Poisonous inferno
Subtitle: World War II tragedy at Bari Harbour
By: George Southern.
Publisher: Airlife; Brand: Airlife
Published: 2002
Place of publication: Shrewsbury
Language: eng
Number of pages: 194
Subjects: World War, 1939-1945 -- Campaigns -- Italy -- Bari (City).; World War, 1939-1945 -- Aerial operations, German.
Description: To the best of my knowledge, my book 'POISONOUS INFERNO' is the only published book researched and written by a survivor of the tragedy. Serving aboard the destroyer HMS Zetland berthed in Bari harbour, I was knocked unconcious by a massive blast and after regaining conciousness, carried out rescue, firefighting and salvage operations until dawn next day. The book contains my own experiences and many others from survivors and participants.
During the evening after a German air raid on the  port 17 merchant ships  were sunk and many more severely damaged.
Several Liberty ships carrying cargoes of high explosives and petrol blew up causing immence damage and loss of life. At least one merchant ship was carrying liquid mustard gas bombs which entered the harbour water in which hundreds of men were attempting to swim to safety. This book is about the tragedy on the night of  2nd December 1943 that was censored for 30 years. 

George Southern BEM (Mil)
Scarborough
UK
Notes: Includes index.