Written and Researched by: Ivy Stanmore Sydney, Australia
Wolf Song of Alaska Member and Volunteer
"Military history is one of the most rapidly shifting of all studies. Strategy and tactics alter with fluctuating world conditions, technology and leadership, alliances about face so that the deadly enemy of yesterday may easily become the cherished friend of today, the daring revolutionary of one war suffers a sea change into the rigid dogmatist of the next, weapons and other materiel become obsolete almost before they leave the drawing board. The unexpected can happen and often does."
So wrote an eminent American historian prefacing his research in a book concerning Pearl Harbor. It applies equally to the subject of Wolves and War. Part I of this series of articles concentrated on kings and other prominent persons who used the wolf to portray an image of themselves and of their people. During succeeding centuries the image of the wolf continued in use, though the perception changes as the characteristics of the wolf - courage, tenacity, patience in the hunt - are brought to the fore and applied to armaments, shipping and feats of arms, as well as to persons. In Europe there were still enough live wolves to inspire fear, as the examples will show.
The story of the Spanish Armada and its attempted invasion of England is well known, as is the eventual failure and dispersal of the Armada. After the Spanish ships were sunk or scattered, the difficulty remained for those still afloat to reach their homeports. The Channel route was closed, and ships of the English fleet were patrolling, keeping a lookout for any straggling Spanish vessels they could pick off.
Many Spanish survivors decided to go "north about" in an attempt to reach home, that is to sail north around Scotland and Ireland. The fickle weather turned against them, storms battered the defeated ships, and several were driven ashore and wrecked along the eastern and northern coasts of Scotland. The remainder were driven on toward Ireland where more met their end in stormy seas. One such ship was the "Lavia" under Captain Francisco de Cuellar, who survived many ordeals and wrote a vivid account of his misfortunes.
The Lavia had managed to reach Erris Head, where she was forced to anchor for five days. The ship was then blown ashore in the teeth of a ferocious storm and ended up on Streedagh Strand, just north of Sligo. Two other ships were also swept ashore at the same time and shortly thereafter all three were battered to pieces by the force of sea and wind. Cuellar writes it was "a most terrible spectacle" and states that more than 1,000 seamen were drowned and less than 300 survivors reached land. Then their troubles really started. The local inhabitants had no intention of giving assistance to the survivors, at least not without reward and perhaps not even then. Cuellar reports:
"The land and beach were full of our enemies…. Whenever any of our men reached land, 200 savages and other enemies rushed upon them and stripped them of everything they wore, leaving them stark naked, and without any pity beat and ill-used them."
The local inhabitants it seems believed the Spanish sailors had gold and other articles of value sewn into their garments. Some did, and the fact that most of the sailors who could not swim sank rapidly and drowned gave weight to the Irish belief that it was gold and jewels that were weighing them down. Eventually Cuellar was washed ashore from the wreckage, badly injured. His legs had been crushed and he was unable to stand. He still wore a gold chain around his neck and had 45 gold pieces in his clothing, which represented two months' pay. Cuellar was lucky: the natives presumed him dead. When night fell there were some 600 bodies on the beach. Then the animal scavengers arrived, crows and wolves making their way among the wreckage, seeking who or what they could devour.
Wolves had survived in Scotland and Ireland long after they had become extinct in England and Wales, and they were not uncommon in the wilder parts of the country. Wolves were reported in Ireland as late as the mid-1700s, approximately 150 years after the events of the Spanish Armada.
After further harrowing adventures, Cuellar managed to reach the lands of Darty MacClancy, who aided many survivors, sheltering them in his castle at Rossclogher. MacClancy had a deep hatred of the English and he was prepared to help their enemies in any way he could. Eventually Cuellar reached his home in Spain, where, fully recovered, he penned his account of his Armada journeys.
The Thirty Years War (1618 to 1648) devastated Europe. Most areas of the continent were drawn into the conflict at some point during the three decades it dragged on, and at its end the population in parts of the continent was drastically reduced. Country towns were decimated and larger cities suffered severe depopulation. Trade halted, ships did not sail. General Mortaigne said of one area:
"I would not have believed a land could be so despoiled had I not seen it with my own eyes."
