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How the Girl Guides Won the War
A completely original history of one of the most extraordinary movements in the world – the Girl Guides – and how they helped win the war.
Mention Girl Guides to any woman and the reaction will be strong. They either loved them or hated them; they were either proud to wear their uniform or refused to join. Whatever their feelings, most former Guides retain strong memories of their experiences.
All too often regarded merely in terms of biscuit sales and sing-songs, hardly anybody is aware of the massive impact that the Guides had on gender equality and, more fundamentally, the outcome of the Second World War. In this eye-opening history, Janie Hampton explores how the Guides' work was crucial to Britain's victory. When the Blitz broke out, the Guides knew what to do. They kept up morale in bomb shelters, demonstrating 'blitz cooking' with emergency ovens made from the bricks of bombed houses at the request of the Ministry of Food. They grew food on their company allotments and knitted for the entire country. The embodiment of the Home Front spirit, they dug shelters, provided crucial First Aid, and also assisted the millions of children who were forced to flee their city homes to safer places in the country.
It is difficult to imagine what the war effort would have looked like without the Guides. Full of fond and funny anecdotes and rich social history, 'How the Guides Won the War' takes us on the journey of one of the twentieth century's most extraordinary movements.
Mention Girl Guides to any woman and the reaction will be strong. They either loved them or hated them; they were either proud to wear their uniform or refused to join. Whatever their feelings, most former Guides retain strong memories of their experiences.
All too often regarded merely in terms of biscuit sales and sing-songs, hardly anybody is aware of the massive impact that the Guides had on gender equality and, more fundamentally, the outcome of the Second World War. In this eye-opening history, Janie Hampton explores how the Guides' work was crucial to Britain's victory. When the Blitz broke out, the Guides knew what to do. They kept up morale in bomb shelters, demonstrating 'blitz cooking' with emergency ovens made from the bricks of bombed houses at the request of the Ministry of Food. They grew food on their company allotments and knitted for the entire country. The embodiment of the Home Front spirit, they dug shelters, provided crucial First Aid, and also assisted the millions of children who were forced to flee their city homes to safer places in the country.
It is difficult to imagine what the war effort would have looked like without the Guides. Full of fond and funny anecdotes and rich social history, 'How the Guides Won the War' takes us on the journey of one of the twentieth century's most extraordinary movements.
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 82 reviews
June 30, 2015
There’s massively more to this book than at first meets the eye. On picking this chunky volume off the shelf of my local public library, I thought that here was a relatively light, entertaining, read which would tell me all about Girl Guides in WW2 picking rosehips, sewing blackout curtains, and minding younger brothers & sisters.
Well therein lies a little of that manner of life. What I had not expected to discover were descriptions of events during World War 2, which I had previously known absolutely nothing about: the Kindertransport; the work done by the Polish Guides in transporting food to the front line; the incarceration of the 1st Chefoo Brownies of Chefoo School (N.E. China) in a Japanese concentration camp; the extraordinary contributions made by Polish Guides during the Warsaw Uprising; Guides in Auschwitz; and the ten years of post-war work in Europe carried out by a newly formed Guide International Service. Peerless. This is truly Guiding as a World Organisation.
Interspersed with those eye openers are many accounts of wartime Guiding up, down, and across the breadth of Britain, from first aid rendered to victims of Luftwaffe bombing, to fundraising for war-work, to camping holidays, to ‘underground’ Guiding activities in Nazi-occupied Jersey (Channel Islands); and much more. It certainly was a lot livelier than just jam-making.
Overall, I found reading this book to be a deeply humbling experience; the contemplation of which at times moved me painfully to tears (well above and beyond the death and cremation of Whipsnade Zoo’s African Black Rhino).
However, my greatest sadness arose from Ms Hampton’s attempt at a conclusion, a postscript asking what exactly have the Guides achieved since? She finds little to say; so ‘much’ little that what she doesn’t say reads as deliberately being more telling than what she does say. I found myself agreeing with what wasn’t said: being entirely unable to remember the last time I saw a UK Girl Guide in uniform, locally, in a public place; let alone the last time I heard of any Guide selflessly rendering practical service to someone in need of help. Has our Western society become so atomised, so screen-bound, so risk-adverse and child-safety obsessed, that we live our lives saturated in international and national news stories, with little if any knowledge, let alone care, as to what is happening within a ten-mile radius of home? That see-saw needs re-balancing.
The best thing that this book has done for me is to help me realise that even C21st Guiding may just be able to find local solutions to a couple of problems which have been chasing round my head for the last few weeks. I know who I need to talk to
Well therein lies a little of that manner of life. What I had not expected to discover were descriptions of events during World War 2, which I had previously known absolutely nothing about: the Kindertransport; the work done by the Polish Guides in transporting food to the front line; the incarceration of the 1st Chefoo Brownies of Chefoo School (N.E. China) in a Japanese concentration camp; the extraordinary contributions made by Polish Guides during the Warsaw Uprising; Guides in Auschwitz; and the ten years of post-war work in Europe carried out by a newly formed Guide International Service. Peerless. This is truly Guiding as a World Organisation.
