Eumeralla Scout Camp

A man called 'Boss"
Harold E. Hurst 1888 - 1972
"a friend to all"

Boss's first contact with Nauru, was with a contingent of Nauruan boy Scouts who arrived on the dock of Geelong to go to the 1935 Jamboree at Frankston.  Late due to bad weather, the Geelong Parents Committee cleared all roads so the boys would be in time to march before BP.  A Ford Truck kindly lent by the Ford Motor Company was waiting at the wharf to pick the boys up and deliver them safely to the Jamboree. 

In 1936, Boss and his close Scouting associate Stan Mervin visited Nauru, and spent time camping with the Nauruan Scouts.  The friendship thrived, and in October 1936 six Nauruan boys came to Australia for higher education.  During this time they lived a simple life with Boss, never forgetting the native heritage.  This was the beginning of a scheme that would over several decades provide many Nauruan boys with valuable Geelong educational experiences, and in most cases with more than one years experience.  The boys continued their Scouting under Boss and enjoyed many camps at Eumeralla.  And over the years Boss also enjoyed many camps at Topside in Nauru.

Today, all Scouting members in the Geelong Region wear a special badge called ‘Geelong Nauru’. 

Nauru Badge

Badge Description:  The histories of the Geelong Region and the Republic of Nauru are closely entwined on a number of levels.  This link goes back to the early years of this century.  At that time the main contact with the Island of Nauru was by ships carrying raw phosphate to the Phosphate Plant, at North Shore.

‘Boss’ Hurst, one of the founders of Scouting in Geelong visited Nauru, and made arrangements for the young men to be educated in Geelong.  Most of the time these men were in Geelong, they lived with ‘Boss’ in Newtown, and participated in Scouting activities. On return to Nauru, Scouting was foundered, and continued on with the aid of visiting Scouts and Leaders from Geelong.