The social development of Central Europe was retarded for generations and in some areas the effects of this long-ago war are present to this day. From whence came the whirlwind of war that swept Europe? This war, which turned Western Europe from the medieval to the modern world and saw dimly in its results the birth of nationalism, started as a medieval struggle for power between the Austrian-Spanish Hapsburgs and the French Bourbons. Allies frequently changed sides, power struggles (even in the seventeenth century) made strange bedfellows, and peoples of opposing religious views who had fought against each other were allies before peace was restored. The battles were fought mainly on German lands, for Germany at this time was not a united country but a collection of princely states.
The original enmity between these peoples may have originated in the fifteenth century. It is worth noting that in 1477 Charles the Rash, Duke of Burgundy, was killed in a battle against Louis XI of France. As a mark of contempt his body was left lying on the battlefield where, before it was recovered for burial, it is said to have been mauled by wolves. Enmity, though hidden, smoldered below the surface. One hundred and fifty years later it burst forth viciously and Europe paid a terrible price for the following 30 years.
War was expected to commence between Spain and the rebels in The Netherlands, then ruled by Spain. Therefore, it was a surprise when fighting broke out in Bohemia, where the people of Prague revolted against the Austrian Hapsburgs. The Catholic representatives of the Hapsburgs were tossed out of the window of the Hradcany Palace, this incident being recorded in history as the Defenestration of Prague. The rebels offered the Bohemian throne to Frederick, Elector of the Palatinate, who accepted the crown, and so England became involved, though only on the sidelines. Frederick's queen was Elizabeth, daughter of James I of England (James VI of Scotland). She became known as the "Winter Queen," for soon Elizabeth and Frederick were in flight and the rebellion was quickly stamped out, but not before war had spread into German lands. (It is interesting to note that descendants of this "Winter Queen" still comprise the ruling family of Great Britain.)
The Hapsburg reigning monarch was Ferdinand II, who saw himself as the champion of the Catholic cause and leader of the Counter-Reformation. Three battles are of interest in this war: two of them took place at Wolfenbuttel, which is situated in the north German plain in Lower Saxony, and the third took place at Wolfsegg, near Wels and Gmunden in Upper Austria. A translation of Wolfenbuttel possibly means, "where the wolves come to feed." Nearby is Wolfsburg - "mountain of the wolves." Wolfsegg means "the corner where the wolves meet." These names, still in use, recall a time when wolves were common in these areas.
Meanwhile, on another front events also were stirring. Defending the Protestant cause in the north of Germany, near Wolfenbuttel, were three commanders. Christian of Denmark, Christian of Brunswick and General Ernst von Mansfeld. Christian of Brunswick, with an army composed mainly of ill-armed peasants, aimed to reach Hesse, enroll the Landgrave in the Protestant cause and attack the Hapsburg army. That army was headed by General Tilly, a devout Catholic from Belgium, known as "the monk in armor" as he had wished to join the Society of Jesus rather than become a soldier. Christian of Brunswick failed in his mission. Worn out and sick at only 28 years old, he had lost all his lands and his fortune. The Hessian Landgrave refused any help. Ill and depressed, Christian of Brunswick led his forces in retreat to Wolfenbuttel, where he died in 1626.
General von Mansfeld fared no better, although he led an experienced, well-equipped army. He was decisively beaten by the Austrian Hapsburg General Wallenstein at the Bridge of Dessau. Mansfeld retreated into Brandenburg to plan further attacks in Silesia.
Upon hearing that his enemies were divided, Christian of Denmark saw an opportunity. With a large army he marched south, aiming to strike at southern Germany. For three days he held off his enemies, but he could not reach Wolfenbuttel itself and took up a position some 20 miles away at the village of Lutter. Following a battle in which all of his cannons and half of his army were destroyed, and his horse was shot out from under him, Christian of Denmark left the field and retreated further from Wolfenbuttel.
By 1641, after more than 20 years of battles, the original commanders of the war had either been killed or were too old to take the field. New men were now in command. In June 1641 forces gathered again at Wolfenbuttel. This time the Swedish forces were commanded by Karl Gustav Wrangel, a good soldier but unpopular with his men. There were rumors of a mutiny in the Swedish army, and tough General Lenart Torstensson was dispatched to deal with matters. He did so, reinvigorated the army and embarked on a successful campaign against the Hapsburg forces.
Wolfenbuttel sank into oblivion once more as the soldiers marched away, thankful to forget war and to heal its wounds. To ordinary people it must have seemed that no matter which princely family won, no matter which religion they were ordered to follow, they paid with their goods and their lives while the countryside lay desolate and ruined.
