IN SEARCH OF HARRY
by
Warwick (Bert) Ibertson
INTRODUCTION:
My father Harry Barnard Ibertson died in Greece in December 1941 whilst serving in
the South African Defence Force during the Second World War. I was 2 years old at
the time and therefore have no memory of him.
My mother was told that my father had died on a Hospital Ship in Greece but was
given no details. The Death Certificate filled in by the officer in charge of war records
recorded his death on 17 December 1941 being due to pneumonia following leg
amputation whilst prisoner of war. He was buried in the Phaleron War Cemetery in
Athens together with thousands of other allied soldiers. I visited the cemetery on 2
occasions as a young man and wondered how he came to be in Greece at that time of
the War. He had been serving with the Allied Forces in North Africa against the
Italians & Germans.
Following my retirement I decided to undertake a project to search for my father’s
story. Little did I realise that this would be such a dramatic tale with an incredible
amount of facts outlining the fate of so many Allied prisoners of war.
My research uncovered many articles and one book (“No Honour No Glory” by Edge
& Henderson) on this episode in the war. Research at the National Records Office and
the Imperial War Museum in London yielded good information but I felt it necessary
to visit Greece to get more information & photographs. This I did in June 2009 and
had a very rewarding and informative trip.
The following is the story of the fate of Allied prisoners of war following the battle of
Sidi Rezeg in Libya.
NORTH AFRICA:
The “Crusader” offensive mounted on 18 December 1941 by Allied forces against
Rommel in Libya was aimed at driving the German forces out of Egypt and as far
back into Libya as possible. One of the objectives was to capture the aircraft landing
ground at Sidi Rezeg near Tobruk in Cyrenaica (Libya). This was achieved by
Saturday 22 November but victory was short lived. The following day named
“Tottensontag” (Sunday of the Dead) by the Germans turned out to be one of the
bloodiest battles of the North African campaign and the first major setback for the
South African forces in the War. The German Panzer divisions overran the Allied
troops and thousands were forced to surrender. My father a Sapper with the South
African Engineering Corps and part of 5 Field Company was amongst those captured
together with a large number of South African, New Zealander and British soldiers.
The prisoners were force-marched from Sidi Rezeg to Benghazi, a port on the Libyan
coast. The hardship of marching with little or no water and meagre rations is
chronicled in many books as the “Thirst March”. The Germans handed over the
PoW’s to the Italians who after approximately 5 days transported and locked up some
2000 PoW’s in a warehouse on Benghazi docks. Conditions were appalling with little
food and protection against the biting desert cold of winter. Eventually a freighter,
that had brought supplies to the Axis forces, was to be used to ship the prisoners to
camps in Italy.
The ship named the “Sebastiano Venier” by the Italians had previously been a Dutch
ship with the name “Jason” a name favoured by many who later recorded their
experiences.
VOYAGE TO GREECE:
On the morning of 8th December boarding of the ship began with a contingent of the
Cape Coloured Corps being amongst the first to be loaded in No 1 hold in the forward
section of the ship. The remainder of the South Africans were in No 2 hold where I
suspect Harry Ibertson was. The No 3 hold over the engine room and the aft No4 & 5
holds were filled with New Zealand and British prisoners. The men were crammed
into these holds and given a loaf of bread and a tin of bully beef for the expected 2day voyage to Bari in Italy. The hatchways were battened down and the ship got
underway after dark on a route from Benghazi to the Greek coast to avoid patrolling
British submarines. The ship was escorted by an Italian torpedo boat.
ROUTE OF SS SEBASTIANO VENIER FROM BENGHAZI RTO ITALY
HMS PORPOISE:
Lying in wait 480 kms to the North was a British submarine HMS Porpoise that had
strict orders to sink all Axis shipping supplying Rommel’s troops in North Africa. At
14.26 on the 9th December the sub was 5 kms west of Methoni point on the Greek
Peloponnesian peninsula. The freighter carry the PoW’s was spotted and calculations
made to fire 4 torpedoes in quick succession. The subs periscope had been spotted by
the escort ship and from the bridge of the Sebatiano Venier. The freighter was
immediately brought round and the engines stopped. The Captain and crew were so
spooked by the sight of the sub that they made immediate plans to abandon ship. This
they managed taking all the lifeboats and clearing the ship before one of the torpedoes
struck the bows of the ship between No 1 & 2 holds. The loss of life was devastating.