Interspersed with those eye openers are many accounts of wartime Guiding up, down, and across the breadth of Britain, from first aid rendered to victims of Luftwaffe bombing, to fundraising for war-work, to camping holidays, to ‘underground’ Guiding activities in Nazi-occupied Jersey (Channel Islands); and much more. It certainly was a lot livelier than just jam-making.
Overall, I found reading this book to be a deeply humbling experience; the contemplation of which at times moved me painfully to tears (well above and beyond the death and cremation of Whipsnade Zoo’s African Black Rhino).
However, my greatest sadness arose from Ms Hampton’s attempt at a conclusion, a postscript asking what exactly have the Guides achieved since? She finds little to say; so ‘much’ little that what she doesn’t say reads as deliberately being more telling than what she does say. I found myself agreeing with what wasn’t said: being entirely unable to remember the last time I saw a UK Girl Guide in uniform, locally, in a public place; let alone the last time I heard of any Guide selflessly rendering practical service to someone in need of help. Has our Western society become so atomised, so screen-bound, so risk-adverse and child-safety obsessed, that we live our lives saturated in international and national news stories, with little if any knowledge, let alone care, as to what is happening within a ten-mile radius of home? That see-saw needs re-balancing.
The best thing that this book has done for me is to help me realise that even C21st Guiding may just be able to find local solutions to a couple of problems which have been chasing round my head for the last few weeks. I know who I need to talk to
May 6, 2016
This was really interesting to read - the author set out to make fun of Girl Guides initially. While researching she discovered the opposite - that Girl Guides stayed strong and were an INTEGRAL part of the war - especially World War 2. The stories in here were fascinating. Girl Guides all over Europe came together no matter what their background and did what they had to do. My favourite quote from this book (paraphrased) - "Guiding taught girls not to ask "Can I do this?" but rather, "How can I start?"
I hugged the book when I was done. When you're part of the guiding sisterhood, you feel this in your soul. I should add that there was definitely some added poignancy to this as I watched Alberta Girl Guiders offer their homes, fundraising efforts, and supplies to all of those displaced in the wildfires affecting Fort McMurray. Even after over 100 years of guiding, we are asking "What can we do?"
I hugged the book when I was done. When you're part of the guiding sisterhood, you feel this in your soul. I should add that there was definitely some added poignancy to this as I watched Alberta Girl Guiders offer their homes, fundraising efforts, and supplies to all of those displaced in the wildfires affecting Fort McMurray. Even after over 100 years of guiding, we are asking "What can we do?"
December 15, 2015
How the Girl Guides Won the War is a great read, targetting a part of WWII history that I'd never even considered, but does have some flaws.
The author says in the opening that she intended to do a somewhat satirical look at the Girl Guides, only to be come fascinated by the history of the organization. She goes into not just what the GGs were doing in England (looking after evacuee children, working in the factories, growing and harvesting food, raising money for equipment like ambulances and medical evacuation aircraft, and basically keeping spirits up), but around the world. For examble, guiding and scouting was outlawed by Hitler (they were nationalistic organizations, and he wanted kids in his Hitler Youth), and adult members were ordered arrested. Instead, they worked in the resistance, running messages and providing first aid, and when sent to camps, they worked to protect other and keep hope alive. In Asia, guiding helped children who spent six years in Japanese internment camps stay alive and keep going. Guides helped people escape from POW camps and the Warsaw ghetto. The Girl Guide organization of the island of Malta were awarded a medal as a whole, not individuals, for their work there.
And even after the war, adult Girl Guides went into the ruins of Europe, working with refugees and bombed out survivors to help they rebuild, and were there right through to the early fifties.
My only problem with the book was the formatting. Each chapter was an individual vignette, and while they were organized in roughly chronological order, there was no flow. It felt more like a series of essays that were slapped together into a single volume, not a cohesive book.
Not that I really cared. I was just fascinated by the stories that were included, and would have happily read a second volume of the same length. But remembering my time in the girl guides as a kid, I wonder if any of the kids today would have been even a fraction as competent as the girls and women detailed in this book.
The author says in the opening that she intended to do a somewhat satirical look at the Girl Guides, only to be come fascinated by the history of the organization. She goes into not just what the GGs were doing in England (looking after evacuee children, working in the factories, growing and harvesting food, raising money for equipment like ambulances and medical evacuation aircraft, and basically keeping spirits up), but around the world. For examble, guiding and scouting was outlawed by Hitler (they were nationalistic organizations, and he wanted kids in his Hitler Youth), and adult members were ordered arrested. Instead, they worked in the resistance, running messages and providing first aid, and when sent to camps, they worked to protect other and keep hope alive. In Asia, guiding helped children who spent six years in Japanese internment camps stay alive and keep going. Guides helped people escape from POW camps and the Warsaw ghetto. The Girl Guide organization of the island of Malta were awarded a medal as a whole, not individuals, for their work there.
And even after the war, adult Girl Guides went into the ruins of Europe, working with refugees and bombed out survivors to help they rebuild, and were there right through to the early fifties.
My only problem with the book was the formatting. Each chapter was an individual vignette, and while they were organized in roughly chronological order, there was no flow. It felt more like a series of essays that were slapped together into a single volume, not a cohesive book.
