Who was Tommy Atkins?

TOMMY ATKINS

In 1815 a War Office publication showing how the Soldier's Pocket Book should be filled out gave as its example one Private Thomas

Atkins, No. 6 Troop, 6th Dragoons. Atkins became a sergeant in the 1837 version, and was now able to sign his name rather than merely

make his mark.

By the 18805 the expression 'Tommy Atkins' was in wide use to describe the prototypical British soldier, and Kipling's poem Tommy

summed up the nation's ambivalence about her defenders.

. . .Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that

an' 'Tommy, 'ows's your soul?'

But it's 'Thin red line of 'eroes'

when the drums begin to roll . . .

. . . For it's Tommy this 'an Tommy that,

an' 'Chuck him out, the brute!'

But it's 'Saviour of 'is country'

When the guns begin to shoot;

An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that,

an' anything you please;

An' Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool —

you bet that Tommy sees

Tommy Atkins source is

Tommy - The British Soldier on the Western Front 1914-1918

by Richard Holmes

Published 2004 by Harper Collins ISBN 0-00-713751-6