The Treaty of Westphalia signed in 1648 brought peace of a kind to Europe. However, the peace did not hold for very long, and only a few years passed before European armies were once again on the march. Covering many difficult miles on foot and on horseback, their trails presented an attractive lure to wolves and other animals in search of easy prey or scavenge.
The period 1658 to 1660 saw much warfare in Scandinavia. A few years before, King Carl X Gustav of Sweden occupied Polish lands, and in January 1658 he launched an attack in bitterly cold weather across the ice of the Little Belt in an attempt to take Funen in Denmark. He traveled with infantry, cavalry and sledge-borne guns. It was reported by a French envoy that water up to two feet deep lay on top of solid ice across the path of the horses and men. A famous picture shows wolves following the army on this march, and in such severe weather conditions prey must have been easy for wolves hunting and scavenging among the baggage train and fallen horses.
The warfare ended in 1660: Sweden was considered the victor over Norway and Denmark, which both lost territory in the final settlement.
In England, events were afoot which would have significant effect in the eighteenth century and up to the present day. When King Charles II of England signed a charter in 1670 creating "The Governor and Company of Adventurers of Hudson Bay" it was only two years after the first English ship had sailed into the area and christened it Hudson Bay. Charles had no idea he was creating a company that would become one of the most powerful trading organizations in North America. Nor had he any idea he was taking the first step toward adding millions of acres to his country's domains, and that eventually a new country would be created known to later centuries as Canada. T
he Hudson Bay Company had aristocratic investors, headed by Charles' cousin, Prince Rupert of the Rhine (who was none other than the son of the Winter Queen, Elizabeth). Charles and his adventurers also overlooked a salient matter when creating the Hudson Bay Company: the fact that the land where they proposed to conduct their trading business was already occupied. They hoped to avoid a clash with other commercial interests by opening new trade routes, but it must be said that that was a somewhat pious hope. Charles' signature made inevitable the future conflict between France and England in North America.
In 1740 about 100,000 French or persons of French descent lived in North America. During the years 1702 to 1748, in reaction to various European wars, outbursts of violence occurred between French settlers and English colonists along the eastern seaboard. To safeguard their possessions in North America, the French constructed Louisberg on Isle Royale (Cape Breton Island), a huge fortress with a garrison of 1,400 soldiers as well as naval facilities. However, North America did not become part of any wider conflict until the outbreak of the Seven Years War between England and France, which lasted from 1756 to 1763. Once this European war started it was not long before attention was drawn to the clash of interests between England and France in North America. Before the guns were silenced, French power in North America was decimated and the dream of "New France" was dead.
The Seven Years War brought onto history's stage a hero who was modest, unassuming, and who, like many others, died at the moment of his greatest triumph. The soldier's name was James Wolfe, born at Westerham in Kent in 1727. A soldier from his earliest years, he fought bravely at the Battle of Dettingen, near Aschaffenburg in Germany, against the French. Wolfe also took part in the Battle of Culloden during the 1745 rebellion in Scotland. There is a story that during this battle Wolfe was ordered to execute the Scottish chieftain of one of the clans, but he refused to do so. This was said to be the reason why, years later, the Highland forces fought so well under his command in Canada. There remains doubt as to whether this story is true, however there is no doubt that the Highland forces, only 14 years after Culloden, did fight magnificently under Wolfe and thereby continued the Highland traditions and legends still held dear by many descendants today.
The great fortress of Louisberg eventually fell to the assaults of General Wolfe and others, as did Fort Frontenac and Ticonderoga, and these victories gave the British a frontage onto the Great Lakes. Late in 1758 the British took Quebec. Wolfe was killed in the battle by a sniper's bullet. His body was brought back to England and buried in Greenwich, close by that of his father, Edward Wolfe, also a soldier with a distinguished record, who died the same year.
The war did not end with the fall of Quebec and Wolfe's death; it dragged on until the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1763. That treaty gave Britain most of the French possessions in what is now Canada, and it ended the dream of a new French Empire in the northern regions of the New World. On the distant horizon was the eventual birth of the Dominion of Canada.
A touch of romance as well as science and technology combine in the story of a famous landmark off the English coast. Out in the Atlantic, 28 miles beyond Lands End, lie the Isles of Scilly, celebrated in history, folklore and song. Between Lands End and these Isles lies the fabled lost Land of Lyonesse, to which is attached the legend of a great cataclysm. It is a fact that within the memory of humankind the sea swept over the land bridge, which had linked Britain to Europe, creating the English Channel. It is possible that the disturbance swept in from either the east or the west. It is also a fact that such low-lying land was often submerged.