Almost all the men in the forward hold were killed by the blast or by drowning. The
men in the No 2 hold had mixed fortunes with some of them managing to escape up to
the deck but some with major injuries. I suspect that Harry Ibertson was amongst
these men and suffered injuries to his leg. The balance of the men in the aft holds
were relatively unscathed and poured out of the holds to assemble on deck. A few
jumped overboard only to be chopped up by the ships propeller or drowning. Land
was in sight 5kms to the west and now an unlikely saviour appeared.
The sole German on board, thought to be the first mate, took charge of the ship and
instructed the men to crowd on to the aft deck in order to submerge the prop the was
riding high out of the water as a result of water taken on in the bows. The engines
were started and the ship made way toward the Greek coast and was beached at
Methoni point.
PATH OF STRICKEN SHIP FROM POINT OF IMPACT OF THE TORPEDO TO
METHONI
METHONI:
The weather was foul and the normally placid Ionian Sea was surging. It carried the
ship over a submerged reef and grounded her 90 meters from the rocky shore
alongside an old Venetian Castle. The Italian occupying forces were watching and
waiting to recapture the surviving PoW’s. It was now dark and too treacherous to
attempt to make it to shore. It was apparent that the ship would not sink and therefore
the majority of the men stayed on board. A few anxious ones tried to make the shore
with various degrees of success.
ROCKY BEACH WHERE SHIP WAS GROUNDED ON
9 DECEMBER 1941
THE FATE OF THE SURVIVORS:
The majority of the men stayed on board overnight & fortunately the storm had abated
by the next day and the men were brought ashore by means of a lifeline stretching
from ship to shore and a few cutters that were found to ship the men ashore. The men
were rounded up by the Italian soldiers and sent to 2 warehouses in the town. The
bodies that were recovered were buried in the town and were exhumed and transferred
to the Commonwealth War Cemetery in Athens in the1950’s. The 1500 survivors
spent one day in Methoni before being force-marched the following day to Pilos
(Navirino Bay) 12km away.
An Italian Hospital Ship “ Arno” based in Navirino Bay picked up injured survivors
who were treated & kept on board. I believe this is what happened to Harry Ibertson.
He was either badly wounded in the torpedo strike or by attempting to make it ashore
at Methoni.
VIEW OF WRECK SITE LOOKING NORTH
REMAINING PIECE OF WRECKAGE OF SHIP
PILOS - NAVARINO BAY:
The Italian occupying forces based in Pilos were not been expecting some 1500
PoW’s to be dumped on their doorstep. They also had to cope with the sick and
wounded that were put aboard the hospital ship the “Arno”. I presume Harry Ibertson
was aboard this hospital ship and died a week after coming ashore from the wreck.
His death certificate filled in by the Officer in charge of War Records states that he
died of pneumonia following leg amputation in a hospital in Athens. I have difficulty
understanding how he got to Athens 350 kms away. The Italians were not inclined to
help PoW’s much and transport by road to Athens was unlikely. The possibility that
the hospital ship sailed around the Peloponnesian peninsula to Peiraias is also difficult
to believe. I believe he died aboard the “Arno” and was buried with 80 other men in a
graveyard in Pilos. The bodies were exhumed in the 1950’s and transferred to the
Phaleron War Cemetery in Athens. I traced what I believe to be the original burial site
of these men in Pilos alongside a Greek Orthodox Church.
The surviving men were first incarcerated in the dungeons of Pilos Castle and later
marched to a transit camp and following that trucked to Patras. They were later
shipped to various PoW camps in Italy.
THE DUNGEONS IN THE CASTLE AT PILOS
ORIGINAL BURIAL SITE OF 80 CASUALTIES FROM THE SEBASTIANO
VENIER
PHALERON WAR CEMETERY ATHENS:
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission undertook the task of relocating the
remains of 2067 Commonwealth servicemen killed in Greece to a well laid out
cemetery on the outskirts of Athens at the coast. Harry Ibertson’s grave is there
together with 38 other South Africans. I came across the graves of 8 South Africans
who died on 9 Dec 1941; the day the ship was torpedoed.
HARRY IBERTSON”S GRAVE –2nd from Right – Front Row