Not that I really cared. I was just fascinated by the stories that were included, and would have happily read a second volume of the same length. But remembering my time in the girl guides as a kid, I wonder if any of the kids today would have been even a fraction as competent as the girls and women detailed in this book.
October 31, 2024
tegelikult ju täiesti huvitav raamat, aga kirja pandud piisavalt venivalt, et... venis mu käes ikka suht pikalt.
mõnevõrra hüplikult käsitletakse siin seda, kuidas II MS ajal erinevate riikide gaidid (nii gaidiealised kui täiskasvanud - kord gaid, alati gaid!) kas sõjapidamisele või selle üleelamisele kaasa aitasid.
ohtralt on juttu briti gaididest, kes (Kanalisaarte erandiga) said ju sõja veeta tagalas, kus usinatele tüdrukutele muidugi kõvasti tegemist leidis - igasugused lastehoidmised ja köögiviljakasvatamised ja vanarauakogumised ja rindemeestele sokkide kudumised, nagu see käib. ja see oli see osa, mida ma enne kas teadsin või vähemalt ette kujutasin.
aga siis on siin ka Jersey gaidid, kes elasid puha Saksa okupatsiooni all aastaid. ja internaatkoolitäis lapsi Chefoost, Hiinast, kelle jaapanlased kõige täiega vangilaagrisse panid. ja täiesti üllatavalt palju päris karme lugusid Poola gaididest, kellel tuli ikkagi päris ehtsa sõja ja vastupanuliikumise käigus päris raskeid asju teha. kõik need lood hakkasid mulle lõpuks meenutama lapsepõlves loetud kangelaspioneeride elulugusid. millest paremates ju ausalt öeldes polnud ka nii väga palju nõukapropagandat, vaid lihtsalt... sõtta sattunud lapsed, kes püüdsid ennast ja teisi mitte ainult elus hoida, vaid seda ka veel mingite väärtuste alusel. gaidide puhul siis see, et tuleb olla rõõmsameelne ja mitte vinguda ja teha iga päev mõni heategu ja ka üldisemas plaanis teisi inimesi aidata, aga samas hoida oma kingad viksituna ja mitte unustada lauakombeid, isegi kui süüa enam suuremat midagi ei ole.
lõpupoole on siin üks peatükk sellest, kuidas briti (täiskasvanud) gaidid sõja lõpus ja järel põhimõtteliselt humanitaarabi andmas käisid - põgenikelaagrite haldamine jne. ja raamatu algus ja lõpp annavad ka gaidiliikumise ajaloost ja sellest, mis hiljem edasi sai (kuni kuhugimaale 21. sajandisse välja) sellise ülevaate, et see raamat võiks loetav olla ka sellele, kes ise ei ole organisatsiooniga suuremat kokku puutunud. aga ma pole päris kindel, kas sellisel lugejal ikkagi piisavalt huvi on kogu sellest tekstist läbinärimiseks.
mind paneb see küll mõtlema sellele, et praegune gaidiprogramm igatahes ei valmista lapsi ette ei aktiivseks lahingutegevuseks ega ka eriti suurel määral tagala toetamiseks. samas oleks ka õudselt nõme, kui selline asi _peaks_ olema ühe 21. sajandi noorteorganisatsiooni põhieesmärk. no et kui siin remembrance day eel jälle meenutatakse seda kuulsat ütlust, et "nad andsid oma homse selle eest, et meil oleks meie tänane", siis see tänane võiks ju olla (ja hetkel veel ongi) just see, et 10-aastane võib saada badge'i vlogimise ja mokteiliretseptide eest, mitte ei pea oskama tellistest ja plekkpurkidest ahju ehitada ja kahe tikuga lõket süüdata ja kartulitest leiba teha. samas, kas see lõkketegemine ei ole mitte lahedam ja huvitavam kui vlogimine? vot ei tea, küsin järgmisel nädalal oma gaididelt.
mõnevõrra hüplikult käsitletakse siin seda, kuidas II MS ajal erinevate riikide gaidid (nii gaidiealised kui täiskasvanud - kord gaid, alati gaid!) kas sõjapidamisele või selle üleelamisele kaasa aitasid.
ohtralt on juttu briti gaididest, kes (Kanalisaarte erandiga) said ju sõja veeta tagalas, kus usinatele tüdrukutele muidugi kõvasti tegemist leidis - igasugused lastehoidmised ja köögiviljakasvatamised ja vanarauakogumised ja rindemeestele sokkide kudumised, nagu see käib. ja see oli see osa, mida ma enne kas teadsin või vähemalt ette kujutasin.
