I have very little information about Lewis’ education or personality, only some comments passed on to me by my father, Leslie, when he was alive. However, we are very lucky to have some information recorded in scout log books to which I have had access[1]. Based on my father’s comments, Lewis was a wonderful brother and it was impossible to speak too highly of him.
Scouting For Lewis, the Boy Scouts Movement came to occupy a central place in his life. It had started with the experimental camp held by Baden Powell on Brownsea Island in 1907, two years after Lewis was born. I have covered the factors that contributed to its foundation, and its early history, in some detail under an article elsewhere on this site, and rather than repeating the story here I will ask you to link to it. You can do that by after clicking on this link: ‘
Leslie Dunkerley’, then pressing ‘Ctrl+f’ and inputting ‘Scouting’.
Lewis must have become involved in Scouting at the 7th Manchester (St. John’s) Failsworth, troop early on. There is a photo of him dressed in Scout uniform together with younger brother Leslie, who was a Wolf Cub, that I suspect may have been taken as soon as Lewis had become a scout, for his unadorned uniform appears to be that of the new recruit (see picture). I suspect that Lewis would have been one of the world’s first Wolf Cubs when that junior division of the Boy Scouts started in 1915, and that at age 12 he moved up into the Scouts. The photo appears to have been taken in about 1917.
Once a Scout, Lewis must have progressed steadily through the ranks of ‘Tenderfoot’, ‘Patrol Second’ and ‘Patrol Leader’ until he was old enough to move to the higher division by becoming a Rover Scout.
The Rover Scouts had been established only in 1922 and was designed to provide ongoing activities for young men who had outgrown the Boy Scouts[2]. One of its principles was to help with the younger sections and, indeed, it became a fertile recruiting ground for Scout officers . It is in the ranks of the Rover Scouts that finally, on 12th May 1925 we have some reliable information about Lewis’ scouting career, for on that date he was promoted from ‘Rover Second’ to ‘Rover Mate’. On 18th September of the same year he was appointed troop secretary and took over writing of the Scout troop’s logbook.
On 16th September 1927 Lewis became ASM (Assistant Scout Master), in which position he was often in charge of the whole troop of Boy Scouts, including accepting responsibility for taking them far from home on camping trips, for example to St. Anne’s on Sea on the Lancashire coast and Penmon in Anglesey. The next year, on 14th October, Lewis took another step up the scouting ladder when he accepted the position of SM (Scout Master), in charge of all activities with the younger boys. In summer 1929 he was finally requested to step up to the position of GSM (Group Scout Master), which meant that he was responsible for the activities of all three sections of the 7th Manchester (St. John’s) – Wolf Cubs, Boy Scouts and Rover Scouts. He accepted the proposal and immediately began to carry out the duties in an ‘acting’ capacity while his promotion was being processed.
Lewis must have had many happy times in scouts. He would have learned there how to get on in small teams where cooperation was needed, and in time he must have become a capable leader, able to discharge responsibilities to the satisfaction of the troop hierarchy. He would have taken part in numerous Courts of Honour, at which the direction of the troop was decided, and attended innumerable parades, at St. John’s, annually in Manchester at the Palace theatre, and on special occasions such as the Armistice anniversary. He would have learned how to fend for himself at camp, and how to hike through open country by using map and compass as navigation aids. He would have learned about what was then called Nature and would have enjoyed evenings round the 
camp fire when songs were sung, tales were told and entertaining ‘sketches’ had to be acted out in front of his companions. He must have believed deeply in the value that this type of activity had in developing knowledge, enjoyment and responsibility in boys and young men, and he was prepared to ‘put back’ as much as he could as a leader, in gratitude for what scouting had given to him. Sadly he was to be frustrated in his intentions, because before the formal Warrant appointing him as Group Scout Master could arrive he was to die with shocking suddenness.
It is pleasing to be able to relate a couple of anecdotes about Lewis’ time in scouts. In about 1917 when he was only about twelve years old, Lewis was involved in organizing a ‘hoopla’ stall on open ground behind the school to raise money. It was probably part of one of the regular events that the Scouts put on, but in this case I have been told that “
It was his war effort and the stall well used by the Regent mill folk”
[3].
