for all scouts was held at Mosta. On parade were two District Scoutmasters, 20 Scoutmasters, 33 Assistant Scoutmasters, 115 Patrol Leaders and 625 Scouts. The Chief Scout, Lord Methuen presented warrants to the first Island Commissioner of the Malta Boy Scouts Association, Mr. E. Bonavia. An incident which occurred, and which shed some dark light on the Boy Scouts, was when some allegations were made that Boy Scouts and Girl Guides Movements had an alliance with the Evangelical Alliance, whereas their members were Roman Catholics. Thus, in August 1925, a group of Scouts from the United Kingdom were going to Rome to meet with the Holy Father, including a party of thirty four Maltese Scouts. In his book "Scouting in Malta: an Illustrated history" (1989), John A. Mizzi states that Baden-Powell told the Scouts: By your behaviour and good conduct, show to the heads of your Church in Rome that as Scouts you have not two masters but that your only Master is God and your Church. Your Scout masters are merely your elder brothers, showing you how better to do your duty as good Catholics. I want you to remember that and to obey the discipline of your Church. (Mizzi, 1989, p115). Mizzi (1989) also states that on his last visit to Malta, Baden-Powell said: I see a great change for the better in these boys as compared with the boys of the old days, now, as Scouts, they have interests, hobbies and aims in life and I would like your Scouters to realise that the time and energy which they put into Scouting is not thrown away; they are doing a big national service in giving their boys health of body, mind and spirit. They are thereby giving appreciable help respectively to the Church and Education. (Mizzi, 1989, p179). Shortly before his death in 1940, Baden-Powell wrote in a final letter to the Islands' Scouts: to congratulate my old friends, the Maltese on the plucky way they have stood up to the infernal bombing of the Italians … They have the spirit of fearlessness and patience which enables them to face danger with a smile to stick it out to the triumphant finish … The Second World War saw similar service from the Maltese Scouts, as they supported the Allied forces throughout the aerial siege of 1940 to 1943. This resulted in The Boy Scouts Association's branch and