Frankston Jamboree 1935 Efftee NFSA Internet final

Описание: ‘Australian Jamboree Victoria 1935’ was produced by Efftee Film Productions (Efftee had contact with distributor Universal Pictures according to articles on the NFSA website). Scout Heritage Victoria has had the opening few minutes of film in its collection for years, but upon donating that 35mm reel to the National Film and Sound Archive, it was identified that there were two other parts in the NFSA collection. National Film and Sound Archive of Australia has kindly made a complete copy, using the nitrate original parts in their collection.

The First Australian Jamboree was held at Frankston, Victoria from December 1934 to January 1935. This Jamboree was treated at the time as an international event for Scouting, and was the only Australian Jamboree attended by Lord Baden-Powell, the founder and Chief Scout (his third and final visit to Australia). Victoria held the Jamboree to coincide with the 1934 Centenary celebrations for Melbourne, the state capital.

The film appears to depict events across several days of the Jamboree, focussing on the large parades and pageants, and on the international visitors. Unlike contemporary Australian Jamborees, Scouts aged from about 11-18 years old were in the Troops at this time, and most of the Rover Scout section (18+ year old) were involved in the Jamboree. We also see substantial involvement of the Girl Guides Association’s members, with the Chief Guide (Lady Baden-Powell) in attendance.

The film starts with arrivals by train at Frankston Railway Station, before some scenes of camp life. While the film depicts a collection of parades and performances, these were held across the whole event. Whereas contemporary Australian Jamborees involve youth participating in adventurous expeditions and various fun and out-door activities across the day, this Jamboree consisted of special parades on a few occasions, the various contingents presenting a performance or cultural demonstration of some sort as the form of entertainment for other attendees, combined with various excursions to the beach, and around Melbourne to view and learn about the State’s industry.

Scout Heritage Victoria acknowledges that some of these historical reenactments and cultural demonstrations would not be appropriate in today’s world. These scenes have not been edited out in the interests of historical accuracy.

At the end of this film, we see a few glimpses of the post-Jamboree hikes. Hundreds of Scouts left the Jamboree for a 2 or 4 day hike in the hills east of Melbourne, converging on Gilwell Park Scout Camp at Gembrook for a final night with Lord Baden-Powell. These hikes in themselves were a substantial undertaking coordinated by Victoria’s Rover Scout section who led each hike party of around 20, arranged message, mail and dispatch systems (using runners, motorcyclists, etc in the days before any radio communication) to keep track of hike parties during the hike. The Rovers had previously had to survey and map some parts of the hike area because there was no suitable maps in existence!

This film gives just a glimpse of the massive event for Victorian Scouting at a time when the world was emerging from the worst of the Great Depression and before the second world war. Victoria’s Scouts remain proud of the legacy of this event in the standards set for the event and organisation which still influence Victorian Scouting today.

Want to learn more about Victoria’s Jamborees?
The maps used during the post-Jamboree hike have been digitised by the State Library of Victoria: http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/13...

And you can read all about each day of the Jamboree through the Jamboree Daily newspapers from this event (and other Victorian Jamborees also) which have been digitised by the National Library of Australia: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title1189 (Jamboree Daily)

This is just a sample of the material which the volunteers at Scout Heritage Victoria are working to preserve for the Victorian community and especially the Scouts of the past, present and future.