In May 1930 the Scouts were asked to help with the arrangements for the Rose Queen festival, to be held on the third Saturday in June. The scout’s logbook records: ‘
We have been designated to handle the “pole part” and after bartering for the second-hand timber our stalwart “plumber-skipper” became a builder of “June-Poles” (not May-poles).' There was always a gentle humour in scouting.
Only a couple of months later, at a training camp held in July 1930, the logbook records that ‘
everyone voted the camp a success – even Lewis didn’t mind the mouse and beetle he found in his haversack’.
Church ConnectionsLewis probably attended Sunday School as a young child at St. John’s parish church in Failsworth, and both he and Leslie were confirmed together there, on 9th March 1922, taking their first communion three days later. At the time Lewis was 17 years old. Evidently he continued his involvement at the church and there is reason to believe he was a member of the Young Men’s Bible Class.
Earning a Living
Lewis would have left school in 1919 at the age of 14 and we know he joined the firm of J. W. Newton and Son, who were plumbers in Failsworth. The partners were J. W. Newton (son of the founder) and Charles Andrew Hale and they operated from an office at the corner of Brown Street and a yard behind Bethel Church. Lewis stayed with the firm, serving an apprenticeship and studying at night school until he qualified as a plumber. It seems that he became engaged, possibly to a young lady from the area of the Lake District[4].
Lewis was evidently a practical man who was skilled with his hands. It was during the period 1928-29 that the 7th Scouts succeeded in building entirely on their own a substantial new scout hut, with water and electricity installed – quickly dubbed by the irrepressible Scouts ‘Seventh Heaven’. Some incredulity was expressed when other scout troops discovered that no professional builders had been involved. Undoubtedly Lewis and other scout officers and Rover scouts, such as ‘Oskar’ Wolstenholme, a joiner of legendary skill, were the major players in making such fine accommodation for youth activities into a reality[5].
Too Soon An End
Calamitously, on Friday August 15th, 1929 Lewis was taken suddenly ill and rushed into Ancoats Hospital in Manchester with acute appendicitis. He underwent an emergency operation for peritonitis but could not be saved and died at about 5 pm, aged just 25 years. His family and the community were devastated.
The Grim Reaper usually takes from the margins of society. At the time we are talking about he mostly snatched babies from the recesses of the family home, young men far from sight on distant battlefields, and the nearly-forgotten elderly. It is true that many of the young people of Failsworth would have had some acquaintance with the occasional incursions of Death among the vital members of society, but there was something particularly cruel about the manner in which Lewis was plucked from within the ranks of the young. One day he was there, a highly respected leader making a huge contribution to the local youth and with everything to live for, the next, he had gone. It was too sudden and there was a real sense of shock througout the community.
The scouts were hastily summoned to attend early Holy Communion at St. John’s church on Sunday 17th and later the same day, being the third Sunday in the month, it was the regular Scout church parade. The Scout Chaplain preached, taking what now seems like a comfortless text from James, Chapter 4 verse 14: ‘
Grieve not, our brother, the path thou art treading is that in which we and all men must follow’.
Lewis’ father was unexpectedly put in the position of having to acquire a grave at Failsworth cemetery and the funeral was held on Tuesday 19th at St. John’s with representative Scout Officers from various groups within the NE Manchester Division acting as pall bearers. About one hundred scouts took part in the procession and were followed by the Young Men’s’ Bible Class and then the Girl Guides. Hundreds of civilians attended both inside and outside the church and others at the cemetery. A newspaper report said ‘
the streets were filled with those who also wished to show their respects’
[6] .
