Western Desert Madness

DESCRIPTION: "Western desert madness is caused by the heat of the sun, Bully beef for breakfast and dancing around with the Hun." Their unit is stuck with ancient Hurricane fighters even though they are worn out. They have to keep fighting
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1967 (Ward-Jackson/Lucas-AirmansSongBook)
KEYWORDS: battle technology derivative
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ward-Jackson/Lucas-AirmansSongBook, p. 183, "Western Desert Madness" (1 text, tune referenced)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "South Sea Island Magic" (tune)
NOTES [454 words]: The source tune, "South Sea Island Magic," is listed as being having words by Lysle Tomerlin and music by Andy Iona (Long). The first recording was by Andy Iona's Novelty Four in 1934, but people would probably have known it from a 1936 recording by Bing Crosby
Edward Foote Gardner, Popular Songs of the Twentieth Century: Volume I -- Chart Detail & Encyclopedia 1900-1949, Paragon House, 2000, p. 424, estimates that this was the 25th-most popular song in America in 1936, peaking at #7 in November of that year, mostly on the strength of a recording by Bing Crosby (#1 for the year being "In the Chapel in the Moonlight").
The Hawker Hurricane was the first British monoplane fighter; according to Kenneth Munson, Aircraft of World War II, second edition, Doubleday, 1972, p. 90, it was first deployed in 1937. This was of course the Mark One, the "Hurricane One" of the song. This was already outclassed by the start of the war; although many of them fought in the Battle of Britain, they were outmatched by the German ME-109 fighters, so they mostly went after the bombers while the more capable Spitfires fought the German fighters.
Later Hurricanes were up-gunned, making them good anti-tank weapons, but the Hurricane One had nothing heavier than a .303 machine gun -- capable of hurting an airplane but not much good against a tank.
The other planes listed are an interesting bunch -- Tomahawks, Spitfires, Kitties (Kittyhawks), Typhoons. The Spitfire was of course the other leading British fighter at the start of the war; it was a faster, more maneuverable plane, though the early models had no more anti-tank ability than the Hurricane (less, in fact, since the Spitfires had fewer guns). The other British plane in the list is the Hawker Typhoon. This was a much faster, heavier plane than either the Hurricane or Spitfire, and it eventually was developed into an anti-tank fighter-bomber -- but it didn't even start to come online until late 1941, and didn't become common until a year later.
The "Tomahawk," according to Munson, p. 47, is the Curtis P-40B fighter, and the "Kittyhawk" is the somewhat later P-40E. Munson (under)states that it "was not a brilliant aircraft"; even the late models managed only 350 miles per hour, barely faster than the Hurricane (which Munson lists with a speed of 339 miles per hour). It was rugged, but it was a poor fighter -- although it was better as a fighter-bomber than the lighter Hurricane. The fact that a Hurricane pilot actually wanted one of the things says to me that this song is probably from early 1942, when the British pilots would know about American planes but didn't know how bad they were, and would know about Typhoons but couldn't get them. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.8
File: WJL183

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