tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post1504835525333979752..comments2024-03-23T12:38:46.260+00:00Comments on The History Girls: 'In Praise of Tommy Atkins' by A. L. BerridgeMary Hoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06241989732624913706noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-58093595859918241102017-07-31T18:55:43.076+01:002017-07-31T18:55:43.076+01:00Interesting post and to see the older Happy Famili...Interesting post and to see the older Happy Families cards. I have a more recent 1940s version of your Thomas Atkins Happy Families cards, with no Monday washday drudgery for Mrs Atkins - she's in uniform too! https://wordpress.com/post/manoftinblog.wordpress.com/14202<br />Many best wishes, Mark, Man of TIN blog Mark, Man of TINhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10485063133593455522noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-34692962141293384812012-05-22T00:16:28.713+01:002012-05-22T00:16:28.713+01:00Thanks, Leslie. I find that's often the way - ...Thanks, Leslie. I find that's often the way - that it's the problems that force me away from the conventional, easy path, and torture me till I come up with something more interesting. I suspect I'd be a lot lazier without them.alberridgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15986443240923520466noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-61040474431571276312012-05-21T20:44:45.936+01:002012-05-21T20:44:45.936+01:00I loved the way in which you made it clear that th...I loved the way in which you made it clear that the challenge you had to face made the novel more interesting to write - and read. And it is great to write about the men themselves, who, as you say, really mattered.Leslie Wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15105465949970430998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-9205809712872952602012-05-20T22:56:26.376+01:002012-05-20T22:56:26.376+01:00That's brilliant, Sue! You're so right abo...That's brilliant, Sue! You're so right about POW stories, and I can't actually think of one that doesn't essentially concentrate on the officers - except possibly (IIRC) 'The Great Escape'. I'm so glad you're tackling it.<br /><br />But yes, that's quite a passivity problem - and you're a lot braver than I. Still, something tells me you'll have found a way round it, and I'm really looking forward to seeing how!alberridgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15986443240923520466noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-43252309546290881482012-05-20T22:28:12.081+01:002012-05-20T22:28:12.081+01:00A very powerful post, Louise. I'm writing abou...A very powerful post, Louise. I'm writing about private soldiers who were prisoners in the second world war, and theirs too are voices that you don't often hear. When people think of prisoners, they tend to think of Colditz etc - camps for officers, who were not obliged to work and so had plenty of time to concentrate their efforts on escaping, if they so wished. But as you say, writing about a Tommy does have its difficulties - it can be quite tricky to make someone who's not only a private, but also a prisoner, an active (in the sense of not passive) hero.Sue Purkisshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09084528571944803477noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-90663808337728122752012-05-20T19:17:21.307+01:002012-05-20T19:17:21.307+01:00Katherine - thank you so much. I love the cover to...Katherine - thank you so much. I love the cover too.<br /><br />But a 'horse story' about the Charge is a fantastic idea. There IS a very heartwarming true story I came across when researching this, which I think of as 'The Horse That Came Back'. It's more than that actually - it's a horse that led many of the others home. I used it only briefly in the book, and it really needs someone like you to do it justice.<br /><br />If you think it might interest you, I'll dig it out and send an e-mail.alberridgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15986443240923520466noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-55417471047944933502012-05-20T18:56:24.915+01:002012-05-20T18:56:24.915+01:00It looks like a great book, Louise, congratulation...It looks like a great book, Louise, congratulations! I love that cover.<br /><br />The charge of the Light Brigade is on my "ideas for historical stories involving horses" list (though unlikely ever to become a book, since I can't work out how to do it without making children cry!) so this is obviously one I need to read.Katherine Robertshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17196712319655603442noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-36633925459590983092012-05-20T17:14:16.386+01:002012-05-20T17:14:16.386+01:00Thanks, Adele. Yes, I love that poem. Kipling'...Thanks, Adele. Yes, I love that poem. Kipling's out of fashion now, as if he's somehow been confused with the old colonialism his work did so much to change. Praising common soldiers! Praising the Indian people! The fellah was clearly off his head...alberridgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15986443240923520466noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-23273313026245388052012-05-20T17:12:09.501+01:002012-05-20T17:12:09.501+01:00Hi, Anonymous Simon! Ugh, yes - I'd forgotten ...Hi, Anonymous Simon! Ugh, yes - I'd forgotten that scene. Nothing much seemed to have changed since the days when war was just 'I'll kill your peasants and you kill my peasants, and who kills most wins.'<br /><br />But the Crimea DID start to change things. Officers weren't in distant billets, they were in tents right alongsdie the men, and as the siege drew on they began to get a much clearer idea of what the men suffered.By the end of the war there were some touchingly close bonds.<br /><br />Not that we'd know it from our literature...alberridgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15986443240923520466noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-62646987492568609132012-05-20T13:57:29.082+01:002012-05-20T13:57:29.082+01:00Excellent post, Louise! Love that Kipling poem too...Excellent post, Louise! Love that Kipling poem too.adelehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15826710558292792068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-23544545668455627382012-05-20T12:46:28.739+01:002012-05-20T12:46:28.739+01:00Simon here (excuse the soubriquet).
Yes! Puts me ...Simon here (excuse the soubriquet).<br /><br />Yes! Puts me in mind of the scene in The History Boys about Drummer Hodge, and how they used to sweep up the bones from the battlefield for fertiliser.<br /><br />I think the lierary treatment of later wars has done more justice to the common soldier; no doubt American input has helped (eg The Red Badge of Courage).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-12039055544173921332012-05-20T12:44:19.887+01:002012-05-20T12:44:19.887+01:00Thanks, Mark. I'm quite reasonable and non-ran...Thanks, Mark. I'm quite reasonable and non-ranty really, but it's hard to read letters and diaries of these men and NOT feel aggrieved on their behalf when their only acknowledgement in an officer's diary is 'The men behaved quite well.'<br />Grrrrrrrrr.alberridgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15986443240923520466noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-58299855508549840492012-05-20T12:35:22.998+01:002012-05-20T12:35:22.998+01:00Great post, Louise. I like your rants! And fascina...Great post, Louise. I like your rants! And fascinating about the origins of the British 'Tommy'.Mark Burgesshttp://www.markburgess.co.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-21617628239691679442012-05-20T09:34:39.327+01:002012-05-20T09:34:39.327+01:00Thanks so much, Katherine. I suspect you're ri...Thanks so much, Katherine. I suspect you're right about today's subconscious minds too, though few would dare voice it as openly as Dallas. My jaw just clunked open when I read that line.<br /><br />Thanks, Michelle! I know, I felt myelf getting angry when I wrote it. I've been reading this kind of thing for ages now and trying to see it from the 'normal' perspective of the 19th century, so it was good to stand back and think 'Hang on a minute...'alberridgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15986443240923520466noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-61494170516814718102012-05-20T09:05:28.907+01:002012-05-20T09:05:28.907+01:00Brilliant, Louise. And very angry-making, in a goo...Brilliant, Louise. And very angry-making, in a good way.michelle lovrichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01026972300195225090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-72629405155965891052012-05-20T08:46:09.365+01:002012-05-20T08:46:09.365+01:00What a great post! - can't believe Lt Col Dall...What a great post! - can't believe Lt Col Dallas's remark, yet I fear it's still a mode of thought not yet banished from the subconscious minds of Those In Charge.Katherine Langrishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12529700103932422873noreply@blogger.com