TOMMY ATKINS, WAR OFFICE REFORM AND THE SOCIAL AND CULTURAL PRESENCE OF THE LATE-VICTORIAN ARMY IN BRITAIN, C.1868 – 1899 By EDWARD PETER JOSHUA GOSLING A thesis submitted to Plymouth University in partial fulfilment for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Arts and Humanities Doctoral Training Centre July 2015 This copy of the thesis has been supplied on the condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognise that its copyright rests with its author and that no quotation from the thesis and no information derived from it may be published without the author’s prior consent. TOMMY ATKINS, WAR OFFICE REFORM AND THE SOCIAL AND CULTURAL PRESENCE OF THE LATE-VICTORIAN ARMY IN BRITAIN C.1868 – 1899 Edward Peter Joshua Gosling This thesis examines the development of the soldier in late-Victorian Britain in light of the movement to rehabilitate the public image of the ordinary ranks initiated by the Cardwell-Childers Reforms. Venerated in popular culture, Tommy Atkins became a symbol of British imperial strength and heroism. Socially, however, attitudes to the rank-and-file were defined by a pragmatic realism purged of such sentiments, the likes of which would characterise the British public’s relationship with their army for over thirty years. Scholars of both imperial culture and the Victorian military have identified this dual persona of Tommy Atkins, however, a dedicated study into the true nature of the soldier’s position has yet to be undertaken. The following research will seek to redress this omission. The soldier is approached through the perspective of three key influences which defined his development. The first influence, the politics of the War Office, exposes a progressive series of schemes which, cultivated for over a decade, sought to redefine the soldier through the popularisation of military service and the professionalisation of the military’s public relations strategy and apparatus. A forgotten component of the Cardwell-Childers Reforms, the schemes have not before been scrutinised. Despite the ingenuity of the schemes devised, the social rehabilitation of the soldier failed, primarily, it will be argued, because the government refused to improve his pay. The public’s response to the Cardwell-Childers Reforms and the British perception of the ordinary soldier in the decades following their introduction form the second perspective. Through surveys of the local and London press and mainstream literature, it is demonstrated the soldier, in part as a result of the reforms, underwent a social transition, precipitated by his entering the public consciousness and encouraged by a resulting fascination in the military life. The final perspective presented in this thesis is from within the rank-and-file itself. Through the examination of specialist newspaper, diary and memoir material the direct experiences of the soldiers themselves are explored. Amid the extensive public and political discussion of their nature and status, the soldier also engaged in the debate. The perspective of the rank-and-file provides direct context for the established perspectives of the British public and the War Office, but also highlights how the soldier both supported and opposed the reforms and was acutely aware of the social status he possessed. This thesis will examine the public and political treatment