I just realised I might have always misunderstood the lavatory paper gag

...where Captain Darling explains how much the Germans are always in the know of their every move, and that no sooner do they enter a town and the Germans "have taken the entire town's supply of lavatory paper".

I always thought this was supposed to be a joke about the the absurdity of the idea that the British army would have been thwarted or even compromised by something as trivial as a lack of loo paper, but I realised today that this joke might have been aimed only at Melchett and Darling themselves, the remark showing how out-of-touch they were with the horrors everyone else had to endure. I realise now that Blackadder's puzzled expression may have been him thinking to himself "we're getting blown to bits and these guys are worrying about loo paper and thinking it is a German conspiracy?"

Which way do others take this joke?