TOMMY ATKINS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11805, 16 September 1916, Page 7

TOMMY ATKINS.

AS FORMERS SEE HIM. (By A LADY WHO LIVES IN i-EAIWK.) Great was the excitement and high were the expectations in fair France when the news of the arrival of the British Expeditionary Corps went round. So the English had really come, and the Entente Cordiale was to be materialised by shoulder-to-?houider lighting! What might these sons oi' Britain be like and how were they lo understand their lingo? "Would they, ail drink tea at five o'clock and refuse lo light on .Sunday? Doubts and quer- ; i;:s were satisfied however in the first i tew weeks of comradeship. A fine ] understanding was reached and u firm 1 friendship sealed between the Piouj piou and Tommy. What, however, were the popular ideas in France upon our Army before the war came to make ihe matter clear? And what even now is tho accepted view on such things as our penchaut'lor sport, our Saturdays and wo 'k-ends, our liberty of thought , and action? CARICATURES. One has only to examine some such publication as " Le Hire," and the . jocular observations it lias made since 1 August, 1914, to come to the lollowmg 1 ccndpsious. ' .Every British soldier is prodigiously lanky, muscular, * bonv, long-to caned, and clean-shaven in tho. popular French imagination, .lie i ; nioki:-r constantly (even in action!) a big reeking pipe. If he is a Scotsman, his baie knees aro conspicuous from afar, and his spats and stockings dwindle down to somewhere about his ankles. He is a jolly, ranting fellow—thanks to Tipperary—whose connection with the war by the way is still the subject of heated conversation in cafes and elsewhere. In Paris, it is true, the sense i of the song has been fairly grasped, i for a translation of sorts has boon • made. It is not sung so much by the ; French soldiers as by music-hall artists. I who make it a, culminating point for ; demonstrations on the part of the audience of their interest in and sympathy ' for the-Allies. in the provinces, how- | ever, it is looked on as an unusually | artistic production, although its patrii ot'c .sentiment h 1 not clear! Tf yen ask a Frenchman what strikes ! him about oir- he almost- ' infallibly answers. " The way thov carry footballs about with them and have' j n tho intervals »'>f* fighting." This d»-n <nds. I a'wavs think, a narrvuinrh' -•tre-M.' rind convincing defence, • for. f u r- :'-'t; iu mint rf view, rovi-»' i• •• ' -d ruid an unfavourable ! i ,••• •••' ( Mr troon.-,' action uni.** i Tl'i*»•: SPIRIT i '! ' T \XDIATES THE : " I/-5. j The fact is that in Britain have ! our own and a Frenchman's feeling for this »var. Our country ha.s iiappilv not ' -v hi en invaded. •; ntl ■ m;f men are not "out. as ato'T.l:e French and Belgian soldiers, to wrest thfuv f allvrland from the German clutch. Our liotnes have not been ruined, our relatives have net been slain. In short, we are not a;- a>3 army seeking tne individual revenge ihv.t is hoped ;or ic- ! dav by our A 'lies-. i This is far from meaning t'uit mv i soldiers are indifferent —perch rna i thought! But what mint be wade ! ficar* to the 'average French and fleli gian citizen is that Britain onme into | tho war to uph«kl the principle of libj e' - tv for all.'' The personal is sunk in the universal. Ar. of yore, we are a ! nation of theorists, idealists and humnnitarnnis. But"' tho indulgence, n not peri tic <eo«i. that whs mrrrtT.y meted cut. to i'-; in recognition m - u ,• iona; t'"i-:!in.it i, "»'- ha:; '.•(.••vO'ii'.* I tier*