of the soldier in the late-nineteenth century and question how far the conflicting ideas of soldier-hero and soldier-beggar were reconciled. CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AUTHOR’S DECLARATION INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION 1 HISTORIOGRAPHY I: MILITARY HISTORY 4 HISTORIOGRAPHY II: IMPERIAL STUDIES 9 HISTORIOGRAPHY III: LITERARY CRITICISM 16 POPULAR CULTURE AND THE PORTER-MACKENZIE DEBATE 19 RESEARCH QUESTIONS 23 METHODOLOGIES 26 SCOPE AND SOURCES 29 CONCLUSION 32 SECTION I: THE WAR OFFICE PERSPECTIVE CHAPTER 1. THE REFORMS BEGIN: EDWARD CARDWELL, RADICAL REFORM AND ROYAL COMMISSIONS, 1868 – 1879 INTRODUCTION 34 THE WAR OFFICE AND THE RECRUITING CRISIS 36 CARDWELL ENTERS THE WAR OFFICE 39 THE ARMY ENLISTMENT ACT AND THE LOCALISATION ACTS 42 CARDWELL AND THE ORDINARY SOLDIER 48 THE REFORMS TAKE ROOT: HARDY AND STANLEY, 1874 - 1879 51 THE TAILOR COMMISSION, 1875 56 THE ARMSTRONG COMMISSION, 1878 61 CONCLUSION 66 CHAPTER 2. RESCUE AND REINFORCEMENT: THE AIREY COMMISSION 1879 – 1880 INTRODUCTION 68 THE AIREY COMMISSION, 1879 – 1880 70 THE COMMISSION IS APPOINTED 72 THE CARDWELL REFORMS UNDER SCRUTINY 75 RECRUITMENT: THE CHILDERS REFORMS BEGIN 83 CONCLUSION 90 CHAPTER 3. HUGH CHILDERS AND THE MODERNISATION OF THE RECRUITING SYSTEM, 1880 – 1892 INTRODUCTION 92 THE MODERNISATION OF BRITISH ARMY RECRUITING 95 95 THE PROFESSIONAL RECRUITING SERVICE 97 THE GENERAL POST OFFICE 101 PRESS ADVERTISING 106 THE REFORMS UNDER REFLECTION AGAIN: THE WANTAGE COMMISSION 1891 – 1892 112 THE WANTAGE REPORT: OPINION IS DIVIDED 118 CONCLUSION 122 SECTION II: THE PUBLIC PERSPECTIVE CHAPTER 4. THE REFORMS, THE SOLDIER AND THE PRESS INTRODUCTION 125 THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE BRITISH PRESS 126 THE BRITISH ARMY, THE SOLDIER AND THE PRESS 131 THE MILITARY, POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS 133 THE CARDWELL REFORMS IN THE PRESS 137 THE CHILDERS REFORMS IN THE PRESS 153 CONCLUSION 162 CHAPTER 5. THE SOLDIER, THE PUBLIC AND THE PRESS INTRODUCTION 164 ‘THE SOLDIER’ IN THE PRESS, 1868 – 1890 164 THE SHORT-SERVICE SOLDIER 171 ‘THE SOLDIER’ OF THE 1890S 179 THE SOLDIER, SOCIAL STATUS AND PUBLIC PREJUDICE 189 CONCLUSION 198 CHAPTER 6. TOMMY ATKINS IN LITERATURE AND POETRY: HARDY, KIPLING AND HOUSMAN INTRODUCTION 201 THOMAS HARDY: FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD AND THE TRUMPET MAJOR 204 RUDYARD KIPLING 209 THE SOLDIER AND KIPLING’S SOLDIERS THREE 212 THE BARRACK ROOM BALLADS 215 KIPLING’S SIGNIFICANCE AND ACCURACY 224 A. E. HOUSMAN AND A SHROPSHIRE LAD 225 CONCLUSION 236 SECTION III: THE SOLDIER’S PERSPECTIVE CHAPTER 7. PUBLIC THOUGHTS: THE BROAD ARROW, A PAPER FOR THE SERVICES INTRODUCTION 239 THE BROAD ARROW AND THE REFORMS 244 SOLDIERS ON THE BRITISH PUBLIC 255 SOLDIERS ON ‘THE SOLDIER’ 266 CONCLUSION 272 CHAPTER 8. PUBLISHED THOUGHTS I: THE MILITARY MEMOIR AND DIARY, REFORMS AND BARRACK-MATES INTRODUCTION 274 THE SOLDIERS’ RESPONSE TO THE WAR OFFICE REFORMS 277 ‘THE SOLDIER’ IDENTITY 288 FELLOW SOLDIERS 298 CONCLUSION 307 CHAPTER 9. PUBLISHED THOUGHTS II: TOMMY ATKINS RESPONDS TO THE CIVILIAN INTRODUCTION 309 CIVILITY BETWEEN THE SOLDIER AND THE CIVILIAN 310 THE SOLDIER AND THE CIVILIAN ARE UNCIVIL 315 THE SOLDIER’S RESPONSE TO THE PUBLIC 324 CONCLUSION 333 CONCLUSION INTRODUCTION 335 WAR OFFICE REFORM VERSUS THE GREAT