Simply the best military poem ever written. \u00a0Any soldier that does not know their Kipling should be ashamed of themselves and endeavour to correct that failure as soon as possible.<\/p>\n
I went into a public-‘ouse to get a pint o’ beer,
\nThe publican ‘e up an’ sez, “We serve no red-coats here.”
\nThe girls be’ind the bar they laughed an’ giggled fit to die,
\nI outs into the street again an’ to myself sez I:
\nO it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Tommy, go away”;
\nBut it’s “Thank you, Mister Atkins”, when the band begins to play,
\nThe band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,
\nO it’s “Thank you, Mister Atkins”, when the band begins to play.<\/p>\nI went into a theatre as sober as could be,
\nThey gave a drunk civilian room, but ‘adn’t none for me;
\nThey sent me to the gallery or round the music-‘alls,
\nBut when it comes to fightin’, Lord! they’ll shove me in the stalls!
\nFor it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Tommy, wait outside”;
\nBut it’s “Special train for Atkins” when the trooper’s on the tide,
\nThe troopship’s on the tide, my boys, the troopship’s on the tide,
\nO it’s “Special train for Atkins” when the trooper’s on the tide.<\/p>\nYes, makin’ mock o’ uniforms that guard you while you sleep
\nIs cheaper than them uniforms, an’ they’re starvation cheap;
\nAn’ hustlin’ drunken soldiers when they’re goin’ large a bit
\nIs five times better business than paradin’ in full kit.
\nThen it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Tommy, ‘ow’s yer soul?”
\nBut it’s “Thin red line of ‘eroes” when the drums begin to roll,
\nThe drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
\nO it’s “Thin red line of ‘eroes” when the drums begin to roll.<\/p>\nWe aren’t no thin red ‘eroes, nor we aren’t no blackguards too,
\nBut single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
\nAn’ if sometimes our conduck isn’t all your fancy paints,
\nWhy, single men in barricks don’t grow into plaster saints;
\nWhile it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Tommy, fall be’ind”,
\nBut it’s “Please to walk in front, sir”, when there’s trouble in the wind,
\nThere’s trouble in the wind, my boys, there’s trouble in the wind,
\nO it’s “Please to walk in front, sir”, when there’s trouble in the wind.<\/p>\nYou talk o’ better food for us, an’ schools, an’ fires, an’ all:
\nWe’ll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.
\nDon’t mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face
\nThe Widow’s Uniform is not the soldier-man’s disgrace.
\nFor it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Chuck him out, the brute!”
\nBut it’s “Saviour of ‘is country” when the guns begin to shoot;
\nAn’ it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ anything you please;
\nAn’ Tommy ain’t a bloomin’ fool — you bet that Tommy sees!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Simply the best military poem ever written. \u00a0Any soldier that does not know their Kipling should be ashamed of themselves and endeavour to correct that failure as soon as possible. Tommy By Rudyard Kipling I went into a public-‘ouse to… Continue Reading →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"quote","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[88,1226],"tags":[435,100,924],"class_list":["post-4820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-quote","hentry","category-campaigns-operations","category-non-historical-asides","tag-kipling","tag-rambles","tag-tommy","post_format-post-format-quote"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.military-history.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4820","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.military-history.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.military-history.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.military-history.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.military-history.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4820"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.military-history.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4820\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21161,"href":"https:\/\/www.military-history.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4820\/revisions\/21161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.military-history.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.military-history.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.military-history.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}