a seniiyicnl of warmest admiration and of heartiest approval. (Jnv idealism is now a mat-tei* ;tor profound thnnklulncvs and pru ipo. j it, doe-; not follow, for all that, the gay ligiiti.ea r todnes- _ of. Tommy Atkins has always boon understood. it c: must reiterate for yet a long while trie fact that ho and his pals are, ra the overwhelming majority cf ease?, voluntary combatants and avengers. not in the first place of their own flesh anu blood, but of thai of innocent yictii-is to Germany's lust for power. m t.uthcy differ' from the Russians, brsncn and Belgians. . Contrary to the general idea fujroad, Tomrnv does not in reality lock on tlm war as the finest sport be ha« enJoyed." if bv sport more recreation, ; nlivsicn 1 exercise competition and e\I citing risk are implied. His «;hoerji ness * and • disregard oi danger _couie i mainly from the entire absence of ymi clictive personam ar.iipatiiv to a\-< «»... | He knows that bis motive > a K-ny i one, and his cause sublime. - 0 "'" ! hall on his back is a symbol ol lauU-s----i ness of action and the purity ot ms m- [ titude. . , A very material cause for wonder, ! admiration, and--! may say it, since it i T ,., u .—- ( -rivv among Fueneh, i-»;v.rian I and'ltalian soldiers, is the equipment 1 and rations of our men. it_is not that •the former lack the .necessities oi me in time of campaign. Bir: bv common consent the British arc aniajucreu to have stores, arms, and military uniform that could not easily be improved upon! As for the way tliey ate ted. e.g., the allowances cf jam, tr.'-li vegetables and butter, oui>French cousins say it is lordly in compori on w.th tlie. more monotonous and inigal rations of their own soldiers. 1 »\o scale 'of payment, n« is widely adi mits of no comparison: j "Ihis calls for a double comment. On j the one hard, t he so-called over-ex"ei'- ; ous food supplies oi: iho JkritiMi !enu colour to, 1 ho prevalent. CoMtkienta! idea thai we are an extravagant race. The inhabitants of x tfce villages behind the front held by our troop.', are genuinely profiting by the staph:- of teed, for Tommy does, not hesitate *. a way the " bully " or other at-vi'de.-, oi diet' for which he has no immedia 1 e use. Tine to our national re,"),; Union for largesse, he docs iiei; imgglo oi i insist upon an exchange, 1 I, for one, am glad we are iiuv> t'nt. 1 although i have heard it made tae.su;;' joct of adverse criticism. Por-onnU.v, I prefer to think of B-rita'-n' sinair.g on ; the side ol piodigah.y rather than on the side of parsimony and uvanness. r The second imminent is tuis. We happen to be genuinely rich a-, a nalion. How rich. how happy, and hre,\ free one does not realise until one inav for a lengthen; (1 period or. th-> Continent. We can afford that certain wastefulness that is botrAVtd by flu; standard of' com fort: uniformly niaiiiftiined amoiig oin' w.pcditktnary eo.-p-.. We may talk glibly ov the luxury-lov-ing brunch, biu it is a fab'e with om-,-.i< 1.• • ■ ?1 • stupidity as /bw soun.e. F,nisi imv an- i.-pe«d thrift if voii libut the natkuv- most oinphaiicaliy no! Once rioro it must be repeated it iiu- Fron'-u are hard-tvnrkin;--:. < il living people. It is we who are vs oil <>a and gnievou.Jy iit«*linr»l. Tr is w" v/he enn afford to cease the labour oi making our living at midday, on Saturday nrd recommence on Monday. Oil i;ie Continent one works on through Sunday forenoon ! THE CAUSE OF A SMILE. 'Mr Atkins, therefore, ye'lecL- :oothmg but credit on his nation fiom the .points of view so far considered. When, one may ask, is his contribution to the gaiety of trench life, and what are the (foibles and peci-.t'turiii •• that cause a smile among onlr.i her.-, m other lands? "Punch" i; not s'fue ,ni his appreciation of Iho liu:t:cHj< in warfare. ' Le .litre'' an-1 " .v > j'oilua" {Pari'-;), ,{ Simplicrir.iv-- • ' The IKb : i 'a-i '' ((V-rni.:n ■ i i . .Nucyls y-'i'ii'iee-u ilVtr-'. ;• .••••>

the New Yorjt i; Star " arc tome of the papers that note from time to_ time in a. woll-cxocntod caricature Britain's share in what littlo-amusement may l>e risible during tho present workd cri.- i.-:. it. with the embarrassment of our soldiers at. the welcome they met with in Belgium and Franco; Titers was flie plight of a young private, duly chronicled' in tho 'French Press, whose last butt-en had been cut rir by a iair admirer;. It bad been the mainstay of his nether garments for some time, and now ho Mas rol:bed of his only hope and stay! There was the chivalrous f-lighliin'doiv 'toe, who tried to rceoneik' his desire to oblige with his natural modesty, lint as the scene was the Bois do Boulogne, and his questioner e. vivacious Paru-.ienno, keenly mteiesied in the mode of wearing a kilt, he had to make a bolt for it tu pre',-out his bin he: from being seen., LitJr- ;n il-; supposed to he typical of Ait-rio-Noion ylnsique, like a long .-{Mr! ■ i-r.i;::;y nock aep:. .r. he; above en e;ieui u- Oa.iy, are mau • much 01, am; faithfully 'iiiuL-ued from paper to paper. Our hard heads, almost t'ti-c-rackable by projectiles, form a frequent sour'-e of iesi. As for the Scotsman and his whisky bottle !" A SUBJECT OF PJtMCULE. A iavourite subject for ridicule in German and Austrian papers is _ the h.cterogeiieous liaturo oi the British Army. We. are said to bo opposing their hirdi human* culture by nlear.a of ferocious and uncivilised fighters. In , one group are shown, as of iiritisii ant i-cultuie. a Japanese witu a pi.-siol. a. .Hod ii.dian with a tomahawk. a Hindu with his knife, a with a boomerang, and a ulu with his axe: Surely our iocs cannot think they alarm anyone but themselves by such a drawing. v Sueh attentions as these paid to us by cur critics appear net only in the illustrated panels. A glance into the saop windows of a neutral country like Spain, such as I had in early spring, - • v.-, th." existence of a multitude of picture post cards (many hailing from Germany) that show the conquests made by our officers in Parisian hannt'.. For example, littie shop girls end ballot d:;ncers are depicted as embracing the most distinguished of >.r ,it •• 1 ,-r.ci military personages. Young Englishmen are drawn either ; s , hno-'er;!, :inn*:jiic youths, or as pampered, bloated individuals of suspiciously Gorman contour bring offered ma-t-rid inducements to recruit and "• have a game of war." But a complete enumeration would be impossible. -Enough perhaps has heoii said to show the spirit of our critic-- and to f.dvc e.n impression of the not- unfavourable portrait oi Tommy Atkiiis that is popularly accepted abroad. , j rrrrrr=====