One improbable legend holds that this region off Lands End was highly fertile and inhabited by people called Silures, who were extremely industrious and so renowned for their piety that they had constructed 140 churches, but was destroyed in one catastrophe when the sea submerged Lyonesse. Another legend states the cataclysm occurred when the rebel knight Mordred was pursuing King Arthur and his knights: the sea swept over the pursuers, destroying the land in its path. It is however historical fact that the Isles of Scilly have been inhabited and known to traders since early times.
Those early inhabitants learned to move around their watery world by skillfully managing frail boats. There were many rocks and stretches of shallow water - treacherous places for sailors and ships. One of the worst spots lay almost halfway between Lands End and the Isles of Scilly: a dangerous patch of rocks, surrounded by deep water, over which the sea swelled even in calm weather. For centuries this patch of rock had no known name. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries the local name for this area was "Yulf" or "Wulf." Then on a chart published by the Dutch in 1658 this dangerous patch of water appeared as "Wolf."
The reason for the name has never been clear. It could be that to sailors, the sharp rocks jutting from the water appeared as dangerous as wolves' teeth. Or, according to local lore, the noise made when air compressed by the sea was forced through a large crack beneath the surface of the rock sounded like the howling of wolves.
The name persisted, and the area is shown as "Le Loup" (The Wolf) on a French chart dated 1692. Later another French chart dealing with the hazards of the English Channel referred to it as "Le Housen de Wolf." Then for many years on English charts its name became "The Gulf Wolf." In the years 1798 to 1802 it was known variously as "Wolf Rock" or "Le Loup," but by 1825 all the mapmakers appear to have agreed on the name "Wolf Rock" and by that name it has been known ever since.
Between 1791 and 1850 various beacons were built on the rock to warn ships of its danger. During the years 1791 to 1795, notable attempts were made by Lt. Henry Smith to install a permanent light, but to no avail. Later a bronze model of a wolf was cast and taken out to the rock where, once again, attempts to place it in position failed. These failures were due to the exposed position of Wolf Rock, facing the wide-open Atlantic and the full fury of its often-stormy seas.
When the first permanent beacon was erected in 1840 it became, and still is, one of the lights which "stand watch in salt water," meaning that the lighthouse and its base are built directly on the seabed rather than dry land. Even while marked with a beacon, Wolf Rock still exacted its toll on ships and sailors. In 1855 the French ship "Railluer" met its end. In 1856 Wolf Rock claimed the Cornish vessel "Mentor," and in 1861 the Prussian ship "Astrea" came to grief there.
The Brethren of Trinity House, the organization responsible for the erection and maintenance of beacons and lighthouses along the British coast, decided to build a lighthouse on Wolf Rock. During1861, surveys were completed and plans were drawn. Construction commenced a year later, and proved challenging, to say the least. In the first year only 22 ship landings were possible, and the work proceeded slowly in the inclement weather. Stone blocks were prepared and fitted together in Penzance, approximately 20 miles distant, then shipped and unloaded on the rock. For the lighthouse base more than 1,000 tons of rock were used, plus 3,300 tons of granite for the tower.
A delightful story from the building of the lighthouse deserves to be mentioned. During construction of the base, an American visitor landed to watch work in progress. He was most impressed and asked if he might leave a memento. The construction crew agreed. The visitor removed a rose from his buttonhole, wrapped it in a dollar bill and laid them both in the foundation. And beneath the tower of Wolf Rock Lighthouse this memento of America is said to remain.
Construction of the 116-foot tower was finally completed after eight years, in July 1869. It was not until January 1870 that the first light flashed out from Wolf Rock. Since then, "The Wolf," as it is sometimes affectionately known, has in peace and war stood its watch, giving warning to ships and sailors of all nations that Wolf Rock's sharp teeth are near.
Wolf Rock recorded some notable occasions since 1870. During World War II, Wolf Rock claimed another victim, a German U-boat. In February 1948, in the teeth of a roaring Atlantic gale, the lighthouse received one of the earliest "drops" by helicopter from Culdrose Naval Air Station in Cornwall. Two thousand pounds of provisions and supplies were dropped to the keepers, because weather conditions made it impossible to either supply them by any other means or evacuate them.
