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What does Tommy Atkins mean?
Where did the name Tommy Atkins come from?
Was Tommy Atkins a reference to a specific person?
Who was the original 'Tommy Atkins'?
‘Tommy Atkins’ or just ‘Tommy’ is best known to us as the generic name of British soldiers in the First World War, but is that where the name originated? Like ‘John Smith’, ‘John Doe’ or just the ubiquitous ‘ Jack ‘, Tommy Atkins may or may not have been a reference to a specific person.
Tommy Atkins (often just Tommy) is slang for a common soldier in the British Army. It was well established during the nineteenth century, but is particularly associated with the First World War. It can be used as a term of reference, or as a form of address.
Feb 15, 2023 · “Tommy Atkins” and everyone known to history as Tommy Atkins had a distinguished career in the British military. During the Sepoy Rebellion in India in 1857, a soldier of the 32d Regiment of Foot remained at his post when most others already fled.
- Blake Stilwell
Mar 23, 2020 · It is short for Tommy Atkins, and the word’s history, both purported and real, pulls in both the great, i.e., the Duke of Wellington, and the small, i.e., an example of how to fill out a government form correctly. As mentioned, Tommy is slang for a British private soldier.
This is just one explanation* for the origin of the term ‘Tommy Atkins’, now used to refer to a common soldier in the British army. The term was used quite widely, and indeed rather contemptuously, in the mid 19th century.
Tommy Atkins is slang for a common soldier in the British Army. It was well established during the nineteenth century, but is particularly associated with the First World War. It can be used as a term of reference, or as a form of address.
Tommy Atkins. A British soldier. The term originated in manuals once sent to British soldiers, in which the name used as an example was "Tommy Atkins" (as opposed to "John Doe"). In his younger years, my grandfather was a Tommy Atkins.
