Daring feats of wartime sabotage and reconnaissance are things that most of us can only live out vicariously through films and books, but more often than not, they are fictional in nature.
However, an award-winning Australian author has given readers a palpable glimpse into the mindset and experiences of a real-life World War II covert operator, without having needed to set foot near a warzone or enemy encampment.
Katherine Barnes has written The Sabotage Diaries, based upon the activities of Allied engineer Tom Barnes, who was parachuted into Greece behind enemy lines with only the barest of training and equipment to work alongside local guerrilla forces in disrupting Axis supply lines.
Drawn not only from Tom Barnes’ own diaries, reports and letters, but also from the accounts of his comrades and a great deal of broader research on the conflict, Katherine Barnes has constructed
an absorbing book written entirely from Tom’s perspective, effectively putting herself in Tom’s head and bringing to life a colourful narrative on the hardships and accomplishments of his time in Greece.
If you’ve noticed the similarity of their surnames, you’d be correct in assuming a connection; Tom is Katherine’s father-in-law, and her interest in his wartime adventures was kindled when she came across some of his personal possessions, such as a button compass and a map of Greece printed on a silk scarf.
Speaking to Neos Kosmos, Katherine was able to convey the nature of Tom’s resilient but adventurous personality through a number of anecdotes, particularly in one interesting tale that took place prior to the events of The Sabotage Diaries.
“In 1938 he went to New Guinea for a year, working for an oil surveying company. He’s got a very detailed diary from that year, and I think he was certainly looking for a bit of adventure then,” she speculates.
“One day they were on a swollen river full of crocodiles, and the outboard motor stopped working. So he got over the side of the boat and worked on the engine in the water.”
It was this kind of fortitude that carried Tom through his time spent in the mountainous regions of western Greece, dealing with cold, hunger, boils, and the frequent threat of attack. He expected to leave following the completion of the legendary Operation Harling, which set out to destroy the rail bridges that were the lifeline of Rommel’s Afrika Korps, but the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) gave him little choice but to stay in Greece to continue his reconnaissance and sabotage activities.
To complicate matters further, Tom and his comrades had to enlist the help of both the pro-communist Greek People’s Liberation Army (ELAS) and the National Republican Greek League (EDES) who were frequently at each other’s throats when not fighting the Germans or Italians.
To his benefit, though, Tom was “a real practical person, a real problem solver” according to Katherine, who also describes him as “physically tough”. He was of undoubted emotional fortitude, too; thoughts of his future wife, Beth, living far away in Australia, are a constant presence throughout the story, as are their tender exchange of letters.
By Katherine’s own admission, the conversations in The Sabotage Diaries have been invented, but are faithfully based upon the actions and sentiments expressed in the source materials she has drawn from.
If anything, this unconventional approach should indicate the substantial undertaking and scope of The Sabotage Diaries. Not only did the book demand extensive research into the events, locations and people mentioned, but it also required an elegant and respectful creativity to bring all of these to life through Tom’s thoughts and conversations.
“When I read Tom Barnes’ diaries I got a very strong sense of his ‘voice’, so [The Sabotage Diaries] was something that felt very natural to write in the first person, even though it’s unusual to write creative non-fiction from the point of view of the protagonist,” explains Katherine.
Tom’s diaries were written with such expressive detail that it’s no surprise The Sabotage Diaries is an equally evocative read. “He’s speaking to you off the page,” she says.
Katherine is heading back to Greece in July with her husband, Christopher, who is Tom’s son. Due to a tragic road accident in Victoria in 1952, Tom passed away when Christopher was only two years old, and sadly he has no memories
of his father. However, Katherine related a story of a previous visit to Greece in which a resourceful librarian at the Benaki Museum was able to track down the telephone number of Sylvia Apostolidou, a woman who ran resistance operations and assisted stranded Allied soldiers during the war, and who came to be a good friend to Tom.
Katherine explained to Neos Kosmos what happened next. “My husband rang her and explained who he was, and then she said, ‘your father was the most wonderful man I ever met’. My husband grew up without his father, so for somebody who doesn’t remember their father at all, that was a very wonderful thing to be told. She’s a fantastic person.”
On their upcoming trip to Greece, Katherine and Christopher will be meeting with Sylvia, who is now in her 90s, and a handful of other individuals who knew Tom and provided a number of personal recollections that feature in the book.
The Sabotage Diaries has fantastically broad appeal, and the element of Tom’s narrative makes it particularly accessible to readers who might not otherwise be inclined to pick up a book set in wartime Greece. Like a saboteur under the cover of dark, the book will stealthily administer a solid history lesson cloaked in an enthralling personal tale of struggle, success and longing.
* The Sabotage Diaries (HarperCollins Publishers) is on sale now, RRP $29.99.