Pen & Sword History

Adult patriotism, along with the threat of a potential enemy, was commonly passed down to children, who accepted the ideas automatically and largely without question.

in particular the teaching of what is often known as ‘Muscular Christianity’, which was vigorously taught in public schools. It was in essence a way of living suited to defending Britain and her empire. Boys were meant to be Christian, ready to enforce what was good and true, ‘to fight the good fight’ if necessary.

To this end, sports were advocated, as good health was seen as almost a religious and social duty. To achieve this, boys were taught that physical health and fitness were integral to mental strength and fortitude, from which would flow integrity and honesty; no surprise then that The Boys’ Herald was subtitled ‘A Healthy Paper For Manly Boys’.

Boxing, rugby, football and cricket would instil discipline, teamwork and duty, and would set boys on the right path for life. As a by-product, such training would be of immense help should the boys be needed to play the ‘greater game’ against an enemy. Sport, in and out of school hours, built character,

as Richard Hawkins, born into an upper-middle-class family, recalls: ‘My father and I used to do a lot of boxing when I was a boy. He used to kneel down so as to get to my level and then we would spar. On one occasion my parents had to call in the doctor because was a bit swollen round the glands; they thought I’d got mumps. Well, I hadn’t; my father had let fly perhaps a little bit too much.’

The ideals of Muscular Christianity percolated through to the lower-middle and working classes through youth organisations such as the Church Lads’ Brigade, the Boys’ Brigade, the Scouts and the Sea Scouts. Yet, before ever joining, the raw material, the boys themselves, had to be taught notions of obedience and conformity.

A respect for discipline was maintained even out of school:
‘Although somewhat given to violent combat as a means of settling disputes, they were on the whole a pretty good lot of youngsters at school. Fights, though frequent, were kept clean and proper by mutual observance of the so-called “fair-play” code of those days, which laid down the various conditions under which blows could or could not be exchanged. To strike a boy smaller than oneself was definitely not done. This would bring forth cries of “coward” and “bully” or “hit one yer own size!” ’

approximately 40 per cent of boys joined one or other of the formal youth organisations, drawn into a world in which patriotism, teamwork and mutual help were extolled as manly virtues.

These organisations had been designed to give boys experience of the adventurous life most craved. Nevertheless, when war broke out, when thousands of young men flocked to join up, those who had learnt some semblance of drill or musketry in the Scouts or Boys’ Brigades were at a distinct advantage, as one officer commissioned into Kitchener’s volunteer army saw.

the British public had little doubt that the Germans were responsible for the war, that Britain’s hand had been forced.