Baden Fletcher Smyth Baden-Powell, (22 May 1860 – 3 October 1937) was a military aviation pioneer, and President of the

Royal Aeronautical Society The Royal Aeronautical Society, also known as the RAeS, is a British multi-disciplinary professional institution dedicated to the global aerospace community. Founded in 1866, it is the oldest aeronautical society in the world. Members, Fellows ...

from 1900 to 1907.

Family

Baden was the youngest child of Baden Powell, and the brother of

Robert Baden-Powell Lieutenant-General Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, ( ; (Commonly pronounced by others as ) 22 February 1857 – 8 January 1941) was a British Army officer, writer, founder and first Chief Scout of the wor ...

, Warington Baden-Powell, George Baden-Powell, Agnes Baden-Powell and Frank Baden-Powell. His mother, Henrietta Grace Smyth, was the third wife of Rev. Baden Powell (the previous two having died), and was a gifted musician and artist. Baden did not marry - his mother was quite brutal in trying to keep her sons (and her share of their incomes) to herself. He was god-father to, among others, his brother's daughter

Betty Clay Betty St Clair Clay ( née Baden-Powell; 16 April 1917 – 24 April 2004) was the younger daughter of Olave Baden-Powell, the first Chief Guide and Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting. She was the sister of P ...

nee Baden-Powell.

Military, inventions and aviation

Baden-Powell was commissioned a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

in the

Scots Guards The Scots Guards (SG) is one of the five Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. Its origins are as the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland. Its lineage can be traced back to 1642, although it was only placed on the E ...

on 29 July 1882, and served with the Guards Camel Regiment in the Nile Expedition (1884–85) in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

and Sudan. Promotion to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

followed on 5 February 1896, and to major on 24 June 1899. He served with the 1st battalion of his regiment in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

during the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South ...

, and was present at the battles of Belmont (23 November 1899),

Modder River The Modder River is a river in South Africa. It is a tributary of the Riet River that forms part of the border between the Northern Cape and the Free State provinces. The river's banks were the scenes of heavy fighting in the beginning of the ...

(28 November 1899), and Magersfontein (11 Dec 1899). He was in the Relief Column that in May 1900 relieved the

siege of Mafeking The siege of Mafeking was a 217-day siege battle for the town of Mafeking (now called Mafikeng) in South Africa during the Second Boer War from October 1899 to May 1900. The siege received considerable attention as Lord Edward Cecil, the son of ...

, where his elder brother was in command. A month after the end of the war in late May 1902, Baden-Powell returned home with his regiment in the ''SS Tagus''. Baden-Powell was a military aviation pioneer and a Fellow and later President of the

and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (elected in 1891). He was one of the first to see the use of aviation in a military context. He also wrote, "Ballooning as a Sport", published in 1907 by William Blackwood and Sons. He built his first balloons and aircraft with his elder sister Agnes. He invented a man-carrying kite system which he called the ''Levitor''. He also developed a collapsible military bicycle. He obtained one of the first British patents for a television system, "An electrical method of reproducing distant scenes visually", published 19 April 1921 (GB161706). He contributed to the

Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition The ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Eleventh Edition (1910–1911) is a 29-volume reference work, an edition of the ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. It was developed during the encyclopaedia's transition from a British to an American publication. So ...

entry on 'kite-flying'. He wrote "In savage isles and settled lands. Malaysia, Australasia and Polynesia, 1888-1891", published in 1892 by R.Bentley and Son, London. Among others, Baden-Powell recounts in his book a visit to

Batavia Batavia may refer to: Historical places * Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands * Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...

(now

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

), where he was a guest at the dinner party hosted by a leading local magnate, Khouw Yauw Kie, ''Kapitein der Chinezen''.

Scouting

Baden-Powell was the first who brought flying-based activities into Scouting in the form of kite and model aeroplane building. He can be considered the founder of Air ScoutingThe Early History of Air Scouting
at scoutguidehistoricalsociety.com even though he thought it was hardly feasible to have special 'Air Scouts'.(Baden Baden-Powell in Scouter July, 1932) "...it has been suggested that Air Scouts should be organised in the same way as Sea Scouts. Though the air is 'ever with us', access to aerodromes is not common and though Sea Scouts can mess about 'in any old boat', a Scout is unlikely to be able to get access to an aeroplane, and even if he did he would not be able to fly it. ...it seems hardly feasible to have special 'Air Scouts', yet a great deal may be accomplished by troops specialising in air-work... I shall always be pleased to give what advice I can." Baden-Powell was President and later District Commissioner of a North London District, was District Commissioner of Sevenoaks District, Kent between 1918 and 1935, and was Headquarters Commissioner for Aviation from 1923, until his death in 1937.

Notes

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Baden-Powell 1860 births 1937 deaths Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society Fellows of the Royal Aeronautical Society Scouting pioneers Baden-Powell family Scots Guards officers British Army personnel of the Second Boer War