Information AboutFuzzy Wuzzy |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT FUZZY WUZZY | |
| english poems | |
| poetry of rudyard kipling | |
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HISTORICAL BACKGROUND The Beja People were one of two broad multi-tribal groupings supporting the Mahdi, and were divided into three tribes. One of these, the Hadendoa, was nomadic along Sudan's Red Sea coast and provided a large number of Cavalry and ''jihādiyya'' (referring to Mounted Infantry units). They carried Breech-loaded Rifles and many of them had acquired military experience in the Egyptian army. The name "Fuzzy Wuzzy" may be purely English in origin, or it may incorporate some sort of Arabic pun (possibly based on ''ghazī'' , "warrior"). It alludes to their butter-matted hair which gave them a "frizzy" look. THE CHILDREN'S RHYME :Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear :Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair :Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn't fuzzy, was he? However there are dozens of variations on the last line, such as adding "very," adding a "so" at the start, changing "wasn't" to "was not", etc., but it really doesn't matter. A more interesting variation goes :Fuzzy Wuzzy was a ' Capybara ' a reference to the large rodent also known as water hog. THE KIPLING POEM (1890) Kipling's poem ''Fuzzy Wuzzy'' praises the Hadenoa for their martial prowess, because "for all the odds agin' you, Fuzzy-Wuz, you broke the square." This could refer to either or both historical battles between the British and Mahdist forces where the Infantry Square failed. The first was at Tamai , on March 13 1884 . The second battle was the following January 17 at the wells at Abu Klea . Kipling's narrator, an infantry soldier, speaks in admiring terms of the Fuzzy Wuzzies. Praising their bravery which, though insufficient to defeat the British, did at least enable them to boast of having broken "the square" - an achievement which few other British foes could claim. FUZZY WUZZY FALLACY The Fuzzy Wuzzy Fallacy is a name for a Wargaming Theory coined by Richard Hamblen in the September 1976 edition of the '' Avalon Hill General '' wargaming magazine, loosely based on historical records of battles between the British and the Sudanese Mahdi. The Fuzzy Wuzzy Fallacy states that a single soldier with 2× firepower or attack strength is not equal to two soldiers with 1× firepower or attack strength. Instead, the soldier with 2× firepower is actually worth of the 1× soldier, if either soldier can be killed in a single hit. This is another form of Lanchester's Law . As a result, tactics and strategy designed around this theory emphasize greater numbers and time, which the speed and mobility of the units in action can effect. TRIVIA
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