Claim:
MI5, the U.K.’s domestic security agency, initially utilized Boy Scouts as World War I messengers but later swapped them out for Girl Guides because the Boy Scouts proved too disruptive and less dependable.
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<p dir="ltr"><span>A viral piece of trivia frequently shared across social media platforms like Instagram, X, Facebook, Bluesky, and Reddit asserts that British intelligence once turned away teenage Boy Scouts for being too loud, placing their trust in Girl Guides for sensitive message delivery instead.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Archival documentation from MI5—specifically a historical report detailing the agency's organization and administration between 1900 and 1919—confirms that Boy Scouts were brought on as internal messengers starting in October 1914. However, administrators quickly found the youths "very troublesome" due to their penchant for finding "mischief" during lulls in their duties. Consequently, the agency transitioned to employing Girl Guides, who were noted as being significantly more "amenable" (pages 40–41).</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>This sentiment was echoed decades later by former MI5 Director General Jonathan Evans during an October 2009 address, where he characterized the early Boy Scout messengers as "feckless and noisy" while praising their Girl Guide successors as far more reliable. Given that official administrative records and leadership accounts both substantiate these behavioral differences, the claim is verified as accurate.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr">The official MI5 report referencing the deployment of Girl Guides is cataloged at the U.K.'s National Archives and dates back to 1921. </p>
<p dir="ltr">The historical text elaborates on the transition away from the Boy Scouts:</p>
<blockquote><p>Boys were, however, found to be very troublesome. The considerable periods of inactivity which fell to their share usually resulted in their getting into mischief. When, therefore, the system of employing boys as coast watchers was introduced by the Admiralty, the boys employed by M.O.5. were advised to take up this work; outdoor work being much more fitted to their energy. Arrangements were then made to replace the Boy Scouts with Girl Guides and the results were most satisfactory. The girls proved more amenable and their methods of getting into mischief were on the whole less distressing to those who had to deal with them than were those of the boys.</p></blockquote>
<p dir="ltr">For context, MI5 operated under the designation M.O.5 until 1916.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>According to the historical documentation, Girl Guides served within the intelligence agency continuously from September 1915 through January 1920.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr">In 2023, Girlguiding U.K. honored these young women with a specialized commemorative badge. Their records indicate that roughly 90 guides, ranging from 14 to 16 years old, fulfilled duties for the security service throughout World War I. </p>
<p dir="ltr">Historian Janie Hampton details the rigorous daily routine of these youthful couriers in her book, *How the Girl Guides Won the War: An Extraordinary True Story and Social History of WWII Britain*:</p>
<blockquote><p dir="ltr">Before a Guide could start work at MI5, she had to sign a contract confirming that she had permission from both of her parents and the Guide Captain who had recommended her. She pledged with her honour not to read the papers she carried, and was paid ten shillings a week for fifty hours of work, with only a short lunch break. The Guides' working day began at 9 a.m. and finished at 7 p.m., and as well as carrying messages they were responsible for keeping inkpots filled. Some were also trained to clean and repair typewriters.</p></blockquote>
<p dir="ltr">The ten-shilling note was officially withdrawn from circulation in 1970 and superseded by the 50-pence coin. Adjusting for inflation, a weekly wage of ten shillings in 1915 holds a modern purchasing power equivalent of roughly £45.91.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The War Office held these young women in such high regard that a detachment was eventually dispatched to France alongside the British delegation for the Paris Peace Conference. Hampton notes that sixteen Ranger Guides were even granted the distinction of witnessing the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in June 1919.</p>