aga siis on siin ka Jersey gaidid, kes elasid puha Saksa okupatsiooni all aastaid. ja internaatkoolitäis lapsi Chefoost, Hiinast, kelle jaapanlased kõige täiega vangilaagrisse panid. ja täiesti üllatavalt palju päris karme lugusid Poola gaididest, kellel tuli ikkagi päris ehtsa sõja ja vastupanuliikumise käigus päris raskeid asju teha. kõik need lood hakkasid mulle lõpuks meenutama lapsepõlves loetud kangelaspioneeride elulugusid. millest paremates ju ausalt öeldes polnud ka nii väga palju nõukapropagandat, vaid lihtsalt... sõtta sattunud lapsed, kes püüdsid ennast ja teisi mitte ainult elus hoida, vaid seda ka veel mingite väärtuste alusel. gaidide puhul siis see, et tuleb olla rõõmsameelne ja mitte vinguda ja teha iga päev mõni heategu ja ka üldisemas plaanis teisi inimesi aidata, aga samas hoida oma kingad viksituna ja mitte unustada lauakombeid, isegi kui süüa enam suuremat midagi ei ole.
lõpupoole on siin üks peatükk sellest, kuidas briti (täiskasvanud) gaidid sõja lõpus ja järel põhimõtteliselt humanitaarabi andmas käisid - põgenikelaagrite haldamine jne. ja raamatu algus ja lõpp annavad ka gaidiliikumise ajaloost ja sellest, mis hiljem edasi sai (kuni kuhugimaale 21. sajandisse välja) sellise ülevaate, et see raamat võiks loetav olla ka sellele, kes ise ei ole organisatsiooniga suuremat kokku puutunud. aga ma pole päris kindel, kas sellisel lugejal ikkagi piisavalt huvi on kogu sellest tekstist läbinärimiseks.
mind paneb see küll mõtlema sellele, et praegune gaidiprogramm igatahes ei valmista lapsi ette ei aktiivseks lahingutegevuseks ega ka eriti suurel määral tagala toetamiseks. samas oleks ka õudselt nõme, kui selline asi _peaks_ olema ühe 21. sajandi noorteorganisatsiooni põhieesmärk. no et kui siin remembrance day eel jälle meenutatakse seda kuulsat ütlust, et "nad andsid oma homse selle eest, et meil oleks meie tänane", siis see tänane võiks ju olla (ja hetkel veel ongi) just see, et 10-aastane võib saada badge'i vlogimise ja mokteiliretseptide eest, mitte ei pea oskama tellistest ja plekkpurkidest ahju ehitada ja kahe tikuga lõket süüdata ja kartulitest leiba teha. samas, kas see lõkketegemine ei ole mitte lahedam ja huvitavam kui vlogimine? vot ei tea, küsin järgmisel nädalal oma gaididelt.
Read
April 26, 2013This is a great book for dipping into. The voice is delightful, wry at times, the structure anecdotal. And it is full of surprises--I had not known just how influential the guides were.
I wrote that before reaching the later chapters, which largely concerned Guides' activities during the war, not only in Britain but in Poland, and the death camps, as well as in China during occupation by the Japanese. And after the war, the relief effort in all these places, including Germany where there were fourteen million homeless people and no food, no money, no jobs. Typhoid and other diseases rampant.
The book is filled with girls' and women's stories, many of which are quite heroic, but which never made it into history books.
I wrote that before reaching the later chapters, which largely concerned Guides' activities during the war, not only in Britain but in Poland, and the death camps, as well as in China during occupation by the Japanese. And after the war, the relief effort in all these places, including Germany where there were fourteen million homeless people and no food, no money, no jobs. Typhoid and other diseases rampant.
The book is filled with girls' and women's stories, many of which are quite heroic, but which never made it into history books.
March 25, 2013
I picked this thinking it might be mildly interesting.
Boy was I wrong,this is a fascinating and absorbing history of the Guides and Brownies who were the living embodiment of feminism and the precursor to the welfare state.
If the world was run by the Guides it would be a far better place.
Boy was I wrong,this is a fascinating and absorbing history of the Guides and Brownies who were the living embodiment of feminism and the precursor to the welfare state.
If the world was run by the Guides it would be a far better place.
June 15, 2011
This was an excellent book. The authour openly admits that when she started the book her sole aim was to take the mickey out of the Guide organisation, but what she discovered was truely amazing so the book is now displaying the great effort the Guides put into helping during the Second World War.
This book is well researched and full of facinating stories from ex-Guides about their escapades throughout the war, and it doesn't stop at the British Guides it tells the story of Guides from across the world.
I would recommend this book if you have both a keen interest in both the Guiding movement and life during the Second World war - anyone who finds history dull should probably avoid this book as it will probably not keep your interest.
I enjoyed this book so much that I did not want it to end, I have also been telling anyone who will listen to get a copy of the book and read it as I cannot praise it enough.
This book is well researched and full of facinating stories from ex-Guides about their escapades throughout the war, and it doesn't stop at the British Guides it tells the story of Guides from across the world.
I would recommend this book if you have both a keen interest in both the Guiding movement and life during the Second World war - anyone who finds history dull should probably avoid this book as it will probably not keep your interest.
I enjoyed this book so much that I did not want it to end, I have also been telling anyone who will listen to get a copy of the book and read it as I cannot praise it enough.
September 27, 2016
Such a fantastic book, I didn't expect to learn so much about the social history of both the Girl Guides, and of children and women in the first half of the 20th century, or to be so moved!
