International Jamborees: 1926 Report New Zealand
1926 –1st Dominion Jamboree, Tabuna Park, Dunedin, New Zealand.
9 - 23 January / Participants 1 100 / Countries 3 / South Africans 10
The 1st Dominion Scout Jamboree which was held in Dunedin and was in conjunction with the South Seas Exhibition.
Front: Ronald Healy, P Morris, CGD Groom, F Hanson, Eric Mearno (Benoni)
From the documentation available ten Scouts from the 7th Cape Town troop and 2nd Benoni troop toured Australia and Tasmania en route to the Dominion Jamboree in New Zealand.
The Dominion scouts were divided into four groups or tribes named after the four Maori canoes that first brought the Maoris to New Zealand.
Besides doing a lot of useful scout work the boys got leave after a few days, when they had settled down, and saw a lot of the Exhibition, getting leave, from mid-day to 9.30 p.m. They had a thoroughly enjoyable time and except for the big gale on Friday and one big down-pour of rain the weather was good.
On Saturday afternoon, after marching to the Exhibition sports ground from the Queen's Gardens, the scouts held the grand finale of their Jamboree. Many displays of Scoutcraft were given which held the interest of the large crowd of spectators and a programme of sports and other Scouty items was run off with 1st place in the Best Marching Patrol going to Benoni (South Africa).
In the evening a very excellent concert was given in the Festival Hall by the scouts, when a splendid programme of musical and variety items was offered.
Among so many good items it would be invidious to, single out any one for particular mention, but a troop song by the Cape Town troop seemed to capture the audience's fancy more than any other.
A camp-fire scene was also given. The following items were contributed . — Haka, Bull's Troop; recitation, Scout Goodland; troop song, Orepuki Scouts; violin, Scout Promeroy ; "The Dwarfs," Methven Troop; Haka, Marton Troop; human pyramids, Marton Troop; musical staves, Bull's Troop; troop song 7th Capetown Troop.
The Jamboree brought together some 1100 boy scouts from all parts of New Zealand, with troops from New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, and South Africa, thus cementing a bond of brotherhood between the various parts of the southern section of the Empire. It brought out in a marked manner the great principle of service, for, from the highest downwards has service been rendered to the Scout movement.
S A Scout Heritage 2015