Guide International Service

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Guide International Relief Service
Founded1942
Membership198
AffiliationGirl Guides Association
 Scouting portal

The Guide International Service (G.I.S.) was an organisation set up by the Girl Guides Association in Britain in 1942 with the aim of sending to Europe after World War II teams of adult Girl Guides to do relief work.[1][2] It is described in two books: All Things Uncertain by Phyllis Stewart Brown and Guides Can Do Anything by Nancy Eastick. A total of 198 Guiders and 60 Scouts, drawn from Britain, Australia, Canada, Ireland and Kenya, served in teams.[3][4] There were many teams in place in various parts of occupied Europe - perhaps the most notable was at the Bergen-Belsen displaced persons camp - while other teams served in Greece and Malaya.[5][better source needed][failed verification]

Olave Baden-Powell, World Chief Guide, grieving in Kenya after the death of her husband, Robert Baden-Powell, was persuaded to return to Britain:[6] . . . I kept receiving letters from England telling me thrilling stories of the heroism of Scouts and Guides in Britain and in the occupied countries of Europe. Then I had one letter in particular that challenged me. It was from Miss Tennyson, the Editor of The Guider, and she wrote, “Come home and see what Guides are doing in the war. You will never forgive yourself if you don’t see it.” ...

Notable people[]

  • Rosa Cliff Ward, JP, Chairman of the Girl Guide International Service, was made an OBE in the 1948 Birthday Honours[7][8]
  • Alison Duke, classical scholar, served with the GIS in Egypt and Greece

References[]

  1. ^ "Helping Victims in Occupied Lands. Girl Guides' Service". The Glasgow Herald. Oct 25, 1943.
  2. ^ "Guiding hand took on world Nancy Eastick, 1920-2011". The Sydney Morning Herald. April 2, 2011.
  3. ^ Hampton, Janie (2010). How the Girl Guides Won the War. HarperPress. ISBN 978-0007356324.
  4. ^ Liddell, Alix (1976). Story of the Girl Guides 1938-1975. London: Girl Guides Association. ASIN B000SHTJ52.
  5. ^ "Archived copy". trefoilnet.info. Archived from the original on 30 October 2007. Retrieved 17 January 2022.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. ^ Window on my Heart. Hoder & Stoughton. 1973. p. 197. ISBN 9780340159446.
  7. ^ "Supplement to the London Gazette" (PDF). Thegazette.co.uk. 10 June 1948. p. 3378. Retrieved 2017-03-02.
  8. ^ "Rosa Cliff Ward gravestone - Corscombe (C) Sarah Smith :: Geograph Britain and Ireland". Geograph.org.uk. 2010-06-17. Retrieved 2017-03-02.
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