during the Covid-19 pandemic, when activities were suspended and the HQ closed between March and July 2020. The Group took its activities online and managed to attract all its members when the doors were re-opened in July 2020.

The Group is very proud of its heritage, however it remains open to change and true to the motto and mission statement of the Scout Association, it is very much prepared to continue flourishing firm in the belief that it is doing its bit in making the world a better place.