DEPRESSION 335 THE SOCIAL REALITIES AND WAR OFFICE REFORM 339 THE SOLDIER, SOCIETY AND CULTURE 341 THE SOLDIER IN PRINT 348 THE MILITARY PERSPECTIVE 350 CONCLUSION 353 FURTHER RESEARCH 353 APPENDIX 357 BIBLIOGRAPHY 375 TABLE OF FIGURES APPENDIX: MILITARY CARTOONS FIGURE 1 J. Proctor, The Post Office Undertakes the Enlistment of 357 Recruits’, Moonshine, London (Dec, 1883). FIGURE 2 Unknown, ‘Comfort for Tommy Atkins’, Judy, London 358 (20 May 1885). FIGURE 3 Anon., ‘The Skeleton Army – A Plea for Alterations in their 358 Rations’. FIGURE 4 Unknown, ‘Our Blackguard in the Guards’– An Evil of Short 359 Service’ in Moonshine (27 September 1890), p. 148. FIGURE 5 J. B. Yeats, ‘Pleasures of the Recruiting Sergeant’, Judy, 359 London (24 March 1897), p.143. FIGURE 6 Unknown, ‘Army and Navy Intelligence’, Punch, London 360 (6 August 1870), p.61. FIGURE 7 W. H. Boucher, ‘The Recruiting Difficulty’, Judy, London 361 (14 April, 1875). FIGURE 8 W. Reynolds, ‘Why Do not Working Men Enlist’, Funny Folks, 361 London (30 October 1880), p.347. FIGURE 9 W. Reynolds, ‘Reforms in Regimentals’, Funny Folks, London 362 (13 November 1880) p.363. FIGURE 10 Unknown, ‘Our Infant Army’, Moonshine, London (26 February 363 1881), p.97. FIGURE 11 J. G. Thomson, ‘Army Reform’, Fun, London (16 March 1881), 364 p.106. FIGURE 12 Unknown, ‘Military Sketch No.1. Short Service’, Moonshine, 365 London (2 April 1881), p.160. FIGURE 13 Unknown, ‘Military Sketch No.2. A Poser for Childers’, 366 Moonshine, London (2 April 1881), p.165. FIGURE 14 J. Tenniel, ‘Short Service and Quick Returns’, Punch, London 367 (21 October 1882), p.186. FIGURE 15 Anon., ‘Tommy Atkins to the Front’, Judy, London (25 March 368 1885). p.142. FIGURE 16 A. Chasemore, ‘The Soldier Who Took a Run’, Judy, London 369 (6 December 1893), p.276. FIGURE 17 F. R., ‘England’s Defenders – The Army and the Navy’ 370 (Illustration), Chatterbox, London (11 October 1890), p.377. FIGURE 18 B. M. ‘England’s Defenders – The Army and the Navy’ (Poem), 371 Chatterbox, London (11 October 1890). p.377. FIGURE 19 T. E. Donnison, ‘Portrait of a Military Hero Take Immediately 372 After a Great Victory’, Fun, London (22 November 1888), p.164. FIGURE 20 Unknown, ‘Army Retrenchment’, Moonshine, London (7 July 373 1888), p.11. FIGURE 21 Unknown, ‘A Soldier’s Life is a Merry One’, Illustrated Chips, 374 London (22 November 1890), pp.4-5. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am deeply grateful to all the people have supported me throughout my studies. First of all, thank you to Harry Bennett for his all guidance and encouragement. I always came away from our tutorials with renewed enthusiasm and confidence in my research. This thesis would not have been possible without his support. Thank you also to Kevin Jefferys, whose reassuring presence, advice and attention to detail has been so invaluable throughout the every stage of this process. I would like to express my appreciation to the School of History and Faculty of Arts at Plymouth University and all the academics there who have offered their time and advice. Thank you especially to Liz Tingle, James Daybell, and Simon Topping for their interest and assistance in my academic development at Plymouth. I am particularly indebted to the Faculty of Arts whose studentship enabled me to take the opportunity to pursue this Ph.D. programme to its fullest.