Tommy Atkins Tommy Atkins ( often just Tommy ) is slang for a common soldier in the British Army . It was already well established in the 19th century , but is particularly associated with World War I . It can be used as a term of reference , or as a form of address . German soldiers would call out to " Tommy " across no man ' s land if they wished to speak to a British soldier . French and Commonwealth troops would also call British soldiers " Tommies " . In more recent times , the term Tommy Atkins has been used less frequently , although the name " Tom " is occasionally still heard , especially with regard to paratrooper s . History . " Tommy Atkins " or " Thomas Atkins " has been used as a generic name for a common British soldier for many years . The origin of the term is a subject of debate , but it is known to have been used as early as 1743 . A letter sent from Jamaica about a mutiny amongst the troops says " except for those from N . America ye Marines and Tommy Atkins behaved splendidly " . Tommy , a diminutive of Thomas , has been a very popular English male name since Saint Thomas Becket was martyred in the 12th century . Following the British defeat by the Boers at the Battle of Magersfontein in December 1899 , Private Smith of the Black Watch wrote the following poem : Robert Graves , in his autobiography " Goodbye to All That " ( 1929 ) , states that : " The original ' Thomas Atkins ' was a Royal Welch Fusilier in the American Revolutionary War " . Graves , an officer in the Royal Welch in 1915 , mentions this among other regimental history but does not cite his reference . According to Lieutenant General Sir William MacArthur in an article in the " Army Medical Services Magazine " ( circa 1950 ) , " Tommy Atkins " was chosen as a generic name by the War Office in 1815 . Richard Holmes , in the prologue to " Tommy " ( 2005 ) , states that in : The Oxford English Dictionary states its origin as " arising out of the casual use of this name in the specimen forms given in the official regulations from 1815 onward " ; the citation references " Collection of Orders , Regulations , etc . " , pp . 75 – 87 , published by the War Office , 31 August 1815 . The name is used for an exemplary cavalry and infantry soldier ; other names used included William Jones and John Thomas . Thomas Atkins continued to be used in the " Soldier ' s Account Book " until the early 20th century . A common belief is that the name was chosen by the Duke of Wellington after having been inspired by the bravery of a soldier at the Battle of Boxtel in 1794 during the Flanders Campaign . After a fierce engagement , the Duke , in command of the 33rd Regiment of Foot , spotted the best man - at - arms in the regiment , Private Thomas Atkins , terribly wounded . The private said " It ' s all right , sir . It ' s all in a day ' s work " and died shortly after . A further suggestion was given in 1900 by an army chaplain named Reverend E . J . Hardy . He wrote of an incident during the Sepoy Rebellion in 1857 . When most of the Europeans in Lucknow were fleeing to the British Residency for protection , a private of the 32nd Regiment of Foot remained on duty at an outpost . Despite the pleas of his comrades , he insisted that he must remain at his post . He was killed at his post , and the Reverend Hardy wrote that " His name happened to be Tommy Atkins and so , throughout the Mutiny Campaign , when a daring deed was done , the doer was said to be ' a regular Tommy Atkins ' " . Rudyard Kipling published the poem " Tommy " ( part of the " Barrack - Room Ballads " , which were dedicated " To T . A . " ) in 1892 , and in 1893 the music hall song " Private Tommy Atkins " was published with words by Henry Hamilton and music by S . Potter . In 1898 William McGonagall wrote " Lines in Praise of Tommy Atkins " , which was an attack on what McGonagall saw as the disparaging portrayal of Tommy in Kipling ' s poem . It is also said that the name " Tommy Atkins " was the example name on conscription sheets during the First World War , and that teenagers who were underage often signed up as " Tommy Atkins " . " Tommy cooker " was a nickname for a British soldier ' s portable stove , which was fuelled by solidified alcohol , making it smokeless but very inefficient . It also a German nickname for the Sherman tank during the Second World War , because of its tendency to burst into flames if the petrol engine was hit . Today ' s soldier is nicknamed ( within the Army ) " Tom " , and the British Army magazine " Soldier " features a cartoon strip character called Tom . The last Tommy . On 25 July 2009 , the death of the last " " Tommy " " from World War I , Harry Patch ( at 111 the oldest man in the United Kingdom and also in Europe ) , left Claude Choules as the last serviceman of the British forces in World War I . There was a growing opinion that the passing of the last of them should be marked in an appropriate manner . This was the subject of a cross party campaign led by the politician Iain Duncan Smith . It was originally proposed that the last veteran to die should be given a state funeral . However , this met with opposition from the veterans themselves , few of whom wanted to be singled out in this way . As of 28 June 2006 , it was decided that a service at Westminster Abbey would be held upon the death of the last veteran .