page_title: Crimean Tom
section_title: Legacy
hierarchical_section_title: Crimean Tom / Legacy
caption_attribution_description: English: A Welcome Arrival, 1855 Painting of the Crimean War
context_page_description: Crimean Tom was a cat noted for his association with the British Army during the Crimean War. Found by Lieutenant William Gair in Sevastopol after a year-long siege, he is said to have led British forces to valuable caches of hidden supplies that helped ease starvation among the troops. Gair brought Tom back to England after the war but the cat died soon afterwards. He was stuffed and presented to the Royal United Services Institute. A cat bought in a flea market in the 1950s resides in the collection of the National Army Museum and is sometimes described as being Tom, but there is no proof it is the same cat.
context_section_description: Gair had Tom stuffed and presented to the Royal United Services Institution.  A stuffed cat purchased at the Portobello Road market by Lady Faith Compton Mackenzie in the 1950s was identified as Crimean Tom but there is no proof it is the same cat. It was donated to the  National Army Museum in 1958 and is on display there; however, they have not been able to confirm whether or not this is Crimean Tom.  
  Tom has popularly been identified as the cat asleep on a table next to a wood stove in the oil painting A Welcome Arrival, 1855 by John Dalbiac Luard, an 1857 work depicting British officers opening packages sent from home. It has been suggested that Gair is the red-coated figure at the left of the piece. The National Army Museum write, however, that "there is no evidence to substantiate any of these claims".
caption: A Welcome Arrival, 1855, John Dalbiac Luard, 1857
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