Roy Heron - Story of a Digger - Part 2

Story of a Digger Part 2

It was January 1941 and the 2/11 Battalion were called into action.

They were to move the Italians out of Northern Africa; the first battle was at Bardia (Libya) and Roy was one of four dispatch riders that had to lead the convoy of troops. The Italians were not too interested in any conflict. Once the bombing started they surrendered without much resistance, there were a total of 30,000 prisoners taken in Bardia, it was reported one corporal took 20,000 prisoners. Some of the prisoners were Australian residents who were in Italy when the war started and were conscripted into the Italian Army, they just wanted to go home.

There was an abundance of Italian equipment confiscated. Roy ended up with a basic new desert motor bike to carry out his escort duties. The other young blokes wanted the new fancy bikes but those bikes did not last long in the harsh desert conditions.

It took around a day to clean up Bardia after it was captured; there was no time for rest and the 2nd/11th Battalion were on the advance again.

Tobruk was the next port of call. Roy observed from the top of an escarpment, the allies’ ship bombarding the town. The attack was fixed for the morning of 21st January. The 2nd/11th were not to lead the attack. The 2nd/3rd battalion was given this honour and suffered heavy losses, in the initial attacks. The 2nd/11th moved forward around 2pm and came upon some minor resistance, lost just 1 man and 6 men were wounded. During the next morning the Italians surrendered and around 27,000 prisoners were taken. The 2nd/11th Battalion was not the dominant battalion in conquering Tobruk, but they deserved a days rest and on the morning of 24th they climbed on the trucks and departed for Derna.

On the way to Derna the Italians bombed the lead riders. Luckily for them the ammunition was inaccurate and a lot of the time did not explode. Roy ended up crashing into a shell crater and his mate had to come back and see what had happened to him. He recalls looking over the hill into Derna; it was like an oasis in the desert. The Italians had settled there years before and fertilised the area.

On 30th January after several days of fighting, the Arabs from the town informed the head quarters that the entire enemy had left. The battalion had lost two and twenty one were wounded.

1st and 2nd February the battalion was assigned anti looting patrols in Derna until the Military police arrived. On the 3rd they boarded trucks and spent several days on the road going towards Benghazi, via Barce and Benina, but when they arrived it was found deserted and provided good shelter for the troops. In Benghazi Robert Menzies (Prime Minister) paid a visit to the troops and complained that they were too hard to catch up to.

On the 7th they headed to Soluch but they were disappointed to find out the battle had already been won. When arriving at Soluch there were another 27,000 prisoners to be processed. The battalion was relieved of this duty by a Pommy company, to our relief.

They sojourned at Tocra from 8th to the 24 February, the war was over for the time being. During the previous two months the Western Desert Force had advanced 700 miles and captured 130,000 prisoners. They rested and had time to clean up. They were allowed 2 bottles of beer per day; all the wells were poisoned so they had to drink wine instead of water.

Then it was back to Bardia and eventually back to Alexandria. There was a chance for a couple of days leave before embarking to Greece.

Greece

On the 10th April they departed for Greece with a convoy of three destroyers. The main port for disembarking was blocked with a sunken ship and they had to be landed by small fishing boats. The whole battalion was on board, 1000 men and equipment. They were not attacked on that forty hour trip.

By the 14th after many delays, they were in Larisa, surrounded by magnificent countryside. Continuing north to Brallos they met a British Armoured Division retreating and that congested the road more. The battalion moved further north until Kalambaka where they first came in contact with the Germans. The Stukas (German bombers) started to bomb the convoys on the 18th April, (Happy birthday Roy). The order to retreat was given. Roy was still attached to headquarter company and was trying to lead the convoys back.

The convoy was being bombed continuously then Roy’s good Italian desert bike was blown from under him. He was adrift for three days and was reported missing in action believed killed. He ended up in a Pommy unit, they gave him some rum and he slept for a few hours. Upon a request for another bike, a Pommy sergeant told him he could not give him one but he didn’t see him take it. So Roy headed off in the direction he came from on a brand new British motor bike and had just crossed a bridge when a voice yelled out that he was lucky because they were just about to blow it up. Here is where he caught up with his battalion.

The next big battle while retreating was Brallos Pass that the 2/11th defended. But the enemy planes had the advantage. The artillery held back the German tanks in the pass for a while, but the Stukas soon destroyed them. The losses at this time were heavy. They protected the retreat enough to allow most allies troops through.

The Germans were too strong, evacuation of Greece was ordered and Roy eventually had to swim to a waiting ship called the Hastings. Several ships were bombed around them. The heavy equipment had to be left on the mainland as the survivors headed towards the island of Crete.

On the 25th April 1941 the 2/11th rested under the olive trees near the Rethymno Airport with very little ammunition not knowing what was ahead.


To be continued