The Spoils of War—Caruso on the Gramophone!
Bibliography with Notes plus Bonus Content
Bickers, Richard Townshend. The Desert Air war: a gripping historical account of the RAF’s role in North Africa during World War II. UK: Lume Books, 2018. Kindle.
Chapter Four
“…Clothing of all kinds was spread amid ammunition boxes, water bottles, boots and gas masks. Letters and photographs fluttered in any vagrant breeze. Lorries, staff cars, personal carriers and motorcycles that had not been smashed by bombs, bullets or shells stood ready for the taking.
“And they were taken. Officers and other ranks drove cars or rode motorcycles between their living quarters and workshop tents. The informality that characterized the desert army and air force was emerging…”
Bierman, John and Colin Smith. War Without Hate. New York: The Penguin Group, 2002, p. 48.
“”They were amazed to discover how well fed the enemy was. There was a cornucopia: chocolates, jams and cheeses, imaginatively prepared dried vegetables which boiling water transformed into wonderful stews and minestrone soups, and plenty of Frascati and Chianti wine and the best Italian mineral water to wash it all down.”
“Front-line dugouts came fully furnished with the kind of luxuries most British troops had not seen for months—and some had never seen at all….’Officers’ beds laid out with clean sheets, chests of drawers filled with linen and an abundance of fine clothing of every kind. Uniforms heavy with gold lace and decked with medals and colors of the parade ground…pale blue sashes and belts finished with great tassles and feathered and embroidered hats and caps…great blue cavalry cloaks that bathed a man to his ankles, and dressing tables strewn with scents and silver-mounted brushes.”
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
“…In the captured camps and stores we found pistols and automatics to delight the eyes of all; brilliant dress uniforms, gorgeously jewelled swords, silver and gilt belts and emblazoned leather equipment. Some found huge quantities of Italian money…rich red and white wines, cases of matured brandy and liqueurs, bottled fruits, frozen hams and anchovies, tins of beef, sacks of macaroni, potatoes, onions and carrots, minestrone soup.”
Latimer, Jon. Operation Compass. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2000. Kindle.
Chapter: The Campaign
“The men were amazed at what they found: perfume, manicure sets, exquisite uniforms in the officers’ quarters, and beds made up with fresh linen. Even the corporals seemed to live more luxurious lives than O’Conner in his tactical headquarters.”
Latimer, Jon. Operation Compass. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2000. Kindle.
Chapter: The Campaign
“…the luxuries they found everywhere; enameled baths, silk garments and cosmetics, embossed notepaper and engraved glass.”
Moorehead, Alan. The Desert War: The Classic Trilogy on the North African Campaign 1940-1943. London: Aurum Press Ltd, 2013. Kindle.
BOOK ONE—The Mediterranean Front: The Year of Wavell 1940-41: Six
“…clean sheets, chests of drawers filled with linen and abundance of fine clothing of every kind. Uniforms heavy with gold lace and decked with he medals and colours of the parade ground hung upon hangers in company with polished jackboots richly spurred and pale blue sashes and belts finished with great tassels and feathered and embroidered hats and caps…We came upon great blue cavalry cloaks that swathed a man to the ankles, and dressing-tables in the officers’ tents were strewn with scents and silver-mounted brushes ans small arms made in the romantic northern arsenals of Italy.
Moorehead, Alan. The Desert War: The Classic Trilogy on the North African Campaign 1940-1943. London: Aurum Press Ltd, 2013. Kindle.
BOOK ONE—The Mediterranean Front: The Year of Wavell 1940-41: Six
“We sat in the open sand and ate from stores of bottled cherries and greengages [small round plums]: great tins of frozen hams and anchovies; bread that had been baked somehow here in the desert; and wines…fruity brandy, jars of liqueurs…Recoaro minerals [bottled water]…spaghetti…great sacks of macaroni…Parmesan cheeses as big as small cart-wheels and nearly a foot thick…Ten-pound tins of Estratto di Pomidoro—the tomato extract vital to so many Italian dishes…many excellent stews and delicate tinned tongue and tunny fish and small round tins of beef.
“Potatoes, onions, carrots, beans, cabbages, leeks, cauliflowers, pumpkin and many other things that had been steamed down into a dry compact that readily expanded to its old volume when soaked in warm water…We sampled one package that seemed at first to contain dry grass, but brewed Itself over a stove into a rich minestrone soup.”
Stockings, Craig. The Battle of Bardia. (Australian Army Campaigns Series Book 9). Sydney: Big Sky Publishing, 2011. Kindle.
CHAPTER 6: To Bardia Village
“The Australians were surprised at how well the Italian officers lived in Bardia compared to their men. Senior officers’ quarters were well supplied with alcohol, gramophones, fine furniture and food, and, in several cases, mistresses. By contrast the Italian soldiers on the Bardia perimeter lived in squalor.”
Wahlert, Glenn. The Western Desert Campaign 1940-1941
(Australian Army Campaigns Series Book 2). Sydney: Big Sky Publishing, 2011. Kindle.
Chapter: Australia’s First Battle: Bardia
“Most of the dugouts of the Italian officers were large, ‘palatial affairs’, well equipped with fresh linen, good furniture and fine food and wine. The officers’ messes were extraordinarily well stocked, including silver table service.
“Even many of the lowest ranked soldiers had ‘his own little espresso coffee percolator.’”
Wahlert, Glenn. The Western Desert Campaign 1940-1941
(Australian Army Campaigns Series Book 2). Sydney: Big Sky Publishing, 2011. Kindle.
Chapter: Australian, British and Italian Forces
“The soldiers’ rations often included pasta meals that could only be prepared with the desert’s scarcest commodity: water.”
Wahlert, Glenn. The Western Desert Campaign 1940-1941
(Australian Army Campaigns Series Book 2). Sydney: Big Sky Publishing, 2011. Kindle.
Chapter: Total Victory
“These included enamel baths, cosmetics, silk clothing, wine cellars, clean linen, engraved mess glasses and luxury food items. Items such as watches, compasses, binoculars, tires and vehicles and some weapons were desperately needed by the Australians to make up for shortages.”
Bonus Illustrations
WWII in North Africa 