How can a dippy egg and soldiers not bring a smile to anyone’s face?

It is said the word soldier derives from the Middle English word from Old French ‘soudeour’ meaning mercenary, from soudee, meaning shilling's worth or wage. The word is also related to the Medieval Latin soldarius, meaning soldier, literally ‘one having pay’.

My Uncle George was a fine man and a good egg; always had a smile on his face no matter what. No-one would guess the trauma he had been through as a prisoner of war in Burma helping some 60,000 POWs from Britain, Australia and India and 200,000 civilians (mostly Burmese and Malayans) build the Death Railway. It stretched some 258 miles between Ban Pong, Thailand, and Thanbyuzayat, Burma (now called Myanmar). Tens of thousands perished during its construction.

In Britain soldiers from a culinary perspective refers to a piece of toast cut into thin strips, reminiscent of the formation of soldiers on parade. The toast is sliced in this manner so that it can be dipped into the opening of a soft boiled egg that has had the top of its shell removed.The egg is soft boiled until it reaches the stage of ‘dippy’ which is when the white is just set whilst the yolk remains runny. The egg is placed in an egg cup (something I believe Americans don’t have) Big Endian or Little Endian up. The top of the egg is gently tapped with a spoon and any loose egg shell removed - never ever slice the top off. Toast is sliced into soldiers and served alongside.