What did a scout in 2nd battalion Royal Sussex Regiment do?

[Joey Bee]

Great uncle Private Sidney Henry Bartlett (17546) was a scout from Nov 1917 to Mar 1919 with 2nd battalion Royal Sussex Regiment We have his discharge papers dated 3 april 1919 ( discharged from Gielsdorf, germant). His records do not exist at Kew unfortunately. We have a photo of him on horseback but know nothing about what being a scout entailed. Can anyone enlighten me?

[delta]

The scout was the man who carried out what is known now as reconnaisance; ie goign forward of the main body to identify routes across country, chekcing locatiosn to see if they were free of the enemy or suitable for occupation. A key and trusted man, normally working directly to the unit HQ