A special highlight at the Junior Leaders weekend in Whitemoor Lakes 10-12 July was welcoming Maynard Scott, who was presented with his Christian Service Award in recognition of 80 years of faithful service and devotion to the Brigade. Congratulations Maynard!
Eighty years since joining the Brigade
Maynard Scott, who now lives in the Midlands, was officially enrolled in the JTC section as a nine-year-old at St, Mark’s West Gorton Company in the Manchester Regiment on 13th October 1946 although his first company parade night was actually a few weeks earlier, probably in late July that year. He experienced the great days of Belle Vue Review inside the Manchester Speedway Stadium at its Post-war height. He enjoyed the whole Brigade experience from boyhood to youth before being called up for National Service in 1955.
Upon returning from Army service in Germany, Maynard’s attention turned to leadership although seeking promotion was furthest from his mind. Nevertheless, he developed an almost unique Brigade career in which he served at every administrative level of the Brigade i.e. on Company; Battalion; Regimental; and even National Headquarters staffs – all for a minimum of five years. Later, he enrolled and ran two new company units and was instrumental in starting two others.
In the early 1970s, in order to take the lads minds away from the ever growing “Troubles” in Northern Ireland, he obtained complimentary tickets for Ulster Brigade Lads and their leaders to attend several 1st Division football matches on the mainland and tour some of the top football grounds. He also arranged for the same lads to play football matches against local Brigade Units. Heavily involved with the National Competitions Committee in the 1970s Maynard and the late Mike Syreet, redesigned the National Band Competition into a new “Figure Marching” format which lasted until recently. He was on parade with his company at the 1980 Royal Review but when the parade dismissed that day, it was an emotional end to 34 years of uniformed service to the Brigade. (His resignation was prompted by an unexpected redundancy following a company takeover).
Having been placed on the retired list of officers, Maynard disappeared for a brief period into the obscurity of a filing cabinet in the depths of NHQ, but soon resurfaced in the Brigade Association. When invited to take on the role of National Hon. Secretary of the Association in the early 1990s he automatically became the Association’s representative on Brigade Council. Alongside these duties he edited; produced; and distributed the Association’s Link Newsletter for fifteen years. In 2002, alongside the late Robin Bolton, Maynard created the Brigade Memorial Garden at the National Memorial Arboretum and remained as its Custodian for the next twenty years. He couldn’t have been more surprised in 2009 when invited to return to uniform to become Deputy Governor and automatically a member of the Staff and Finance Committee. He happily relinquished this prestige position within five years to make way for someone younger. As a member of the Brigade Historical Group, Maynard remains an Associate member of the Brigade and still attends the Annual Services of Remembrance when able.
