Joseph Bertony (4 March 1922 – 7 April 2019) was a French-born Australian engineer. Trained as a naval architect, he served in the

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and, after the

Fall of France The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembourg and the Net ...

, as a spy for the French intelligence services. Bertony was captured twice by the Germans and imprisoned in concentration camps and successfully escaped both times. He was awarded the

Croix de Guerre The (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awarded during World ...

for his bravery and emigrated to Australia after the war. Bertony worked as a civil engineer and played a key role in designing the temporary works that allowed construction of the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue Performing arts center, performing arts centre in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive b ...

sails. This entailed making more than 30,000 manual calculations with an accuracy of . Subsequent computer checks showed that he had not made a single error. In later life he worked on wind turbine projects and as a mentor to young engineers.

Early life and war service

Bertony was born in

Corsica Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...

, France on 14 March 1922. His mother died soon after the birth and he was sent by his father to be brought up by an aunt and uncle. Bertony developed an interest in mathematics and studied

naval engineering Naval architecture, or naval engineering, is an engineering discipline incorporating elements of mechanical, electrical, electronic, software and safety engineering as applied to the engineering design process, shipbuilding, maintenance, and op ...

Saint-Tropez Saint-Tropez ( , ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Var (department), Var departments of France, department and the regions of France, region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Southern France. It is west of Nice and east of Marseille, o ...

. Following the outbreak of the

he joined the

. Whilst there Bertony's intelligence was recognised and he was recruited as a spy. Shortly after he began his work in intelligence he was detected and captured by the Germans, who imprisoned him in the

Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp complex Mauthausen was a German Nazi concentration camp on a hill above the market town of Mauthausen (roughly east of Linz), Upper Austria. It was the main camp of a group with nearly 100 further subcamps located throughout Austria and southern ...

in Austria. He was put to work as a forced labourer but managed to escape as a result of an administrative error made by the guards whilst he was being transported. Bertony resumed his work undercover but was arrested in Paris and sent to

Buchenwald concentration camp Buchenwald (; 'beech forest') was a German Nazi concentration camp established on Ettersberg hill near Weimar, Nazi Germany, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within the Altreich (pre-1938 ...

. He was forced to make use of his technical skills, working in an underground factory producing

V-1 flying bomb The V-1 flying bomb ( "Vengeance Weapon 1") was an early cruise missile. Its official Reich Aviation Ministry () name was Fieseler Fi 103 and its suggestive name was (hellhound). It was also known to the Allies as the buzz bomb or doodlebug a ...

s and

V-2 rocket The V2 (), with the technical name ''Aggregat (rocket family), Aggregat-4'' (A4), was the world's first long-range missile guidance, guided ballistic missile. The missile, powered by a liquid-propellant rocket engine, was developed during the S ...

s. Though he had little choice but to comply, Bertony remained ashamed of his role in producing these weapons for the rest of his life. The forced labourers received very little food, being lucky to receive a loaf of bread per day between five men. Bertony had a good metabolism and would often give his allocation to other prisoners, angering the SS guards. He was sometimes put to work on farms where he was designated a "carotenfuhrer", a prisoner with responsibility for guarding silos of carrots. The prisoners were prohibited from eating the crops they harvested, and during this time Bertony survived by eating boiled grass. As "carotenfuhrer" if Bertony allowed a prisoner to eat the carrots, which he did many times, both he and the prisoner would be stripped and flogged. Towards the end of the war, in 1945 with US forces approaching, the prisoners from Buchenwald were marched to the German-Czech border and loaded onto a cattle train. They were then taken to a remote spot to be executed by shooting. Bertony anticipated this and escaped the train in the company of another man. The two men endured ten days in the snow with no food and clad only in their thin camp uniforms. They survived to be rescued and became firm friends for the rest of their lives. Bertony was awarded the

by the French government for his actions during this escape.

