Dirty Gertie from Bizerte

DESCRIPTION: "Dirty Gertie from Bizerte Had a mousetrap 'neath her skirtie, Strapped it on her kneecap purty... Made her boyfriends' fingers hurtie... She was voted in Bizerte 'Miss Latrine' for nineteen thirty"
AUTHOR: Words: Private William L. Russell / Music: Sergeant Paul Rief (source: Yank Magazine)
EARLIEST DATE: 1943 (Yank Magazine)
KEYWORDS: humorous clothes animal
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Page-ForGawdsakeDontTakeMe, p. 99, "Dirty Gertie" (1 short text, omitting several lines from the "Yank" magazine version)
ADDITIONAL: "Yank: The Army Weekly" Magazine, September 10, 1943 (available on Google Books), p. 30, "Dirty Gertie from Bizerte" (1 text, 1 tune, with some additional verses added later)
Roud #29904
NOTES [182 words]: According to "Yank" magazine, the words for this were written in 1942 by a soldier in Virginia and published in "Yank" magazine in the December 30, 1942 issue. (I have not seen this issue.) They became so popular that they were later set to music. I can't verify any of this. I do note that the version in Page-ForGawdsakeDontTakeMe lacks several of the lines in the "Yank" magazine version and so cannot be sung to its tune.
Oddly, Bizerte (in Tunisia) was not captured by the Allies until the spring of 1943, so this song was written before anyone, American or British, had reached the town.
I'm quite sure I had seen this song before seeing it in Page-ForGawdsakeDontTakeMe; presumably it was quoted in one of my histories of the North Africa campaign. Which hints it was well known.
It is perhaps ironic that William L. Russell, after writing the poem, was went to Officer Candidate School (the "Yank" magazine article labels his photo "Lt. Russell") -- but then discharged with a "Section Eight." That's a psychological disability; I'm guessing it means he was thought to be homosexual. - RBW
Last updated in version 7.2
File: PFGS099A

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