I appreciated the many anecdotes and personal stories which really made this book vibrant and moving, not just the efforts of the English Guides, but the harrowing lives of the Kindertransport, the Guides living (and dying) under occupation and in prisoner or concentration camps in Europe and Asia and the Guide International Service.
Such a remarkable organisation, I just don't see this history echoed in Girl Guides today (though I never was one). I wonder if the skills and values of self-sufficiency, cheerful collegiality and philanthropy will be more relevant in the next generations, as income inequality pushes more and more children into poverty?
I appreciated the many anecdotes and personal stories which really made this book vibrant and moving, not just the efforts of the English Guides, but the harrowing lives of the Kindertransport, the Guides living (and dying) under occupation and in prisoner or concentration camps in Europe and Asia and the Guide International Service.
Such a remarkable organisation, I just don't see this history echoed in Girl Guides today (though I never was one). I wonder if the skills and values of self-sufficiency, cheerful collegiality and philanthropy will be more relevant in the next generations, as income inequality pushes more and more children into poverty?
July 12, 2013
I found the stories in the book to be utterly fascinating while the structure of the book left a little to be desired. There were times when the times and places would shift abruptly and to someone who has not studied much of WWII I found myself a little lost in the timeline and action.
However, the meat of the book made any confusion worthwhile. Small tasks and large, these girls and women did things I had never dreamed. Mundane tasks like childcare but under extreme circumstances. Huge tasks like preparing to go into Europe to deal with refugees after the war. Leading rebellions in Poland. Surviving in concentration camps with secret Girl Guide connections.
I wish I'd known this when I was a girl - I would have been much more likely to have stuck with Brownies.
However, the meat of the book made any confusion worthwhile. Small tasks and large, these girls and women did things I had never dreamed. Mundane tasks like childcare but under extreme circumstances. Huge tasks like preparing to go into Europe to deal with refugees after the war. Leading rebellions in Poland. Surviving in concentration camps with secret Girl Guide connections.
I wish I'd known this when I was a girl - I would have been much more likely to have stuck with Brownies.
January 16, 2015
When I first got this book I mentioned the title of it to my quiz team down the pub which led one of them to scoff - They didn't do anything during the war! How wrong could he be? This book should be read by everyone. Some of the Girl Guides around the world gave their lives so others could be free. They kept up morale in prison camps, fed and clothed refugees, transported secret messages, knitted socks for soldiers and picked mushrooms to raise money - among thousands of other things. From the history of the guides to the aftermath of the War into the austerity 50s this story of the guides is brought to life by the voices of those who lived it.
October 18, 2022
I feel the need to preface this review with the fact that I liked this book, enjoyed it even. It’s well researched and chock full of so many anecdotes that I had never heard about prior to reading and because of this, it is an essential for any Girl Scout/Guide History library. However because the author is from Great Britain and is writing for a British general audience, the book is far to UK centric and fails to reflect on ways in which the ethos of the Guides may have been harmful to British children.
Instead of organizing the book by country/geographic area, the book is instead organized chronologically. In some ways this is a benefit, the book has the natural rising and falling action of the Second World War. But this organizational structure can be sort of jarring as it means that we go from one chapter about the Grey Ranks, the Guides and Scouts of Poland, teenage resistance fighters who used the structure of Scouting both to organize terrorist actions against the Nazi occupation and as a way to impart education on a generation that had been banned from secondary education by the Nazis to a chapter about how Guides managed to go camping during wartime rationing in England. After a while these switches make you think why are we talking about the British Girl Guide Association when all the action is on the continent?
The answer is clearly that this book was written for the British, who want to hear stories about their “hometown”. But as an American reading this book I wanted to hear more about the Guide companies in concentration camps (or may be even a mention of the use Girl Scouting in Japanese internment camps in the US? If we’re going to talk about the home front, why ignore the Americans altogether?). For a book about how all Guides contributed to the War effort it’s very focused on Great Britain.
Reading this book as an American, I felt like the author buys a lot of the patriotic stories at face value. For example there’s a story about a girl who used her guide training to get her mother and brother to safety when their home was bombed out by the Blitz. The fact that she did not get upset at all during or after and only timidly confessed to her Guide Captain that she had been afraid is depicted as being brave. There is no commentary on the fact that this child felt as though she was not allowed to mourn or be angry about her home being destroyed and her mother being injured. Instead Guides needing to be cheerful at all times is framed without any sense of irony despite it baring a distinct similarity to “You should smile more”.
Again I did like this book and devoured it over the course of three days. To the best of my knowledge this is the only English language book to discuss in great detail the use of scouting to keep moral up in a variety of prison and displaced person camps. All the same I found it difficult to put aside the cultural differences reading this book as an American.
Instead of organizing the book by country/geographic area, the book is instead organized chronologically. In some ways this is a benefit, the book has the natural rising and falling action of the Second World War. But this organizational structure can be sort of jarring as it means that we go from one chapter about the Grey Ranks, the Guides and Scouts of Poland, teenage resistance fighters who used the structure of Scouting both to organize terrorist actions against the Nazi occupation and as a way to impart education on a generation that had been banned from secondary education by the Nazis to a chapter about how Guides managed to go camping during wartime rationing in England. After a while these switches make you think why are we talking about the British Girl Guide Association when all the action is on the continent?
