can any one tell me why British soldiers were called Tommy's by the German in both the 1st and 2nd world war?

Answer 1

Tommy Atkins has been used as a generic name for a common soldier for many years. The precise origin is a subject of debate, but it is known to have been used as early as 1743. A letter sent from Jamaica about a mutiny amongst the troops says "except for those from N. America (mostly Irish Papists) ye Marines and Tommy Atkins behaved splendidly".

Robert Graves, in his autobiography Goodbye to All That (1929), states that: "The original 'Thomas Atkins' was a Royal Welch Fusilier in [the American War of Independence]". Graves was an officer in the Royal Welch in 1915, and mentions this among other regimental history, but does not cite his reference. [1]

According to Lieutenant General Sir William MacArthur, in an article in the Army Medical Services Magazine (circa 1950), "Tommy Atkins" was chosen as a generic name by the War Office in 1815.

Richard Holmes, in the prologue to Tommy (2005) [2], states that 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."
No source is provided for this statement.

The Oxford English Dictionary states its origin as "arising out of the casual use of this name in the specimen forms given in the official regulations from 1815 onward"; the citation references Collection of Orders, Regulations, etc., p.75-87, published by the War Office, August 31 1815. The name is used for an exemplar cavalry and infantry soldier; other names used included William Jones and John Thomas.

A common belief is that the name was chosen by the Duke of Wellington having been inspired by the bravery of a soldier at the Battle of Boxtel in 1794. After a fierce engagement, the Duke, in command of the 33rd Regiment of Foot, spotted the best man-at-arms in the regiment, Private Thomas Atkins, terribly wounded. The Private said "It's all right sir. It's all in a day's work" and died shortly after.

A further suggestion was given in 1900 by an army chaplain named Reverend E. J. Hardy. He wrote of an incident during the Sepoy Rebellion in 1857. When most of the Europeans in Lucknow were fleeing to the British Residency for protection, a private of the 32nd Regiment of Foot remained on duty at an outpost. Despite the pleas of his comrades he insisted that he must remain at his post. He was killed at his post and the Reverend Hardy wrote that "His name happened to be Tommy Atkins and so, throughout the Mutiny Campaign, when a daring deed was done, the doer was said to be 'a regular Tommy Atkins'".

Rudyard Kipling published the poem Tommy (part of the Barrack Room Ballads - themselves dedicated "To T.A.") in 1892, and in 1893 the music hall song Private Tommy Atkins was published with words by Henry Hamilton and music by S. Potter. In 1898 William McGonagall wrote Lines In Praise of Tommy Atkins, which was an attack on what McGonagall saw as the disparaging portrayal of Tommy in Kipling's poem.

The British were still called Tommies by the Germans in World War II. The phrase — "for you Tommy the War is over!" — has become a stock phrase, expressed by a German upon the capture of a British soldier or airman. They also nicknamed the Sherman tanks which were out-gunned and poorly armoured compared to German tanks and which ran on petrol so tended to "brew-up" (catch fire) easily, "Tommy cookers".

Answer 2

'Tommy', short for 'Tommy Atkins' has been used as a word for British soldiers since 1743 (a long time before Tommy guns came into use ;) ).

The origins of the phrase are unclear but but 'Tommy Atkins' was used in a letter in 1743, and then again in a war office publication in 1815 where the name 'Tommy Atkins' was used as an example of how to fill out the 'Soldiers Pocket Book' correctly.

There are other suggestions about where the word originated from, for more information check out the links below (under 'source')

Answer 3

The British soldiers called themselves Tommies - not the Germans, although the Germans may have picked it up, too. The name pre-dates the Thompson machine gun by many years -going back to the time of the "Raj". The full name is Tommy Atkins and was used sort of like our "John Doe" as a model on official Army forms. One of the most famous uses was in a poem called "Tommy Atkins" by Rudyard Kipling about how soldiers are only appreciated during wartime and forgotten afterward. As a side note, the Oxford English Dictionary is a great place to find things like the first occurrence and meaning of words. It's huge, but most libraries have access to the on-line version.

Answer 4

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RE:
can any one tell me why British soldiers were called Tommy's by the German in both the 1st and 2nd world war?

Answer 5

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There are many reasons why the slaughter stopped. 1. Taking it out on the Germans would mean even more deaths for the British military. 2. The victor has to know when to call off the dogs, unless they become exactly what they were trying to stop. Imagine if the Americans continued to kill indians even after Wounded Knee. 3. The Germans and the British go back a looong way. In fact, the British Royal Family have German ancestors. France and the United States also have huge numbers of people of Germanic descent. Many people from allied nations still have relatives living in Germany, and would not have approved killing their forefathers' homeland. 4. Many people in Germany have British and French ancestors. The people of Europe have a history that is too interwoven. You can thank the Roman Empire for linking them together. 5. Many Germans, like Field Marshall (the Desert Fox) Rommel, were never members of the Nazi Party, and were not at fault.

Answer 6

The British Army rule book is called Queen's Regulations. It includes various examples of how to fill in forms. In each example, the soldier's name is Thomas Atkins. British foot soldiers have been called Tommies since Victorian times.

Answer 7

British soldiers were called "Tommies" by the Australians, a reference to "Thomas Atkins", the first name that the Duke of Wellington entered into the first British army sample soldier's pay-book.

So to answer your question... the gerries called the brits tommies coz the Aussies had already labeled the brits tommies

Answer 8

From 'Tommy Atkins', and archetypical British private soldier (Considered to be a typical British working class name)
It's use predates WW1 - cf Rudyard Kippling 'It's Tommy this and Tommy that, and Tommy where's your soul? But it's "Thin red line of 'eros, when the drums begin to roll"'

Answer 9

Tommy Atkins was also the name printed on the example of the form they had fill in and sign in order to 'sign up'.
The tommy gun is just a corruption of thompsn machine gun.

Answer 10

As a matter of fact, the use of "Tommy" to mean a British soldier goes all the way back to the early 1800s, and is actually short for "Thomas Atkins." And who, one might ask, was Thomas Atkins to have his name immortalized in such fashion? Simple -- he was the British Army's equivalent of our "John Doe." Starting in 1815, British Army manuals and regulation books used "Thomas Atkins" as the example name, especially for privates, on most specimen forms. By the time they got through basic training, soldiers had seen the name "Thomas Atkins" a thousand times, and within a few years "Tommy Atkins" or just "Tommy" had been adopted in both military and civilian life as a synonym for "rank and file soldier."


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