Tommy Atkins

Tonight, my son and I attended a talk by living history enthusiasts, about British 'Tommys' in World War 1.

This time I asked if I could take a few shots of the speakers!!!!!

We both enjoyed the talk and, at the end, the audience were invited to handle and try on some of the Tommys' equipment. The gun, a short muzzled Lee Enfield rifle, weighed 9lbs, and the soldier's back pack that my son tried on weighed around 63lbs (if I remember correctly?).

Another interesting fact was that, when the first gas attacks were used on the battlefield, the soldier's only protection from Chlorine gas, was a sweaty, urine soaked sock!