The answer is clearly that this book was written for the British, who want to hear stories about their “hometown”. But as an American reading this book I wanted to hear more about the Guide companies in concentration camps (or may be even a mention of the use Girl Scouting in Japanese internment camps in the US? If we’re going to talk about the home front, why ignore the Americans altogether?). For a book about how all Guides contributed to the War effort it’s very focused on Great Britain.
Reading this book as an American, I felt like the author buys a lot of the patriotic stories at face value. For example there’s a story about a girl who used her guide training to get her mother and brother to safety when their home was bombed out by the Blitz. The fact that she did not get upset at all during or after and only timidly confessed to her Guide Captain that she had been afraid is depicted as being brave. There is no commentary on the fact that this child felt as though she was not allowed to mourn or be angry about her home being destroyed and her mother being injured. Instead Guides needing to be cheerful at all times is framed without any sense of irony despite it baring a distinct similarity to “You should smile more”.
Again I did like this book and devoured it over the course of three days. To the best of my knowledge this is the only English language book to discuss in great detail the use of scouting to keep moral up in a variety of prison and displaced person camps. All the same I found it difficult to put aside the cultural differences reading this book as an American.
April 1, 2023
While I admire the women in this book and the amazing things they managed to do, I don't agree with the premise that they committed great things because they were girl guides. It fits the phrase "correlation does not imply causality' in that the author does not prove a cause and effect between being a girl guide and showing great personal fortitude and bravery in the face of danger. A lot of girl guides did rise above the occasion and greatly help their countries in a time of war. This is especially true of the Polish women who served with the Underground. However, I am sure there were girl guides who did not rise to the occasion, just as there was amazing women who weren't member of the organization.
I also struggled with the idea that somehow we should equate women in Europe dealing with the actual German invasion and control of their countries with girl guides in England going camping without having campfires. While the book does highlight girl guides doing much more important work, these stories interspersed with the ones of much more real adversity and danger threw off the book for me.
I also struggled with the idea that somehow we should equate women in Europe dealing with the actual German invasion and control of their countries with girl guides in England going camping without having campfires. While the book does highlight girl guides doing much more important work, these stories interspersed with the ones of much more real adversity and danger threw off the book for me.
November 7, 2022
I didn’t think I’d love this book quite as much as I did! I knew I’d enjoy it, as the subject matter was of interest to me from the get go, but wow did this book connect with me and literally have me hanging off every word.
I loved how this whole book was written and it was so enlightening, uplifting, informative and mind blowing. The strength, resourcefulness and resilience of the amazing girl guides listed in this book was just immense and I regularly found myself in open mouthed shock, awe and wonder on every page.
Without fail every chapter had me finding a new appreciation for just what an amazing movement this was and the absolutely outstanding contributions they all made towards the war.
It’s not often I get the immediate urge to reread a book I’ve just read, but I’ve just finished it and I want to read it again? I will definitely return back to this in the future and I’m so grateful I stumbled across this book. It’s a recommended must read from me to everyone who’s thinking of picking this up to read. You won’t regret it!
I loved how this whole book was written and it was so enlightening, uplifting, informative and mind blowing. The strength, resourcefulness and resilience of the amazing girl guides listed in this book was just immense and I regularly found myself in open mouthed shock, awe and wonder on every page.
Without fail every chapter had me finding a new appreciation for just what an amazing movement this was and the absolutely outstanding contributions they all made towards the war.
It’s not often I get the immediate urge to reread a book I’ve just read, but I’ve just finished it and I want to read it again? I will definitely return back to this in the future and I’m so grateful I stumbled across this book. It’s a recommended must read from me to everyone who’s thinking of picking this up to read. You won’t regret it!
June 30, 2021
As a Girl Guide leader/commissioner, I found this to be an incredible resource. It's fantastic to read about how Guiding has changed through the years and how young people can be very capable in times of need. I had originally borrowed a copy from the library, but decided I needed to own a copy.
An excerpt that really spoke to me with regards to leading by example and making a difference in the lives of others:
"June heard people screaming. She saw others lying dead, covered in blood and woulds, and wrecked buildings everywhere. Her uniform was torn to ribbons, her arm badly wounded and her face bleeding. Because she was in her Guide uniform she felt that despite the horrors she must remain cheerful and help the people around her."
An excerpt that really spoke to me with regards to leading by example and making a difference in the lives of others:
"June heard people screaming. She saw others lying dead, covered in blood and woulds, and wrecked buildings everywhere. Her uniform was torn to ribbons, her arm badly wounded and her face bleeding. Because she was in her Guide uniform she felt that despite the horrors she must remain cheerful and help the people around her."
February 1, 2021
As a Girl Guides I found this book to be so inspirational!
November 1, 2021
Amazing tribute to the Girl Guides. If you are looking for more information regarding life in Britain during WWII this will give you a great perspective from girls. However some of the most fascinating and heartbreaking stories are those of the Guiders (leaders) who kept the girls and even the adults going in Japanese internment camps such as Weihsien in China. The Guides also played a strong roll in the Warsaw Uprising and continued to support each other in Nazi concentration camps.
