ROBERT BADEN-POWELL - AUTOGRAPH 1902 CO-SIGNED BY: DAME EMMA MAUD MCCARTHY, A. T. SLOGGETT, J. M. SHINE, G. H. FORRESTER, J. V. GERRARD, A. WILSON, S. G. BUTLER, W. W. GIBSON - HFSID 51576

KING'S SOUTH AFRICA MEDAL WINNERS: ROBERT BADEN-POWELL, EMMA McCARTHY, A. T. SLOGGETT, J. M. SHINE, G. H. FORRESTER, J. V. GERRARD, A. WILSON, S. G. BUTLER and W. W. GIBSON
This sheet of paper is signed by nine recipients of the British King's South Africa Medal, received for service in the Boer War - including Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scouts; and Emma Maud McCarthy, legendary British army nurse.
Signatures: "A. T. Sloggett.", "E. M. McCarthy", "J. M. Shine", "G. H. Forrester",  "J. V. Gerrard".", "A. Wilson", "S G Butler", "W W Gibson" and "Robert Baden Powell". 1 page, 7¼x10½. Above the signatures is a cloth replica of the King's South Africa  medal (1902) (1¼x½), issued by King Edward VII - Queen Victoria having died in 1901 - for service in the Boer War. Below the signatures is a cloth replica of the South Africa Transport medal (1¼x3/8) issued in the same year. Top medal is captioned in unknown hand: "King's South Africa./1902.". Bottom medal is captioned in unknown hand: "South African Transport./1902." Ink note ("30") in upper right corner. Second Lieutenant BADEN-POWELL (1857-1941) had been detached for scouting service in Africa in the Ashanti (1895) and Matabele (1896) campaigns. In 1897, he transferred to the 5th Dragoon Guards, which he commanded. While he was on leave in England in 1899, Baden-Powell was appointed to raise a force of mounted rifles to be based in Mafeking with the secret aim of making raids on the Boers in Transvaal. Mafeking was besieged by a superior force of Boers on October 12, 1899. The siege lasted for 217 days (until May 17, 1900), and the relief of Mafeking was celebrated throughout the Empire, as it was the first victory the British had achieved in the Boer War. Baden-Powell is best known for founding the Boy Scouts (1907, two years before he was knighted in 1909). Baden-Powell, who based his program on the skills he had learned as a scout in the military, wrote a number of guidebooks for the organization, many of which were illustrated by his paintings by Baden-Powell; he was an accomplished artist. In 1911, he helped his sister, Agnes, found the Girl Guides, a similar organization for girls. Dame EMMA MAUD McCARTHY (1859-1949), born and raised in Australia, entered nursing duties at London Hospital, Whitechapel in 1891. She was one of six nurses selected by Queen Alexandra (wife of King Edward VII) for duty in South Africa during the Boer War, serving there 1899-1902. Under the patronage of Queen Alexandra, she organized the Army Reserve Nursing Service, and was head matron at several British military hospitals in the following years. In 1914, she was aboard the first transport carrying British soldiers to France, and she was Matron-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force throughout World War I, receiving the Florence Nightingale Medal, the French Legion of Honor, and many other awards. One British General called her a "genius" who could "run the whole Army" and "never make a mistake." From 1920 until her retirement in 1925, she was Matron-in-Chief of the Territorial Army Nursing Service. Lightly toned, soiled and creased. Some signatures are lightly smeared and spotted, but legible. Slightly frayed left edge where page was removed from a book. Lightly rippled and discolored from adhesive holding top ribbon on verso, which touches Florrett and McCarthy's signatures. Otherwise, fine condition.