Booze, Spirits, Firewater, Grog, Hooch, Sauce
Bibliography with Notes plus Bonus Content
Bierman, John and Colin Smith. War Without Hate. New York: The Penguin Group, 2002, p. 33.
“…Afrikaans-speakers contributed generously to the fund Ouma (‘Grannie’) Smuts set up to see that every South African serviceman in the Western Desert got a daily tot of Commando brandy and a packet of Springbok cigarettes.”
Joly, Cyril. Take These Men: Tank Warfare with the Desert Rats. Yorkshire/Philadelphia: Pen and Sword Books, 2019. Kindle.
Part Two, Chapter Four: CHASE BEYOND THE FRONTIER
“…There was usually no time nor chance for even a quick brew of tea, so that the evening stew of tinned meat and vegetables and the brew of tea, sometimes with a tot of rum added if the Divisional Commander authorized it, assumed considerable importance…”
Latimer, Jon. Operation Compass. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2000. Kindle.
Chapter: The Campaign
“Wearing every item of clothing to protect against the bitter morning cold, each man was carrying 150 rounds of ammunition, two or three grenades and rations for three days. Following a rum ration in the assembly areas, the Diggers waited apprehensively until the barrage opened at 0530 hrs…”
Latimer, Jon. Operation Compass. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2000. Kindle.
Chapter: Total Victory
“In an attempt to reduce the abuse of alcohol ‘thousands of gallons of each cognag (sic) and wine was destroyed…to prevent troops from getting it.”
Stockings, Craig. The Battle of Bardia. (Australian Army Campaigns Series Book 9). Sydney: Big Sky Publishing, 2011. Kindle.
CHAPTER 2: Cracking the Shell
“Weapons were inspected, ammunition distributed, stock-takes complete, extra socks issued, chocolates, beer and tobacco provided.”
Stockings, Craig. The Battle of Bardia. (Australian Army Campaigns Series Book 9). Sydney: Big Sky Publishing, 2011. Kindle.
CHAPTER 2: Cracking the Shell
“The whole question of rum at Bardia was a thorny issue. In issuing alcohol before Bardia, Australian commanders violated an ingrained principle of the original AIF (Australian Imperial Force) which always issued it after an action. Participants disagreed about the potency and effect of the rum…defended his decision to issue rum before the battle on the grounds that rum counteracted the intense cold ‘felt by the troops out in the open even with the extra blanket issue’…It was generally agreed later that the rum would have been better issued after the fighting, when men were exhausted rather than excited.”
Stockings, Craig. The Battle of Bardia. (Australian Army Campaigns Series Book 9). Sydney: Big Sky Publishing, 2011. Kindle.
CHAPTER 2: Cracking the Shell
“Fifty years later Stewart (then aged 73) suggested that Hooper had been ‘affected by the rum’ and had sent him off on the wrong bearing.”
Bonus Illustrations
WWII in North Africa 