February 19, 2013
I really enjoyed this book. A fellow Trefoil Guild member lent it to me and I'm glad she did.
Hampton shares Guiding history as well as facts about WWII. It was cool to read that the opening "We're the Brownies ..." hasn't changed over the years. The story of the Crystal Palace was slightly different than what I'd been taught but much the same. Reading this book I could see how important Girl Guides was in providing life skills to girls in the early days of the organization.
During WWII these skills came in use as Guides stepped up to the challenge. They embodied the promise, law, and motto by doing their "duty to .. [their] country", "help[ing] other people at all times", being "trusted", being "loyal", being "useful and help[ing] others", being "a friend to all and a sister to every Guide", "smil[ing] and sing[ing] even under difficulty", being "thrifty", and lastly, "be[ing] prepared". In addition to the practical help they gave (cleaning, babysitting, recycling, delivering messages, etc) they often provided hope to victims. The Guide badge became a beacon, a symbol of something familiar in a world of chaos. It could calm a scared youngster or let a fellow Guide know she was safe.
I highly recommend this book to any adult Guiding member. I would caution passing the book along to a girl member to read. Although Hampton doesn't go into detail, she does share stories of executions (due to helping the oppressed) and of concentration camps.
Hampton shares Guiding history as well as facts about WWII. It was cool to read that the opening "We're the Brownies ..." hasn't changed over the years. The story of the Crystal Palace was slightly different than what I'd been taught but much the same. Reading this book I could see how important Girl Guides was in providing life skills to girls in the early days of the organization.
During WWII these skills came in use as Guides stepped up to the challenge. They embodied the promise, law, and motto by doing their "duty to .. [their] country", "help[ing] other people at all times", being "trusted", being "loyal", being "useful and help[ing] others", being "a friend to all and a sister to every Guide", "smil[ing] and sing[ing] even under difficulty", being "thrifty", and lastly, "be[ing] prepared". In addition to the practical help they gave (cleaning, babysitting, recycling, delivering messages, etc) they often provided hope to victims. The Guide badge became a beacon, a symbol of something familiar in a world of chaos. It could calm a scared youngster or let a fellow Guide know she was safe.
I highly recommend this book to any adult Guiding member. I would caution passing the book along to a girl member to read. Although Hampton doesn't go into detail, she does share stories of executions (due to helping the oppressed) and of concentration camps.
April 4, 2011
The author freely admits that she started out to write a book that mocked the Girl Guides but as she researched she found a whole story that she wasn't aware of.
This book is a great account of the hardships that people faced throughout the war, and the ingenuity of the ways in which people survived! From the children in Chefoo school who became prisoners of war, to the Polish Guides who kept going "underground" and the Guides in the Channel Islands who did their best to feed the hungry during the occupation. I was particularly struck by the incredible courage and bravery of young brownies and guides who took the "do a good turn daily" very literally and who risked their own lives in a way that you wouldn't believe a child could. From running out with a first aid kit when a bomb dropped to carrying messages, feeding hundreds of people at a moments notice or simply carrying on at home while the mothers worked in the ammunition factories, they were amazing!
I fear that the girls of today wouldn't be able to cope in such a situation and as a Guide leader it's my duty to teach them the skills as well as ensuring they have fun!!
This book is a great account of the hardships that people faced throughout the war, and the ingenuity of the ways in which people survived! From the children in Chefoo school who became prisoners of war, to the Polish Guides who kept going "underground" and the Guides in the Channel Islands who did their best to feed the hungry during the occupation. I was particularly struck by the incredible courage and bravery of young brownies and guides who took the "do a good turn daily" very literally and who risked their own lives in a way that you wouldn't believe a child could. From running out with a first aid kit when a bomb dropped to carrying messages, feeding hundreds of people at a moments notice or simply carrying on at home while the mothers worked in the ammunition factories, they were amazing!
I fear that the girls of today wouldn't be able to cope in such a situation and as a Guide leader it's my duty to teach them the skills as well as ensuring they have fun!!
December 29, 2012
This has been on my to-listen-to shelf ever since Farah recommended it in 2010, but I had a tiny lurking fear that it would be too "real, solemn history" for audiobook listening enjoyment. (As always, thank yo,u Jane Austen, for the phrase.) Silly me! In fact, I think as a history book it might merit a small amount of criticism for being too anecdotal at times, and perhaps not perfectly organized. But it was all so fascinating - and the narrator was so wonderful - that I didn't mind the occasional feeling that the "And we had the most splendid time camping, though it rained the whole time..." extracts from logbooks and the like were a bit repetitive.
There's so much that stuck with me that it's hard to pick out a few highlights - much of the focus was on World War 2 in Britain, but the history of the founding scouting/guides' movement was wonderful, as was -- oh, I give up. Just highly, highly recommended!
There's so much that stuck with me that it's hard to pick out a few highlights - much of the focus was on World War 2 in Britain, but the history of the founding scouting/guides' movement was wonderful, as was -- oh, I give up. Just highly, highly recommended!
