Colonel John Skinner "Belge" Wilson (1888–1969) was a Scottish scouting luminary and friend and contemporary of General Baden-Powell, recruited by him to head the International Bureau, later to become the World Bureau of the

World Organization of the Scout Movement The World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM ) is the largest international Scouting organization. WOSM has 173 members. These members are recognized national Scout organizations, which collectively have around 43 million participants. WOSM ...

. Wilson was acting director from 1938 to 1939 following the death of Hubert S. Martin; he was elected in 1939 and remained in office until 1951. He then became Honorary President of WOSM for four years.

Scouting

Baden-Powell visited

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

in 1921, where he met and recruited Colonel Wilson, who was then Senior Deputy Commissioner of Police in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

, and in his free time was serving as Calcutta's District Scout Commissioner. Wilson ran

Gilwell Park Gilwell Park is a camp site and activity centre in East London located in the Sewardstonebury area of Waltham Abbey, within Epping Forest, near the border with Chingford. The site is owned by The Scout Association, is used by Scouting and Gu ...

for

The Scout Association The Scout Association is the largest Scouting organisation in the United Kingdom and is the World Organization of the Scout Movement's recognised member for the United Kingdom. Following the origin of Scouting in 1907, the association was form ...

in the early 1920s. He served as Director of the Boy Scouts International Bureau for 15 years, tasked with co-ordinating various Scout movements within countries and between them prior to the establishment of World Scout Regions. After retirement, he served as Honorary President of the Boy Scouts International Committee for a further four years. To encourage the creation of Rovering in the

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded ...

, the first

Wood Badge Wood Badge is a Scouting leadership programme and the related award for adult leaders in the programmes of Scout associations throughout the world. Wood Badge courses aim to make Scouters better leaders by teaching advanced leadership skills ...

course held in the United States was a Rover Scout Wood Badge course, directed by Wilson. Wilson introduced an international Scout badge in 1939-a silver

fleur-de-lis The fleur-de-lis, also spelled fleur-de-lys (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a lily (in French, and mean 'flower' and 'lily' respectively) that is used as a decorative design or symbol. The fleur-de-lis has been used in the ...

or arrowhead badge on a purple background surrounded by the names of the five continents in silver within a circular frame. The wearing of it was not universal, but was confined to past and present members of the International Committee and staff of the Bureau. A flag of similar design followed, the flying of which was restricted to international Scout gatherings. Wilson was awarded the

Bronze Wolf The Bronze Wolf Award is bestowed by the World Scout Committee (WSC) to acknowledge "outstanding service by an individual to the World Scout Movement". It is the highest honor that can be given a volunteer Scout leader in the world and it is the ...

, the only distinction of the

, awarded by the

World Scout Committee The World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM ) is the largest international Scouting organization. WOSM has 173 members. These members are recognized national Scout organizations, which collectively have around 43 million participants. WOSM ...

for exceptional services to world Scouting, in 1937. In 1952 he also received the highest distinction of the

Scout Association of Japan , headquarters = Hongō, Bunkyō, Tokyo , country = Japan , f-date = 1922 , members = 109,528 (2017) , website = http://www.scout.or.jp , affiliation = World Organization of the Scout Movement , pattern_head1 = baseball cap , color_hea ...

, the

Golden Pheasant Award The is the highest award for adult leaders in the Scout Association of Japan. It is awarded by the Chief Scout of Japan, awarded for eminent achievement and meritorious service to the Association for a period of at least twenty years. It may be ...

. During a visit in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

in 1957 he was awarded with one of the highest honours of Austrian Scouting the ''Silbernen Steinbock'' Silver Capricorn (on red-white-red ribbon). Wilson took a six-year world tour reviewing the world's Scout organisations, culminating in a five-month tour of Asia in October 1952. Upon the 50th anniversary of World Scouting in 1957, Colonel Wilson took his research notes gathered on the trip and authored the publication of the first edition of the seminal work on world Scouting, ''Scouting Round the World''.

Military

Wilson, a

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

, became known for heading the Scandinavian branch of the

Special Operations Executive The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a secret British World War II organisation. It was officially formed on 22 July 1940 under Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton, from the amalgamation of three existing secret organisations. Its pu ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. He was also involved in the

Anglo-Norwegian Collaboration Committee The Anglo-Norwegian Collaboration Committee, or ANCC, was a joint military committee during World War II composed of British and Norwegian military officers, which was tasked with controlling covert operations on occupied Norwegian territory an ...

, and for his work he was proclaimed Commander of the

Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ci ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, J. S. 1888 births 1969 deaths Recipients of the Bronze Wolf Award The Scout Association Scottish police officers International Scouting leaders Scouting pioneers British police officers in India British Army personnel of World War II Scouting and Guiding in India 19th-century Scottish people 20th-century Scottish people British people in colonial India

Scouting

Military

Further reading

References