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 [908 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, or even an armored car or reconnaissance vehicle.
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 -- and it actually had fewer machine guns than the Hurricane, so it was less effective as a ground attack aircraft. Eventually they figured out ways to arm it with bombs, so it was better as a fighter-bomber than the lighter Hurricane, but that took a while. 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.
Either that, or the problem is just that the Hurricanes were worn out. War ages aircraft fast, and even if spare parts were available (which they often weren't), there weren't any good repair facilities in the North African desert! By the end of the North African campaign (for which see "Side By Side (North Africa Parody)"), the British and Italians armies were basically without aircraft; they were all worn out, and the British had no spare Merlin engines for their Hurricanes. Tomahawks and Kittyhawks were crummy fighters, but at least they would be new.
(Perhaps not useful, though. Pitt, p. 194, reports that the British in 1941 were supposed to receive 500 Tomahawks intended for the Middle East, presumably through Lend-Lease, but "not only was there no American ammunition to fits the Tomahawks' armament in the Middle East but there were also no pilots with experience or even theoretical knowledge of the Tomahawks' operational capabilities.)
Finally, in defense of the Hurricane: when the fighting in the Western Desert began, it was actually the best aircraft in the theater. The first battle in the area was the Battle of Sidi Barrani (for which see "Side By Side (North Africa Parody)"). According to Pitt, p. 51, the British at this time had a force consisting of Bristol Blenheim bombers, Gloster Gladiator fighters, and a few Hurricanes. The Gladiator was a biplane, slow and relatively lightly armed; the Blenheim was a disappointment that the British hastened to replace (though it lasted longer in Egypt than anywhere else).
But they were fighting the Italians, and the Italians, at the time of Sidi Barrani, were flying Fiats and Macchis. The most up-to-date Fiat at the time was the G.50 Freccia, which was at least 30 miles per hour slower than the Hurricane (not a perfect measure of fighting strength, but indicative) and armed with only two machine guns (Munson, p. 73), and the Macchi was probably the C.200 Saetta, which was almost as fast as the Hurricane but again had only two machine guns (Munson, p. 115). The Hurricane could handle those. The problem came when the German fighters arrived.
One last irony: There were two Allied fighters of this period that were genuinely good ground attack aircraft: the British Bristol Beaufighter and the American Lockheed P-38 Lightning. And neither is mentioned in the song. At this time it is understandable that a British pilot wouldn't know about the Lightning, but the Beaufighter fought in the Western Desert! - RBW
Bibliography Last updated in version 7.2
File: WJL183

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