October 29, 2013
A relative was a Brown Owl for several years and in her childhood was in India for the war with her parents whilst her older sister had been sent to and English boarding school, so I bought this for her and started dipping in to it. I thought it would be a light hearted retrospective but it was not. I a really good way.
This book is awesome, from how it details the origin of the Girl Guides and the atmosphere and aims of the international camp in the shadow of war to the use of Guide runners for the intelligence services in Britain or those abroad who used what they had learned to become the resistance to the unspeakable bravery of the Brownie Pack in internment camp in China.....A loving look at a so far little known effort of WWII, apart from the Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret, who seem charming here.
Full credit to the writer for a moving, funny and yet not quite too sentimental biography.
This book is awesome, from how it details the origin of the Girl Guides and the atmosphere and aims of the international camp in the shadow of war to the use of Guide runners for the intelligence services in Britain or those abroad who used what they had learned to become the resistance to the unspeakable bravery of the Brownie Pack in internment camp in China.....A loving look at a so far little known effort of WWII, apart from the Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret, who seem charming here.
Full credit to the writer for a moving, funny and yet not quite too sentimental biography.
June 26, 2022
I picked up this book as I have very fond memories of my years in the Girl Guides. They transformed me from a painfully shy child to a confident patrol leader.
The strength and extraordinary courage that the Guiding movement provided for many girls and young women during the Second World War is stunning. Definitely much more that doing some good deeds and raising some money.
I would highly recommend everyone who has ever been a part of the Guiding movement to read this book. I would also encourage anyone who thought the movement uncool or boring to read this and have your preconceptions blown away.
The strength and extraordinary courage that the Guiding movement provided for many girls and young women during the Second World War is stunning. Definitely much more that doing some good deeds and raising some money.
I would highly recommend everyone who has ever been a part of the Guiding movement to read this book. I would also encourage anyone who thought the movement uncool or boring to read this and have your preconceptions blown away.
March 9, 2012
AMAZING!! I was astounded by this history of the Guides in the Wars. Having been a Brownie, a Guide and a Ranger I was unaware of everything these girls did. To see how the skills they learned so prepared them to help out on such a large scale. To realize how they put themselves in danger and how some were beheaded and hung for trying to get airmen back home.
That they had Brownies and guides in Concentration Camps in most cases secretly astounded me!It sure made me proud to have been a member of such a group. WHAT A BOOK!
That they had Brownies and guides in Concentration Camps in most cases secretly astounded me!It sure made me proud to have been a member of such a group. WHAT A BOOK!
February 5, 2013
This is a fine book. Great anecdotes, supremely inspirational and well researched. It's not the book I needed, though - I was looking for a good overview of what guiding was all about and I was recommended this. I wouldn't say it's a good starting point seeing as the basics of guiding aren't explained and it doesn't explore what guides do in peacetime. I'm still looking for a good all rounder on the topic but if you're already familiar with guiding and in need of some awesome girls and women doing awesome things, pick this up.
August 24, 2012
An excerpt from our of our Girl Guides Book Club reviewers:
"“Girl Guides – so, cookies and stuff?” That is often the type of response I receive when I tell people about my involvement in Girl Guides. After reading How the Girl Guides Won the War, I am much more prepared and proud of the contributions of Girl Guides throughout the world during the Second World War."
http://girlguidescanblog.ca/2012/03/2...
"“Girl Guides – so, cookies and stuff?” That is often the type of response I receive when I tell people about my involvement in Girl Guides. After reading How the Girl Guides Won the War, I am much more prepared and proud of the contributions of Girl Guides throughout the world during the Second World War."
http://girlguidescanblog.ca/2012/03/2...
August 14, 2014
This is a very moving book, not only about the history of Guiding and how it relates to both World Wars, but also about the female spirit. These women endured no matter what the cost and I am proud to say that I am a part of the Guiding family that made them who they were. There were several points in this book where I was on the verge of tears, either out of pure sadness or happiness. A must read for any strong woman or member of GirlGuidingUK.
January 2, 2015
This was an interesting book for someone who has been involved in Girlguiding for most of my life. However, I did feel it jumped around quite a lot and required a lot of re-reading. Overall though, I really enjoyed this book and it gave me a much better understanding of the roles that girl guides played during WWII.
February 13, 2012
I found this really interesting. I don't know if it would appeal to someone with no history with Guiding, but I enjoyed learning about the girls and women who took the Guide promise and law to amazing levels during and after the war.
September 1, 2013
I loved this book. As a Guide it was inspiring to read about Guides across Europe and Asia during the Second World War.
A few chapters were not as interesting as others, focusing less on Guides and more on just general women's history but still interesting.
Recommend to all Guides and Scouts!
A few chapters were not as interesting as others, focusing less on Guides and more on just general women's history but still interesting.
Recommend to all Guides and Scouts!
September 28, 2013
Some parts are more interesting than others, but the good bits are really very good.
(In depth review from me as always.)
(In depth review from me as always.)
August 18, 2024
I absolutely love this book; being a current member of Girlguiding, I found it was an interesting, inspiring and surprising read! A must for the Scouters and Guiders around the world!
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