Scout’s honour – I didn’t mean to cause offence!

WITH reference to the Scouts photographs in a recent Crow Nostalgia, I feel it incumbent upon me to apologise to relatives of Percy Beale and Jack Cosford, if, inadvertently, I caused them offence by mistaking the one for the other. I confess, on the firs

WITH reference to the Scouts photographs in a recent Crow Nostalgia, I feel it incumbent upon me to apologise to relatives of Percy Beale and Jack Cosford, if, inadvertently, I caused them offence by mistaking the one for the other.

I confess, on the first sight of the photograph, I went to the telephone "shooting from the hip" and taking no time to study or consider the picture.

Percy Beale is slotted in my mind as a musician and not a Scouter - a stalwart member of the Royston Town Band as a trumpeter. But, of course, he was also a drummer in the 1st Royston Drum and Bugle Band.

I enclose a photo of the Carnival court of the 1937 Coronation Procession in Royston, right, with Percy and other trumpeters of the town band serenading the Carnival Queen.

Percy is on the right, Stan Simons is next to him and on the left is Len Coote.

Further to the Scout saga, the other photograph here is one taken at the Ipswich camp, with Ken Lawrence standing, Harry Sermons crouching, me, shirtless, at some mending task, and Harold Heathfield sitting.

To complete the hierarchy of the Church Scouts of that time, the Group Scoutmaster was the Church Curate, the Rev John Ward.

ERIC CAPON