Jacket Notes | Justin Fox on writing ‘Hell Run Tobruk’

Like many South African children of my generation, I had a fascination for World War 2. I built model ships and planes, played war games in our suburban garden and devoured books about the great battles — particularly naval yarns by the likes of Douglas Reeman, Nicholas Monsarrat and Alistair MacLean. But I was always a bit disappointed that South Africa seldom featured in those stories. I think the seed was planted way back then to one day do something about this.

During my national service in the navy, I began to learn about the clashes that took place in our waters during World War 2. Many of the South African ships involved were converted I&J fishing trawlers or Norwegian whalers — hastily fitted with a few guns and depth charges to take on Nazi U-boats and raiders. I was astonished to learn that more than 150 Allied ships were sunk in South African waters, most by German and Japanese submarines.

Before embarking on my series of Jack Pembroke novels, I needed to do a lot of research to get the period and events right. I spent many hours in the British National Archives, Imperial War Museum and the British Library in London, as well as the archives of the Simon’s Town Museum, SA Navy Museum and those of Snoekie Shellhole, the MOTH attached to the Simon’s Town Museum (especially their meticulously recorded personal accounts of men who served at sea during the war). The research also brought me into contact with retired naval officers­ — all of them similarly passionate about World War 2 — who were happy to offer anecdotes and guidance.

Hell Run Tobruk is the third in a series of novels (each one a stand-alone story) about a young lieutenant, Jack Pembroke, who is posted from Britain to serve on escort ships based at the Cape. In this novel, Pembroke and his ship, HMSAS Gannet, are sent “up north” to Egypt, where they join a flotilla escorting Allied convoys around the eastern Mediterranean.

Jack finds passionate romance with a Spanish beauty in Alexandria, but is soon thrust into battle while running supplies to the beleaguered town of Tobruk, home to the Second South African Infantry Division. With the pressure building and ships around him being sunk by enemy bombers, Jack must deal with his own trauma while leading his men to safety. It all comes to a head when Tobruk is surrounded — about to fall to Axis forces — with Gannet still trapped in the port.

Given my background as a travel journalist for Getaway magazine, I’m the kind of writer who needs to visit and experience the locations of my novels to capture the “spirit of place”. So, for Hell Run Tobruk, I spent time in Alexandria, trying to find the old haunts of the South African sailors during the war. I also visited the battlefields, cemeteries and museums of El Alamein to see where many South Africans had fought and died. Visiting the locations brings authenticity to the writing ... and it’s also a wonderful excuse to travel to fascinating places. The next Jack Pembroke novel is set in Malta!

Hell Run Tobruk by Justin Fox is published by Jonathan Ball Publishers