The name Fuzzy-Wuzzy goes back a lot further than 1941, it's a British army nickname for some of the Sudanese tribes who supported the Madhi (Muhammad Ahmad, who defeated Gordon at Khartoum).
They're the subject of a poem by Kipling:
So it's possible that the children's rhyme goes back some way before it was incorporated into song by Al Hoffman and the rest.
They're the subject of a poem by Kipling:
WE’VE fought with many men acrost the seas,
An’ some of ’em was brave an’ some was not:
The Paythan an’ the Zulu an’ Burmese;
But the Fuzzy was the finest o’ the lot.
We never got a ha’porth’s change of ’im:
’E squatted in the scrub an’ ’ocked our ’orses,
’E cut our sentries up at Suakim,
An’ ’e played the cat an’ banjo with our forces.
So ’ere’s to you, Fuzzy-Wuzzy, at your ’ome in the Soudan;
You’re a pore benighted ’eathen but a first-class fightin’ man;
We gives you your certificate, an’ if you want it signed
We’ll come an’ ’ave a romp with you whenever you’re inclined.
So it's possible that the children's rhyme goes back some way before it was incorporated into song by Al Hoffman and the rest.