Wolf Rock Lighthouse was electrified in 1955, and in 1973 became the first rock-based lighthouse to have its own helicopter pad installed above its light. In June 1987 the last keepers moved out, and in 1988 its operation was completely automated. So it stands today, the storm-tossed lone Wolf, facing the full fury of the Atlantic Ocean, bravely sending out a warning from its brilliant eye.
Throughout the centuries to call someone a "wolf" has on most occasions been regarded as an insult. At a few times such an insult may bring forth good far beyond the imagination of those who hurled the insult. Such an instance is connected with the Crimean War. This war between Britain, France and Russia, fought from 1854 to 1856, centered on Russia's desire for a year-round ice-free port. The powers in control of Russia at the time felt the best way to accomplish this was to capture Constantinople (now Istanbul), and thus gain access to the Mediterranean.
The Crimean War should be remembered for the enormity of the casualties the combatants inflicted upon each other in battles such as Alma, Balaclava (including the famous Charge of the Light Brigade), Inkerman, the siege of Sebastopol and Tchernaya. In those days medical services for the wounded and sick troops were virtually non-existent, and what medical attention was available was extremely primitive. The French army had the best medical services; the British army lagged far behind. A basic medical service was staffed by Chelsea pensioners; old retired soldiers sent out to look after the wounded men. Knowledge of medicine does not seem to have been a prerequisite to perform this service. One cynic wondered:
" …whether it was a scheme for saving money by utilizing the poor old men or shortening the duration of their lives and pensions…."
In such conditions it is no wonder the wounded and sick literally died like flies.
In Britain, news of the terrible conditions for those soldiers was blazoned all over the newspapers. That coverage in itself was a new turn of events, for the Crimean War was one of the earliest wars to be covered by an accredited war correspondent from a highly reputable newspaper, in this case The Times of London. William Howard Russell was the Times' special correspondent to the war; his reports were very critical of the British army hierarchy, and the officers did not like him or his writing.
In addition to his reports on the outcome of battles and the heroism of individuals, Russell was particularly scathing about the treatment of casualties. His editor, John Delane, soon realized the value of these eyewitness reports and added his voice in biting editorials. He attacked those who were "sitting by the firesides devouring the morning paper in luxurious solitude" and who regarded the war as an "amusing spectacle" while other "poor fellows are going through innumerable hardships to bite the dust at last in mortal agony."
As many of his readers were members of the Establishment, the very cream of British society, Delane received much criticism. However, he did not stop his accusations against the "do nothings" who sat safely at home. In one editorial he stated:
"Soldiers and sailors are not the savage murderous ravaging creatures they are sometimes imagined…. Till they are dying of hunger and thirst, or have seen their comrades falling all around them, they are the merest sheep…. The wolves are those who stay at home, blow up angry passions of war and feed its perpetual resentments."
An avalanche of mail descended on The Times' offices: letters from those who were outraged at the lack of care for soldiers so far from home, screams of outrage at descriptions of the stay-at-homes, (those Delane had termed "wolves"), letters containing donations, and suggestions for raising more funds. A woman who signed herself "A sufferer by the present war" suggested that it was women who should be sent out to nurse the wounded and sick. She wrote:
"There are numbers of able-bodied and tender hearted Englishwomen who would joyfully and with alacrity go out to devote themselves to nursing the sick and wounded."
And one woman heard this call. She had been trying to obtain permission to go to the Crimea and do exactly as the writer suggested. Her name was Florence Nightingale, and she offered her services. By October 1854, Miss Nightingale had recruited her first 38 nurses and they set off for Scutari to establish the first military hospital with the full support of the British War Office.
The conditions Florence Nightingale and her nurses found at Scutari were horrifying, and the means they brought to combat those conditions would be regarded, in our present state of medical knowledge, as primitive. But there were no antibiotics or penicillin in those days, and even the knowledge of the use of disinfectants was limited. Miss Nightingale's nurses did ensure that many of the sick and wounded men were cared for in clean and tolerable conditions. Without doubt the immense casualties of the Crimean War would have been much worse had the nurses not been there.
From the unlikely combination of Russian ambition, enormous casualties, accurate reporting by war correspondents, the use of the epithet and image of wolves, and the dedication of a noble band of women led by Florence Nightingale, came great good. Professional nursing services have ever since provided proper care for those who are taken sick or wounded while serving in the armed forces of their country.