Billy Dunkerley was a member of the Failsworth Urban District Council and at it’s meeting on Wednesday 20th August, from which he was absent, the following was recorded in the minutes:
"Memo. - Before proceeding with the formal business of the Meeting, the Chairman, in a few appropriate remarks, made sympathetic reference to the bereavement which Councillor and Mrs. Dunkerley had sustained by the death within the last few days of their son, Lewis, and he proposed, and it was carried in silence by all the members and officers standing: -
That the sincere sympathy of the Failsworth Urban District Council be tendered to Mr. and Mrs. Dunkerley and family in their bereaved circumstances; that this resolution be entered on the Minutes of proceedings, and a copy transmitted to Mr. and Mrs. Dunkerley"
[7].
Lewis was ‘
an ardent worker at St. John’s church and school’ and was hugely missed.
The 7th Manchester troop logbook, which Lewis had helped compile, recorded the profound emotion provoked by the sudden loss of the scout leader. It quoted Julius Caesar: ‘
His life was gentle, and the elements so mixed in him that Nature might stand up and say to all the world: “This was a Man”. The chaplain called him ‘
Genuine’, ‘
Unselfish’ and ‘
a Worker’. However, the most abiding sense of loss was in his family. It is impossible to imagine the blow that his sudden and unexpected death meant to William and Selina, or indeed to his brothers and sister. Many years later his brother, my father Leslie, said that since Lewis’ death he believed no day had gone by when he had not thought of him. Out of the loss of Lewis, Leslie grew ever closer to his younger brother, Clare.
Two months after Lewis died, The Boy Scouts Association issued his Warrant as GSM of the Seventh (see illustration), adding by hand ‘Called to Higher Service before presentation’.
A Lighter Note
Lewis Dunkerley’s death was tragic because it was so unexpected and cut short so promising a young life. But it is important not to lose sight of the fact that his brief life of twenty-five years was one of happiness and achievement. In the words so often quoted on Rememberance Day ‘he was honoured in his generation and was the glory of his time’. I am therefore going to end his story on a happier note with an account of a Camp Fire sketch, told to me by my father, that Lewis would certainly have known and enjoyed:
The scene is set during the First World War. A night-time reconnaissance was planned of the enemy lines. The scout cautiously led a short line of crouching soldiers forward in the darkness through the British Lines towards the enemy. After a while he turned and whispered to the man behind him “
We’re passing our first line of trenches!” In turn the first man whispered the same message to the one behind him until it reached the Officer at the end of the line.
The scout carefully resumed his forward progress. Soon he turned again and whispered “
We’re passing our second line of trenches!” The message was repeated along the line to inform the Officer. The procedure continued for three more lines of trenches, by which time the Officer was becoming impatient. He sent forward the whispered message: “
Are we anywhere near the enemy yet?” "No!” came back the whispered answer through the dark. “
Then why are we whispering?” wanted to know the Officer. The message was passed forwards to the scout, who then announced “
Because I’ve got a sore throat!”
Notes and References
[1]. I have had access to two Scout Log books belonging to the 7th Manchester (St. John's, Failsworth) Scouts, covering the period October 1924 to Summer 1933. These marvellous diaries provide a vivid record of the meetings, socials, camps, hikes and other events that the boys were involved in during this period. They are often illustrated by photos or cartoon sketches done by the boys themselves, and there is usually a touch of dry humour on each page. They were in the posession of my uncle, Clare Dunkerley, and were brought to my attention by his widow, Brenda. Arrangements have now been made to return them to the Seventh.
[4]. The information about Lewis' occupation came from Nellie Patrick, nee Hale, whom I had the good luck to meet on 27th June 2003 in Oldham. Nellie, then 83, was the daughter of the second-named partner in the firm and remembered Lewis. The Hales were on holiday when the news came through that Lewis had died and immediately returned home for the funeral.
[5]. Oskar made the scout trek-cart, which, according to my father, Leslie, was indestructible. There is another story about Oskar's goal kicking prowess in rugby on the section of this site that tells the story of
Leslie Dunkerley.
[6]. This report was carefully kept, on a card mounting, by Leslie. I am uncertain which paper it came from so I am placing a scan of it here.
This page was last modified on Monday, January 21, 2008
Written by: Philip Dunkerley