After the battle of Elandslaagte between the British and the Boers in 1899, a nurse wrote from the front:
We have several Boer patients. A touching little scene happened yesterday. One of the Tommy Atkinses* had his arm amputated. A Boer in the next bed had his arm taken off in exactly the same place. I took charge of the latter as he was brought down from the operating theatre, and on his becoming conscious the two poor fellows eyed each other very much, till our good-natured Tommy could bear it no longer. "Sister," he called, "give him two cigarettes out of my box. Here is a match; light one for him." I took the cigarettes and the message to the Boer. Quite overcome, he burst into tears, and Tommy did the same.
一八九九年英軍和波爾人戰於伊蘭斯拉特，其後，一個護士從前線寄來的信說：
我們有幾個波爾病人。昨天，發生了一件動人的小事。一個士兵的手臂須切除，而毗鄰病牀上那個波爾人，手臂也須在同一處切去。這波爾人從手術室出來，由我照顧。他醒來之後，兩個斷手的可憐人相望多時，最後，我們那個善良的士兵忍不住，對我說：「姑娘，請從我的煙盒裏，拿兩根煙給他。這裏有一根火柴，給他把一根煙點着吧。」我把煙拿給那波爾人，並向他轉述那士兵的話。他感動得哭起來，那士兵也哭了。
*從前，英軍作示範的表格上，署名處會寫Tommy Atkins。因此，Tommy Atkins成為英兵的代號。