Sydney Opera House

Bertony moved to Australia in 1953 to work at the uranium mines at

Rum Jungle, Northern Territory Rum Jungle or Unrungkoolpum is a locality in the Northern Territory of Australia, about 105 kilometres south of Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin on the East Branch of the Finniss River (Northern Territory), Finniss River. It is 10 kilomet ...

. At the time Australia operated a scheme that allowed European citizens permanent residency if they secured work in the country for two years. Bertony was given a job at Hornibrook, a construction company famous for its work on bridges, that satisfied this requirement. During the early 1960s Bertony worked on the construction of the

. The building's design with a number of large "sails" made up of 22,194 pre-cast concrete segments proved challenging to construct. The segments were to be fixed in position with epoxy resin and Bertony determined that a temporary steel "erection arch" falsework would be required to support the structure in the temporary condition. Bertony settled on a mobile telescopic truss system and completed the 30,000 necessary calculations by hand in six months. The structure, which had no flat elements, was complex, and the margin of error required was . The calculations had to be checked for safety, and this was carried out by computer. The only machine in the country powerful enough to do so was the IBM 7090 at the

Long Range Weapons Establishment The RAAF Woomera Range Complex (WRC) is a major Australian military and civil aerospace facility and operation located in South Australia, approximately north-west of Adelaide. The WRC is operated by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), a Se ...

at Woomera. This was only available during night time for one week in every month. One of Bertony's colleagues, David Evans, operated the computer and reported that no errors were found in Bertony's calculations. Evans later stated that Bertony's work had greatly helped the construction programme and claimed that "it would have taken many minds and many rounds of trial and error, and a much longer time and a much bigger budget, to get those ribs in the air if Joe hadn't been there". Sydney Opera House chief executive Louise Herron also stated "Bertony was a genius. Without him, the spectacular sails might never have become a reality".

Later life

After the Opera House, Bertony worked on other projects in Sydney including the

Roseville Bridge The Roseville Bridge, is a pre-stressed concrete box girder road bridge that carries Warringah Road, part of the A38 across Middle Harbour, located adjacent to the suburb of , in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The bridge is one of two c ...

in the

Middle Harbour Middle Harbour (or ''Warrin ga''), a semi-mature tide dominated drowned valley estuary, is the northern arm of Port Jackson, an inlet of the Tasman Sea located north of Sydney central business district on the coast of New South Wales, Australi ...

and the Pheasant's Nest Bridge over the

Nepean River The Nepean River (Darug language, Darug: Yandhai), is a Perennial stream, major perennial river, located in the south-west and west of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Nepean River, and, continuing by its downstream name, the Hawkesbury ...

. Bertony donated the calculation sheets from his time on the Opera House to the

Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences The Powerhouse Museum, formerly known as the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences (MAAS), is a collection of 4 museums in Sydney, owned by the Government of New South Wales. Powerhouse is a contemporary museum of applied arts and sciences, explorin ...

, and they are now held as part of the

Powerhouse Museum The Powerhouse Museum, formerly known as the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences (MAAS), is a collection of 4 museums in Sydney, owned by the Government of New South Wales. Powerhouse is a contemporary museum of applied arts and sciences, explori ...

collection. Bertony later ran calculations to prove that an earlier, more ambitious model for the opera house, one which had flatter concrete sails, had also been technically possible. In the 1990s he worked with a Scottish company to design a vertical axis wind turbine design and at the time of his death was working on a Scottish wind farm scheme.

Personal life

Bertony's wife was a pianist and physiotherapist at Hornibrook. They had no children and she died in 2016. Bertony was a lover of French food and dined out regularly in Sydney's restaurants. He also held a keen interest in electric vehicles and helped to mentor young engineers. Bertony died at his home in Sydney on 7 April 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bertony, Joe 1922 births 2019 deaths French spies French civil engineers Australian civil engineers French Navy officers French military personnel of World War II French emigrants to Australia Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France) Buchenwald concentration camp survivors Mauthausen concentration camp survivors