Others of the older boys, having been well trained in scouting, were
set to watch points of importance, or given carbines and attached to
the civic guard. During the siege of Liege between forty and fifty boy
scouts were constantly employed carrying food and ammunition to the
beleaguered troops.
The Germans finally realised that every boy scout was a potential spy,
working for his country. The uniform itself then became a menace,
since boys wearing it were frequently shot. The boys abandoned it, the
older ones assuming the Belgian uniform and the younger ones returning
to civilian dress. But although, in the chaos that followed the
invasion and particularly the fall of Liege, they were virtually
disbanded, they continued their work as spies, as dispatch riders, as
stretcher-bearers.
There are still nine boy scouts with the famous Ninth Regiment, which
has been decorated by the king.
One boy scout captured, single-handed, two German officers. Somewhere
or other he had got a revolver, and with it was patrolling a road. The
officers were lost and searching for their regiments. As they stepped
out of a wood the boy confronted them, with his revolver levelled.
This happened near Liege.
Trust a boy to use his wits in emergency! Here is another lad, aged
fifteen, who found himself in Liege after its surrender, and who
wanted to get back to the Belgian Army.
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