Ballad of the Big Nobs

DESCRIPTION: "There's Wavell, there's Wavell, And he contemplates his navel, But he was some fucking use To the eighth Army." Other leaders -- "the Auk," Ritchie, Stalin, Winston -- also play a role; some are of use, some are not
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1947 (Henderson-BalladsOfWorldWarII)
KEYWORDS: soldier army nonballad
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Henderson-BalladsOfWorldWarII,III, "Ballad of the Big Nobs" (1 text)
NOTES [424 words]: The version of this in Henderson-BalladsOfWorldWarII is the only one I can find in my library, but it really nags at my memory, as if I had seen it somewhere before. I'm indexing it on that basis, even though I can't prove its "folkiness."
All the people listed are historical.
-- "Wavell" is Archibald Wavell (1883-1950), the first commander of British forces in the Middle East. Most assessments of his performance were quite positive, but he and Churchill did not get along, and after Erwin Rommel overwhelmed the inadequate British forces, Churchill sacked him and sent him to India. (For background on this, see the notes to "Side By Side (North Africa Parody)".)
-- "The Auk" is Claude Auchinleck (1884-1981), who was brought in to replace Wavell. (Then in fact swapped commands: Auchinleck came from India to the Middle East, with Wavell going to India.) Although generally considered competent, he too suffered from Churchill's micro-management and refusal to commit sufficient forces, plus he made one terrible mistake: He appointed Neil Ritchie to command his field army:
-- "Ritchie" is Neil Ritchie (1897-1983). He had been a staff officer under Auchinleck, with no field experience, but Auchinleck -- who was responsible for a whole theatre, not just the Eighth Army in Egypt -- needed someone to command the Eighth Army, and chose Ritchie. It was a disaster; Ritchie was completely inept. He presided over the disastrous defeat at Gazala, forcing Auchinleck to take over Eighth Army personally to save the situation. (Note that Ritchie is the only one of the leaders the song regards as completely useless.) Auchinlek managed to stabilize the lines, but Churchill had once again become fed up; Auchinleck went back to India.
-- "Stalin" of course had no direct influence on the fight in India -- but, because Russia was occupying almost the entire attention of the German army, he prevented Rommel from getting replacements, making him "some use" to the Eighth Army.
-- "Winston" is Winston Churchill, who was excessively hard and unhelpful to his army commanders but who did periodically supply reinforcements for the Eighth Army.
-- "two Irish paddies": After Auchinleck and Ritchie lost their jobs, Auchinleck's replacement as theatre commander was Harold Alexander and Ritchie's ultimate successor in charge of Eighth Army was Bernard Law Montgomery. This was in August 1942, just before Hamish Henderson collected his song. Neither strikes me as an "Irish Paddy." Possibly the reference is to junior officers? I don't know. - RBW
Last updated in version 7.2
File: HBWW203

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