Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-03-26
Htisestlansuus gsaains.
THOMAS ATKINS.
How His Name Came to Be Applied to
the British Soldier.

nickname of the ordinary British pri
/ yate soldier, In much the same man
ner that the term jack-tar Is applied
to the bluejacket. His deeds Of glor!
have been honored and his virtues
sung in no stinted fashion; still, wht
Is this Thomas Atkins, and how die
he come by the name-if such an in
dividual ever existed? The genera
impression-for nine people out o.
ten will say so-is that no such per-
son ever existed in the flesh; in fact
that a war Office clerk created Uul
friend by placing his name at the END
Of an official document as an example
for filling in the said form. There
is good ground, however, for the be-
lief that Thomas Atkins, although hi:
name became originally notorious ir
consequence Of its association with c
certain specimen Of army form, he die
actually live, move, and have his be.
ing.
In a short article contributed some
years ago to a service magazine 9
writer claimed to have discovered the
original hero, with short enumera-
ton Of his services and vicissitudes
In an official document dated January
1880. The pretender to the honored
name Of Thomas Atkins was born
about 1889 near Portsmouth, and
taking the bait of the Kings shilling
enlisted in 1906 in the 5th, now the
Northumberland Fusiliers, with which
distinguished regiment he served In
the Peninsula in the battles Of Roleia,
Vimiero and Corunna, shared in the
misfortunes Of the fever-stricken ex-
pedition to Walcheren, and was
wounded in the leg in the crownins
victory of Waterloo, rising by merit
and merit alone to the honored posi-
ton of sergeant-major. Pride, it is
said, precedes fall, and to that cause
is attributed our hero's fall, for in
1920 he was deprived Of his chevrons
and reduced to the ranks as the re-
suit Of trial by court-martial. He
was eventually discharged as SER
geant, to which rank he had again
worked his way, in 1929, as perma-
nently unfit for service. On discharge
he was described as IT. 10 in. in
height, bald, and having gray eyes, a
sallow complexion and scar on his
left hand.
This is all very interesting so far
as 1t goes, but it is no proof whatever
that Thomas Atkins, Of the 5th Foot,
was 'the" Thomas Atkins Of proven
bial celebrity, for there must have
been then, as there are now, many
who could rejoice in so honored a
name. A writer in the Western
Morning News in 1898 claimed the
honor for a rifleman. According to
him the green jacket attained noto-
riety about the year 1S45, near which
date an authorized pattern ledger was
introduced for soldiers accounts
with headings and all trading items
printed; much to the relief Of pay-ser-
geants, who had always been required
to enter everything in manuscript
The introduction Of printed ledgers
had not been attempted in some reg
iments, but all general officers had
not agreed in accepting them at their
Inspections The new ledger had q
model form Of a completed account
pasted inside the cover, and this bore
the signature Thomas Atkins" with
that of "a. ]. Lawrence, captain, D
showing that it had emanated from
that distinguished corps, the Rifle
Brigade, in which presumably the
original then served as a private
This claim would be admissible enough
but for the date being so recent.
1t is we'll known that early in the
nineteenth century soldiers accounts
were anything but we'll kept, and
that the monthly settlements Of pay
were very irregularly made. Sudden
ly there arose in the Royal Regiment
Of Artillery a genius in the person OF
a gunner Of the name Of Thomas At
kins, evidently a born accountant
Gunner Atkins had taken a good deal
to heart the grievances under which
the private soldier suffered, particu-
larly in regard to his accounts, for he
had more than once been made tC
suffer in his own pocket by the craft
and subtlety of the pay-sergeant
Gunner Atkins made his appearance
at the beginning Of the nineteenth
century, and soon became an object
Of admiration to his comrades and
Of awe on the part Of the pay ser.
geant. He started a book in which
he balanced his accounts monthly
and so is believed to have originated
the idea Of soldiers pocket ledger
or as it was called in the Royal Ar.
tillery, a Tommy Atkins" There i:
no doubt that the account book OF
soldiers pocket ledger, was generally
known by that name in the regiment
and 1t is equally true that there wa:
serving in the Royal Artillery at the
time stated a gunner Of the name Of
Thomas Atkins, whose method o.
keeping his accounts was honored b!
general adoption in the service. Ant
in the absence of stronger claiman
to the distinction there can be little
harm in conceding to the Royal Regi
ment the honor of having produced
the original Of the familiar title b!
which that fine fighting man, the
British soldier, is affectionatelI
known to the British public. Allow
ing his faults and his failings, they
are admittedly outweighed by hi!
virtues. Follow the growth Of thu
British as a military power to the time
of it's first manifestation at Crecy, ant
onward to the supreme day Of Agin'
court; then, through the decay under
the blight of the Wars Of the Roses
to the revival under the Tudors, ant
to the training in foreign schools
which prepared the way for the new
model and the standing army, will
it's subsequent glorious record, thu
British soldier through all the changes
of the art of war, will be found un