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Lieutenant-General Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell (February 22, 1857 – January 8, 1941), 1st Baron Baden-Powell, is best known for forming the scouting movement in 1907 and writing Scouting for Boys. He had previously been a commander in South Africa, where he successfully defended the town of Mafeking during a 217-day siege using a number of clever deceptions including the laying of fake landmines and ordered his soldiers to move as if avoiding barbed wire, among other improvisions. The Boers believing that the town was more heavily defended than it actually was, eventually retreated. However, in later life he became a controversial figure. In 2010, declassified MI5 files revealed that he had been invited to meet Adolf Hitler after holding discussions about building closer ties with the Hitler Youth programme. Baden-Powell has also been accused of holding racist and homophobic views. According to the Surrey Comet 1st Kingston Hill was one of the very first, if not the first, troupes to be set up in 1908.