The Boer war is well remembered, and in both South Africa and Britain even now it is recalled with bitterness. It commenced in October 1899, after years of threatening clashes, skirmishes and fruitless talks between Boers, Britons and Uitlanders (South Africans who were not of Boer or Dutch extraction). The Boer war saw three notable sieges of what were then small bush towns: Ladysmith in Natal, Kimberley in the Transvaal - rich in diamonds and gold, and Mafeking in the part of the Cape Province known as Far North Cape. The siege of Mafeking is the most famous.
The Boer war was fought because each of the two Caucasian communities wanted to dominate the other. The Boers saw it as a fight for freedom, while the British and Uitlanders saw it as a fight for equality. The rights and interests of the native peoples living in southern Africa were of no interest to the armies, and received no consideration at all. Money, land, gold and diamonds loomed large in the eyes of the combatants.
Although small in size, Mafeking - meaning "place of stones" - was an important railway center. It controlled the approach to Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and the administrative center for Bechuanaland. By besieging Mafeking, the Boers cut road and rail communications to Rhodesia.
The British commander at Mafeking was Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell. A lieutenant colonel in the Dragoons, son of an eminent Oxford family, he had arrived in the country the previous July. Baden-Powell was an energetic and inspirational commander, but in Mafeking he had little material to work with and several disadvantages. He had with him a number of Colonial irregular soldiers, but he never had more than 600 men to defend the town's perimeter, and few of them were trained. There were 1,500 Caucasian citizens, including women and children, plus 5,000 native people from the Barolong tribe at the city.
Baden-Powell had few guns, but he constructed a series of trenches and forts, built underground bombproof shelters, organized food supplies and protected water wells. Manpower was always short and at times Africans were recruited into local civil defense. Baden-Powell knew he could not afford a major battle with the Boers, especially knowing they had captured his supply train, the Mosquito, shortly after the siege commenced.
Skirmishes and raids in the first three months left Baden-Powell with honors, and spirits were high in the town. The Boers were surprised at such verve and élan in the besieged garrison. It could not, and did not, last. In January 1900, morale fell and food supplies ran low. How much longer could Mafeking hold out, people asked?
Baden-Powell set about the daunting task of raising morale. Civilians were ordered to organize baby shows, gymkhanas and horse races. He issued stamps and paper money. A workshop was pressed into service to turn anything remotely useful into weapons. As a piece-de-resistance, designed to depress the spirits of the Boers and raise those of his own garrison, Baden-Powell urged his armorers to construct a special gun. They did, and named it "The Wolf." It was something of an ingenious hodge-podge of construction, but it worked.
"The Wolf" was a 6-inch gun made of a 4-inch piece of steel, part of a threshing machine and a breech cast in the town's foundry. Nevertheless, by the skill of the engineers and gunners, "The Wolf" could fire an 18-pound shell 4,000 yards. The besieged garrison made good use of "The Wolf."
The siege dragged on, through March and April. "The Wolf" continued to function well in defending the city. In the meantime, back in Britain the siege became the nation's number one priority, and reinforcements finally arrived in May. Shortly thereafter the Boer line collapsed and the forces withdrew.
The final fate of "The Wolf" remains unknown. Perhaps it was melted down and its metal went into other armaments. Specifically why it was called "The Wolf" also remains a mystery.
Baden-Powell himself had done a magnificent job in holding on to the little town against overwhelming odds. His fighters' resistance had kept as many as 10,000 Boers occupied during the earliest and most critical months of the war. Never less than 2,000 were camped outside Mafeking during the seven months of the siege. Baden-Powell's own losses were relatively light: 35 killed, 101 wounded and 27 taken prisoner.
Baden-Powell himself went on to lasting fame as the founder of the Boy Scout movement, the junior branch of which are "Wolf Cubs" lead by Arkela - the lone wolf. Baden-Powell died in Kenya in 1941, at the age of 84.
It can therefore be shown that in the years between 1600 and 1900, on the shores of Ireland and England, in France, Germany, Italy, Austria and Scandinavia, and to the far reaches of Canada and South Africa, the image of the wolf was used in various forms by mankind in the pursuit of his enemies. At times the image was no more than a warning, even a gentle perception, on other occasions it was a fierce emblem, the very epitome of war itself. Sometimes it was used to depict a courageous or noble character or deed, sometimes the reverse. But whichever measure is used, the image and perception of the wolf remained with and was important to our forebears all over the world who lived during that tumultuous time.