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| To The Limits of Endurance |
| Contributed by Johnny Harte, Royal Irish Fusiliers
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I am a journalist assisting Johnny(Jack) Harte to write his story on his life. Having heard and researched this remarkable man, I settled on the above title - hearing his story - you will understand why.
Johnny ran away from his home in Dublin in 1938, at the age of 16, in search of adventure. Smuggling aboard a cattle ship, he signed on with the British Army in Liverpool and after training at Borden Hants, was sent to pre-war Malta. He tells of all his experiences there -good and bad, from the temples to the 'Gut'.
Then sent to Palestine during the height of the Insurrections, he faced danger constatly and many of his friends were killed. Back to Malta, he served throughout the Siege, and tells of daily life on the Island, from the black market dealers, to the deprivation, sickness - polio, typhoid and starvation. recruited by the fledgling SAS/SBS he went on undercover missions behind enemy lines - dropped of by the submarine Trooper - which was torpedoed shortly after his departure - killing everyone on board.
Fighting on Leros, he describes the horror of their circumstances, despite which he kept his black sense of military humour , seeing the funny side in everything - it helped get them through.
Eventually captured, he was taken to Athens and put aboard a lice ridden cattle wagon with hundred of other prisoners, travelling for fourteen days and nights without virtuslly any food water or toilet facilities. Dysentry was rife and many died on the journey. he was to spent the next two years as a POW in STalag 7A, 11A and 357 - near Belsen in Germany - the secen of the notorious genocide of the Jewish people.
Finally released at the end of WW2 by the allies, he was flown to a british hospital where he spent several months recuperating. His family hadn't seen him for eight year and had received a message that he was missing in action. He tells of his time back in the army after the war, demobbing and back to Dublin, where he married and settled down. he later became a Senator in the Irish Government, serviving for 22 years until his retirement. The book is due to be published in Late September - the official launch will be in the Irish Parliament -The Dail - which in itself is historical as it has never been allowed before. The story remember many individuals who served alongside him, be they army, navy or SBS, and many survivors and relations of these peole are attending the launch, along with the archivist of the Royal Navy Submarine Museum. If anyone would like more details they can contact me on email at : sandra.mara@ireland.com, or the publishers : Liberties Press in Dublin ' www.libertiespress.com
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