11 Months Boy Scouts Camping Trip - A Spanish Civil War Story

Sometimes when I go metal detecting in the mountains I take a break and think for a moment what if something like this happens to me. Just imagine living in the forest unable to contact your family in the middle of a war or a catastrophic event. But I'm an old man, they were just kids.



In 1936 a group of 70 Spanish Boy Scouts and their instructors went camping to the Aragonese Pyrenees, a chain of mountains by the Spanish-French border.



The 15 days trip became a 11 months survival experience for these 8 to 17 years old kids. A civil war broke out, surprising the young explorers in the Ordesa valley and making impossible to return to their homes.

On 18 July 1936, two days after establishing the camp, Herman Timmerman (Chief instructor of the group) reported the military uprising. "A political revolt has erupted throughout Spain and the village authorities refuse to supply our camp. So our meals will be made with the provisions in our possession. To avoid the lack of all our supplies, as of tomorrow, bread and food will be rationed, he warned.

Besides surviving hunger and cold weather, they went though a long confinement without any contact with their families. A forced exile.

The Civil War was advancing and several groups of anarchist militiamen came to the camp almost daily for requisition of materials and take hostages, eventually returned after being interrogated by the militias about their relations with the fascist enemy.

Without being able to surpass the limits of the camp, as the militias of the Republican side had ordered in the area, the scouts sought to go unnoticed and to continue with their life in the valley.

The book about this incredible story of brotherhood is available (I didn't read it yet), check the third link here.



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a reply to: Trueman

That is one awesome story! I was thinking about these type of scenarios when I was camping this weekend. Just got back a few hours ago and this is the first thread I have taken interest in since being home.

Side note here, I see you mentioned metal detecting in your post as a hobby of yours. Now I know nothing about doing it but also thought of that when I was gone. Anyway you can make a thread about things you learned when you first started, like a tips and tricks kinda thread?

a reply to: Trueman

There's a fantastic metaphor in there about the dangers of Civil Wars. Things that really matter get squeezed out and forced to starve on the sidelines i.e. family. Two sides start going at each other over politics and everything else gets forgotten.

In fairness, I'm only going off the details in your OP so apologies for any ignorance on my part. I'm wondering how neither side managed to realise the utter wrongness of keeping all those youngsters stuck in the wild for almost a year?? This is the risk with political obsessives. They're so busy riding their partisan high horses that they forget what matters. Surely it would have been possible to have a ceasefire or chit-chat about getting the boys home?

Can you post some examples of how all these guys managed to get their food together all those months? I'm interested in how people get by in the wild.

a reply to: Kandinsky

I imagine the scouts and the instructors knew about the local flora and wildlife. Chances are they either had a trade system in the works or survived on what they could gather. I imagine the salads they ate are similar to the one I had Saturday night. Yucca plant and squirrel with a side of baked beans!

a reply to: Allaroundyou

I'd like to see a map of where they were based to get a better idea of how it went down. The Spanish Civil War was a nasty old time and the scouts potentially had the better part of it by being detached.

Yucca plant and squirrel with a side of baked beans!

I had a mixed grill yesterday and the chicken was so tough that squirrel would have been better. I had to cut it with a steak knife. Baked beans make anything edible.

a reply to: Kandinsky

I will have to read the book to get a better picture of how exactly everything went down. But I am tired and sore and just about ready for bed. I got my Monday to rest and get ready for work. I will most likely spend my time reading this amazing story. If I manage to get the area they stayed i’ll Post a map and what is in the area. If I get lucky the book will actually cover all those details.

As for your mixed grill I am sure it was better than my “salad”..... I came across the corpse of a coyote about an hour before I shot the squirrel with my bow. So I over cooked it just to be safe. Didn’t want to get sick. But I always carry Tabasco sauce to help

a reply to: Kandinsky

Happy to see we had the same thoughts after reading about this story. The consequences of a civil war are unthinkable for people today, even in countries where it's been one some time ago.

Patricio Borobio was one of these kids, he was 12 years old when he went to that camp with his brother and his uncle who was one of the monitors. Patricio wrote the book, he died in 2014, before The Scouts of Spain published it with the title "History of a Camp".

I couldn't find more details about how they got their food, probably hunting and fishing. I want to buy the book to learn from these kids. I'll look for an English translation, I'd like to give it to my 16 years old daughter.

Update : The book is sold out.

a reply to: Allaroundyou

Regarding metal detecting, I already made a few threads here but never went deep into tips. I like your idea.