Tommy Atkins

[sloegin57]

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cambridgeshire/7282348.stm

It’s “Tommy this” and “Tommy that” and “Chuck the Buggar out”;
But its “Morning Mr Atkins”, when the guns begin to shout;
When the guns begin to shout my boys,
When the guns begin to shout

I can do no better than Kipling even though I may have mis-quoted him.
And suddenly I feel very ashamed of this Country
Dennis

[Paul Senter]

Totally agree with your sentiments Dennis. It has been a long standing rule in the Army not to wear uniform in public when off duty purely for security reasons. I am sure the decision made by the Station Commander for uniform not to be worn would have been based on not wanting to provoke negative reactions from his personnel. The last thing he would want is photos of personnel from Wittering brawling with local idiots on the street because they had been abused or taunted. Not wearing uniform in public is normal and as far as the military are concerned not seen as detrimental or derisory but sensible in view of the security situation.

Paul

[The Hooded Claw]

I recall being told not to wear uniform in public or for travelling in the eighties due to a certain Irish issue.

H

[matzos]

ianh said:

I recall being told not to wear uniform in public or for travelling in the eighties due to a certain Irish issue.

H

That was true, however, now they have been saying that you can wear your uniform away from camp.
But there are still some rules inforced, that is, no wearing of uniform in pubs!

[Lonewolf]

I recall being told not to wear uniform in public or for travelling in the eighties due to a certain Irish issue.

Yeah me too. Before that it was very common. Hitchhiking was easy peasy. So I'm told.

As for ashamed to be British, sod that! I 'm just ashamed that the pond life are British, although thats by no means guaranteed these days.

I recently had the misfortune to have to spend a week in London and I walked between a hotel and Earls Court a couple of times a day. Not only did I hardly hear an English accent, I hardly heard any English