The Shortest Way Back
Translation details
Model:mistral-medium-2604.Translated text
Section titled “Translated text”a) The leader marks his position with a flag and sends out several patrols in different directions, instructing them to dispatch scouts at set intervals with fictional reports—i.e., merely a note indicating the report’s serial number, the dispatch location (as per the map), and the time the messenger was sent. Each messenger is given a direction in which to seek the leader. He must take the shortest route. Upon arrival, the leader records the time of arrival on the note for later verification of who returned on time.
A patrol should not proceed in the same direction continuously but should change it several times. The exercise should first be conducted on a sunny day to facilitate orientation, and in any case in unfamiliar or little-known terrain. One must not forget to designate a rallying point for any who may get lost.
The exercise can be made more difficult if the leader does not remain in place but, after some time, moves to another point. He must inform the departing patrols (or patrol) of his route and the destination he is heading toward.
b) On a cloudy day, when orientation by the sun is impossible, and also without a compass or map, I lead a patrol through unfamiliar terrain—across fields, forests, ravines, and hills, in many zigzags, along various roads and paths, constantly changing the direction of the march. I move, as it were, in a circle. After some time, the order is given: return by the shortest route (i.e., the straightest line) to the starting point. Untrained scouts will then scatter in all directions! One must not forget to designate a rallying point (a prominent, easily noticeable feature of the terrain).
This exercise can also be arranged differently. Here is how: on the return, one designated scout leads, while the leader, map in hand, monitors his route without correcting him at all. When the first scout truly gets lost and proceeds, as it were, by feel, the next in line takes over as guide, and so on, until finally one leads the group to the destination. It is also permissible to allow the use of a compass during the march.
Source scan: Polona / National Library of Poland, marked “Public domain”. View scan — PDF pages 68–69.
Metadata
Section titled “Metadata”- Type: game
- Traits: Not stated in the source
- Source: Zygmunt Wyrobek, Harcerz w polu: zabawy i gry terenowe (1946)
- Printed pages: 62–63 / PDF 68–69
- Digital edition: Digital edition · Source record
- Open the edition at the relevant page: p. 62
- Read the source text: hwp-009