David Harley Words & Music & Pictures &…

According to Ewan MacColl, from whom I learned this back in the Dark Ages, this ‘lugubrious ditty’ originated with the Middle East Air Force Regiment in World War II, but is now also claimed by every other unit to see service in that part of the world. According to his sleeve notes for ‘Bundook Ballads’, “The only song which exceeds it in popularity among desert troops is the ribald Ballad of King Farouk, a song of rich bawdiness and impossible advice.”