11th World Scout Jamboree
| 11th World Scout Jamboree | |||
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11th World Scout Jamboree
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| Location | Marathon, Greece | ||
| Country | Greece | ||
| Date | 1963 | ||
| Attendance | 13,700 Scouts | ||
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| Website http://www.marathon1963.com/ |
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The 11th World Scout Jamboree was held in August 1963 and was hosted by Greece at Marathon.
Demetrios Alexatos was the Camp Chief.[1]
The largest contingent for this event was the British, with almost 1,200 Scouts attending (incorporating the largest UK Scout airlift ever made).
The camp was divided into 11 sub-camps for the attending Scouts, along with another 5 sub-camps for the administrative and technical personnel, and covered a total area of about 5 square kilometres.
Refreshment stands and expositions dotted the area around the camp, and there was even a 20,000-seat amphitheatre. The focus of the camp was around the Greek Village which offered sights and sounds, food and entertainment from all around Greece.
There was also an Olympic theme to the event, with triathlons and other sports taking place. A major event for the Jamboree were the Labours of Hercules - a series of tasks designed to test the strength, skill, and stamina of the participating Scouts.
The Chief Scout of Greece, HRH Crown Prince Constantine, attended every one of the 11 days over which the event ran. At a special ceremony, Chief Scout of the Commonwealth Sir Charles Maclean awarded the Crown Prince with the Silver Wolf - the highest award within the Scout Association of the United Kingdom.
Lady Olave Baden-Powell (the wife of Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of the Scout Movement) spoke at the closing ceremony:
- "I want to coin a new word for you to remember;
- the word is "welgo". Go well now on your way, carrying
- with you the light of Scouting like the Marathon torch,
- and work well, play well, and spread the ideal of Scouting
- as far as you possibly can.
- We trust you Scouts of the World to help bring about the
- reign of peace and goodwill in all the world. Welgo to you all!"
Following the speech, a torch was handed to an American Scout. The torch was to be rekindled at the next World Scout Jamboree, to be hosted in the United States.
On August 1, 2013, exactly 50 years after the opening of the 11th World Scout Jamboree, a website dedicated to the event opened at www.marathon1963.com, made by the 2nd Scout Group of Patras, Greece. The site is offers a huge collection of facts, photos, archives, videos, songs, and memorabilia from the Marathon Jamboree.
Tragedy
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Flags at the Jamboree were placed at half-mast in mourning after the entire Philippine contingent died on the way to the Jamboree. The aircraft carrying the 20 Scouts and 4 Scouters had crashed into the Indian Ocean on approach to Bombay Airport.
The Boy Scouts of the Philippines (BSP) sent a token delegation of three Scouts to Greece days after the crash to inform fellow Scout leaders about the tragedy that struck the international Scouting movement as a whole. Several members of the BSP leadership earlier left for Marathon days before it happened awaiting the arrival of their fellow contingent members.
On behalf of the parents, Antonio C. Delgado, father of Scout Jose Antonio Delgado and Chairman of the World Scout Movement 1971-1973 and also co-designer of the World Scout Badge[citation needed], gave the response in his speech to the nation during the state memorial service weeks after the crash: "For this is the other side of the coin of grief. The glory. The honor. The triumph... In the forefront of these boy's minds were always held as shining goals the noble ideals of the Scout Oath: 'honor... duty... God... Country.' These boys kept their honor; and they kept the faith; and they gave their all for their country... and I am sure they kept themselves in the friendship of God."
The names of the Filipino Scouts and Scouters became street names in Diliman, Quezon City's Barangay Obrero, Laging Handa, South Triangle, Roxas and Paligsahan. They are:
Scouts
- Air Scout Observer Ramon Valdes Albano (Manila Council)
- Senior Scout Pathfinder Patricio Dulay Bayoran (Pasay Council)
- Air Scout Observer Gabriel Nicolas Borromeo (Manila Council)
- First Class Scout Roberto Corpus Castor (Quezon City Council)
- Senior Scout Pathfinder Henry Cabrera Chuatoco (Manila Council)
- First Class Scout Victor Oteyza de Guia (Baguio Council)
- Life Scout Jose Antonio Chuidian Delgado (Manila Council)[2]
- First Class Scout Felix Palma Fuentebella (Manila Council and Camarines Sur Council)
- First Class Scout Pedro Hermano Gandia (Manila Council)
- First Class Scout Antonio Mariano Limbaga (Zamboanga Council)
- Rover Scout Roberto del Prado Lozano (Dagupan Council)
- Senior Scout Pathfinder Paulo Cabrera Madriñan (Pasay Council and Laguna Council)
- First Class Scout Jose Fermin G. Magbanua (Negros Oriental Council)
- Star Scout Romeo Rafael Rallos (Quezon City Council)
- Senior Scout Pathfinder Filamer Santos Reyes (Cavite Council)
- Star Scout Wilfredo Mendoza Santiago (Manila Council)
- First Class Scout Benecio Suarez Tobias (Tarlac Council)
- Eagle Scout Antonio Rios Torillo (Cavite Council)
- Star Scout Ascario Ampil Tuason (Manila Council)
- First Class Scout Rogelio Celis Ybardolaza (Quezon City Council)
Scouters
- Contingent Scoutmaster and Physician Bonifacio Vitan Lazcano, M.D.
- Contingent Assistant Scoutmaster Librado L. S. Fernandez (Manila Council)
- Contingent Chaplain Fr. Jose Agcaoili Martinez, S.J. (Misamis Oriental Council)
- Contingent Assistant Scoutmaster Florante Lirio Ojeda (Agusan Council)
Out of the 24 who died, 12 were from the Manila area local councils, 9 from provincial councils, two representing both Manila area and provincial councils (Felix Fuentebella also took part on behalf of the Camarines Sur Council and Paulo Madriñan also from the Laguna Council) and one from the BSP National Headquarters.
In honor of the victims, a large plot of ground was reserved by the City of Manila at the gates of the Manila North Cemetery and a commemorative cenotaph was erected within, where annual commemorations have been held in honor of the fallen 24 Scouts and Scouters every July 28 yearly since 1964.[3] The date is honored since 1988 via a presidential proclamation by the late President Corazon Aquino as Scouts Memorial Day to honor not just the fallen of the 1963 Jamboree but of fallen scouts through the years since the start of the Scouting movement in the country.
Notes
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Son of Antonio C. Delgado.
- ↑ The grounds were later reverted to the cemetery, leaving only the cenotaph, under the administration of Mayor Lito Atienza.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to 11th World Scout Jamboree. |
