Andrew Murrison - Tommy This an Tommy That: The military covenant
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I n the spring of 2012, as Britain prepares to celebrate the diamond jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, a monument of Portland stone will be unveiled in Londons Green Park.
Of the 125,000 men that served as aircrew in Bomber Command from 19391945, 55,573 made the ultimate sacrifice. The odds for the men commanded by Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Bomber Harris were worse than those of Haigs young officers in the trenches of the Great War.
No one at that gathering will call to mind the horrors of Dresden and Cologne with any satisfaction, least of all triumphalism. A fair number will harbour doubts that the carpet bombing of German towns and cities with its terrible loss of civilian life was essential to the outcome of the war. But the young men that took to the skies in their perilously vulnerable Lancaster, Halifax, Stirling and Wellington bombers opened up a new front against the very essence of evil as Britain and her family stood alone.
It has taken seven decades for their sacrifice to be marked in their capital city and even now there are those that say the actions of Bomber Command were shameful. Churchills Victory in Europe speech threw laurels at Fighter Command but The Few he eulogised excluded them. No campaign medal or bar for Bomber Command was ever struck and when in 1992 Harriss statue was unveiled outside St Clement Danes on the Strand it was covered in red paint within hours.
But heres a thing. In 1945 a yew tree was planted at Potsdam as Churchill, Truman and Stalin brought retribution to the land of the Third Reich. In an exemplary act of reconciliation a still tortured State that lost half a million to Bomber Command wishes to replant its tree at the memorial to the instrument of its despair.
There can be no doubt that the men of Bomber Command honoured the covenant with every sinew. If their work remains controversial, like that ordered by Britains very different political leadership in 2003, it in no way detracts from their sacrifice.
The lateness of their memorial is a standing rebuke to government and public that did not keep the covenant.
I dedicate this book to them.
Tommy, Departmental Ditties, Barrack Room Ballads and other Verses (New York: United States Book Company, 1890).
I went into a public-ouse to get a pint o beer.
The publican e up and sez, We serve no red-coats here.
The girls behind the bar they laughed an giggled fit to die,
I outs into the street again an to myself sez I:
O its Tommy this, an Tommy that, an Tommy go away;
But its Thank you, Mister Atkins, when the band begins to play,
The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,
O its Thank you, Mr Atkins, when the band begins to play.
I went into a theatre as sober as could be,
They gave a drunk civilian room, but adnt none for me;
They sent me to the gallery or round the music-alls,
But when it comes to fightin, Lord! theyll shove me in the stalls!
For its Tommy this, an Tommy that, an Tommy wait outside;
But its Special train for Atkins when the troopers on the tide,
The troopships on the tide, my boys, the troopships on the tide,
O its Special train for Atkins when the troopers on the tide.
Yes, makin mock o uniforms that guard you while you sleep
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an theyre starvation cheap;
An hustlin drunken soldiers when theyre goin large a bit
Is five times better business than paradin in full kit.
Then its Tommy this, an Tommy that, an Tommy ows yer soul?
But its Thin red line of eroes when the drums begin to roll,
The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
O its Thin red line of eroes, when the drums begin to roll.
We arent no thin red eroes, nor we arent no blackguards too,
But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
An if sometimes our conduck isnt all your fancy paints,
Why, single men in barricks dont grow into plaster saints;
While its Tommy this, an Tommy that, an Tommy, fall beind,
But its Please to walk in front, sir, when theres trouble in the wind,
Theres trouble in the wind, my boys, theres trouble in the wind,
O its Please to walk in front, sir, when theres trouble in the wind.
You talk o better food for us, an schools, an fires, an all:
Well wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.
Dont mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face
The Widows Uniform is not the soldier-mans disgrace.
For its Tommy this, an Tommy that, an Chuck him out, the brute!
But its Saviour of is country when the guns begin to shoot;
An its Tommy this, an Tommy that, an anything you please;
An Tommy aint a bloomin fool you bet that Tommy sees!
Patrick Bishop, Bomber Boys (Harper Press, 2007).
T he military covenant is a special bond of gratitude and commitment between our society and those who put their lives on the line to defend our country. It represents the very best of what it means to be British. Yet its prolonged neglect is profoundly wrong and must be put right. Our brave Armed Forces selflessly sacrifice so much to do their duty by us. The least we can do in return is to do our duty by them and their families.
So it is right that as a country we do everything we can to support and stand by our brave Service men and women. That there is any disadvantage experienced as a result of military service is fundamentally wrong. As this book makes clear, the Service community has never looked for special favours, but it does have a right to a fair deal.
But this is just a start. There are so many ways in which we all, as a society, can show our support for these courageous men and women. Andrew Murrison is right to emphasise the importance of communities as parties to the covenant. The publics moral and practical support for our troops is vital, uniting citizens in a common cause. And it is fundamental to our vision of the Big Society a society based on respect for our Armed Forces, and one in which we all come together to play our part and do our bit.
The Royal British Legion is one organisation that has worked tirelessly for so many years to encourage the nation to honour the covenant. It is fitting that they should be the beneficiary of the royalties from this book.
The conflicts of the twenty-first century have put our Armed Forces centre stage in a way that few anticipated in 1989. With the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War, we allowed ourselves to contemplate the prospect of enduring peace and stability. But Bosnia, Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Iraq, Afghanistan, and most recently Libya, have changed that. The demands of our complex and ever-changing world have refined and reinforced the unique nature of military service and the obligations owed to those that protect us and our national security.
As a result, this analysis of where we are with the military covenant is timely. And Andrew Murrison is uniquely placed to write it, as a serviceman and frontline politician who has been both a practitioner and an observer of the covenant for twenty-five years.
His findings show there is still much work to be done. And we certainly all have a role to play to generate a renewed sense of pride in our military; with a government that looks after our Service men and women and their families; and a country that values them for what they are: the bravest of the brave.
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