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| PERSONAL WIRELESS were scarce. But if troops were camped close to a signals detachment or maybe a RASC (Royal Army Service Corps) canteen they might have been able to listen to the BBC and other broadcasts. Both the Axis and Allies tuned to Radio Belgrade at night to listen to Lale Andersen sing "Lili Marlene" (in German). "Lili Marlene" was the most popular song of the war. It was written by Gardefusilier Hans Leip in 1915 as a farewell to his girlfriends, Lili and Marlene. Just before WWII, it was set to music by Norbert Schultze. Belgrade was captured by the Germans on 19 April 1941 and with it the Yugoslav State Radio System. Shortly afterwards, Radio Belgrade began to transmit a program for the German armed forces in Europe and North Africa. William Joyce, alias Lord Haw Haw coined the term 'Tobruk Rats'. Joyce was a curiosity of the war. He was born in New York in 1906 of Irish and British parentage. Three years later the family moved to County Mayo in Ireland. There was sectarian violence in Ireland and the family moved to England in 1921. In the following years he was involved in several Fascist organizations in England marked by violent thuggery. A week before war started he fled to Germany where he became editor and speaker for Germany's transmitters in Europe. |
An Australian soldier was disconcerted with the reaction of Polish soldiers listening to the radio. The BBC broadcast was listing the casualties on the Eastern front. When the number of German deaths were announced the Polish troop cheered enthusiastically. However, when the number of Soviet deaths were announced the Polish troops cheered equally enthusiastically.
TOBRUK, LIBYA. 1941-08. AN INTERIOR VIEW OF A WIRELESS TRUCK. THE POWERFUL SETS SHOWN IN THIS PICTURE WERE USED TO MAINTAIN CONTACT WITH CAIRO AND DESFORCE BETWEEN MERSA MATRUH AND SALUM. EITHER OF THESE SETS WAS WITHIN RANGE OF ENGLAND. |
