Poems and Politics Tommy – Rudyard Kipling

Listening to Elfyn Llwyd's speech to the Plaid Cymru conference on the plight of veterans reminded me of a poem published by Rudyard Kipling over 100 years ago called Tommy. The main refrain of the poem is that Tommy is a hero, a Saviour of 'is country when the guns begin to shoot, but when he is not fighting for Queen and Country he is seen as a right pain in the arse.

During my nursing career I cared for veterans from every conflict in the 20th century, from the Bore War to the second Gulf War. The patients' problems were many and varied, but all of them suffered from the underlying psychological difficulty of coping with the trauma of going from hero to zero.

Soldiers are cheered through the streets on march-pasts, given the freedom of the city, hailed in the tabloids, and then they are demobbed and become just ordinary blokes! That is traumatic in itself and is, of course, added to the traumas that these people have witnessed in the theatres of war.

In his coverage of the Plaid Conference yesterday Adrian Masters suggested that this is not the sort of issue that a nationalist party, like Plaid, might be likely to be seen supporting.

I disagree!

Wales has just under 5% of the UK population, but it has supplied between 8 and 10% of the UK's military personnel every year since at least 1911. There are few Welsh families without a close member who is serving or has served in the Armed Forces. Therefore the care of veterans is a Welsh issue and the care of Welsh vetrans is a nationalist issue, and I am pleased that Plaid has taken this issue on board.

That's the end of the rant. Here is the poem:

I went into a public-'ouse to get a pint o' beer,
The publican 'e up an' sez, "We serve no red-coats here."
The girls be'ind the bar they laughed an' giggled fit to die,
I outs into the street again an' to myself sez I:
O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, go away";
But it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play,
The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,
O it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play.

I went into a theatre as sober as could be,
They gave a drunk civilian room, but 'adn't none for me;
They sent me to the gallery or round the music-'alls,
But when it comes to fightin', Lord! they'll shove me in the stalls!
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, wait outside";
But it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide,
The troopship's on the tide, my boys, the troopship's on the tide,
O it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide.

Yes, makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an' they're starvation cheap;
An' hustlin' drunken soldiers when they're goin' large a bit
Is five times better business than paradin' in full kit.
Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, 'ow's yer soul?"
But it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll,
The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
O it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll.

We aren't no thin red 'eroes, nor we aren't no blackguards too,
But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
An' if sometimes our conduck isn't all your fancy paints,
Why, single men in barricks don't grow into plaster saints;
While it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, fall be'ind",
But it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind,
There's trouble in the wind, my boys, there's trouble in the wind,
O it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind.

You talk o' better food for us, an' schools, an' fires, an' all:
We'll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.
Don't mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face
The Widow's Uniform is not the soldier-man's disgrace.
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!