The Liberation of Bergen Belsen Concentration Camp
Welcome this new archive relating and dedicated to the men and women service personnel and the part they played at the Liberation and subsequent Humanitarian Effort of the Bergen Belsen Concentration Camp in 1945: The Liberation of Bergen Belsen Concentration Camp. UPDATE: Thank you to everyone who submitted a name/details to coincide with the anniversary of the liberation of Bergen Belsen – we’ll go through all your submissions, moderate and add them on. If you have a photo or any more details please email us. Thank you.
We are now inviting any relatives of service personnel who may have been at the camp to get in touch. Any regiment, service, nationality, volunteer or any snippet of information – we would like to hear from you. We do not believe there are any records of the diverse group of men and women, many completely untrained, who were involved with the camp, after it’s liberation.
My grandfather, helped to bury the bodies after the camp was liberated year later recognised himself driving a bulldozer during a show showing footage. Sadly gone now and greatly missed
British nurse with Red Cross attached to 29th British General Hospital, Royal Army Medical Corps in Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp, Germany, 1945
Audio Recording
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Allan, Allexander (Second Lieutenant) (113 LAA)
Alexander was born in 1910 in Scotland. In 1943, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant and joined the 113th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, The Royal Artillery. Part of the 113 advance recce party landing on Sword Beach, Normandy on June 7, 1944.
Interviewed for the Imperial War Museum in 1991.
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Allen, John (Jack)
Sapper 1930824 Royal Engineers
17th October 1906 - 25th August 1990 Preston Lancashire
American Field Service
(ME 32, FCC, CM 97), in a letter to his parents, wrote that the things he witnessed—the overwhelming number of survivors crying out for medical attention, the unsanitary conditions, and the remains of those around the camp who were denied a proper burial—“couldn’t be exaggerated, as they couldn’t possibly be made any more horrible.
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Alsen Lawrence Lt.
Ambrose, Stan
My uncle Stan Ambrose was one the first to step into Belsen, he was in the British army and after the war he hardly said about that sad time.
Submitted by: Alex Abercrombie
Amiss, James
my father told us about after the liberation of Belsen he was there for a while he said they took local people living near by to help bury some of the victims said he helped them off the lorry one woman in a fur coat I saw this photo the museum in Washington and it was just as he described and I am positive it was my dad he was in the pioneer corps name James Amiss have looked for photo can’t find it .
Submitted by: Evelyn Dean
Ancliff, Stanley George (RA poss 113)
1923–2013
Birth 7 JUL 1923 • 95, Southport Road, Plumstead, Kent
Death 12 DEC 2013 • Grimsby Hospital, Grimsby, Lincolnshire, England
He served with the Royal Artillery Regiment and was based in Hameln after WWII ended
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Anderson, Alfred Thomas
My grandfather who served with the Green Howards and was one of the troops who liberated Bergen-Belsen.
Submitted by: Natalie Freeman
Anderson, James Christie Lt. Col.
O.C. Surgical Unit, 29 British General Hospital R.A.M.C
More
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Anderson, Ronald
1st Canadian Parachute Battalion
Submitted by: Archive
Anson, Joyce
VAD (Red Cross?)
JOyce was from Nottingham
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Apicella, Gennaro (Catering Corps)
I’m trying to find out further information about my father’s part in the liberation of Belsen-Bergen.
He was a Company Cook in the Catering Corps and I’m currently trying to get his military records.
APV001483605: Gennaro Apicella (Service Number: 14379057)
He died in 1973 and 24.2.2024 would have been his 100th birthday.
Shortly after Frederick and his regiment were evauated out of North Africa, he was commissioned in his Guards unit, rising quickly through field promotions, to the rank of captain. He was one of he first British officers entering both Bergen Belsen and Dakow concentration camps. These latter experiences may have disturbed Frederick more than he would admit.
After the war, he became an alcholic and was able to hide the fact long enough to re-enlist as a comissioned officer with the King's Own Rifles. This regiment was sent to Africa (Kenya) where Frederick's alchoholism became apparant, and he was eventiually asked to resign his commission.
This may have prven too much for Frederick, for on returning to England,he took a room in a local boarding house and the, one night, while heavily intoxicated, returned to his room, closed the windows, sealed the door, and turned on a small gas stove and went to sleep - forever.
1912-1952
Captain Aylin was commissioned at Llandudno in 1940 and after coastal defence was posted as the first ALO at RAF Tangmere and flew ops in Bostons and Mitchel aircraft across Germany. As a fluent German linguist, he supported the Rhine Crossing with the 21st Army. He was tasked with setting up a Displaced Persons Camp moving into an abandoned WW1 wooden camp with the help of a Polish Doctor, a Priest and a Jewish interpreter who had survived both Auschwitz and Belsen. Here he set up a medical centre, a chapel, dormitories, a ‘swap’ shop and classrooms for children.
When the War ended Captain Aylin who had not seen his family for over three years decided to stay in Germany to carry out his duties, he had been tasked to do by Lt Gen Sir BG Horrocks, KCB, KBE DSO, MC. He continued in the post until he handed over the Camp to refugee agencies and was then demobbed.
In 1946, Captain Aylin was appointed Head of Repatriation and Resettlement in the post war Control Commission in Kiel. As a talented artist and outstanding draughtsman, his son Clyde presented his memoirs to the Royal Artillery Museum.
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Baines Arthur Raymond
Baker, Henry (Harry)
Remember him for he was one of the first British soldiers to liberate Belsen. Remember him for he risked his life to save others from burning buildings not once but twice. We will always remember our Hero, our Dad. God bless. Love always Daughter Bridget, Alan, Amanda and Cheryl.
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Balston Capt.
Bamber, Helen
Jewish Unit. Relief worker.
Poss part of the Quaker Team
More
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Barclay W. J. Sgt. (RASC, 11th Armoured Div)
649 Company of the Royal Army Services Corps, 11th. Armoured Division.
Wrote a report 21st April
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Bardsley, Ethel
Queen Alexandra Nurse
Submitted by: Archive
Bark, Evelyn
British Red Cross Civilian Relief Team
Part of the first group of 6 teams. x5 British Red Cross and Order of St Johns (now St Johns Ambulance) and x1 Friends Relief Service. Arriving night of 21st April, starting 22nd April.
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Barker, Effie L (Red Cross)
Effie Lucile Barker (1912-97), born 16 February 1912; served with the British Red Cross in Germany after the Second World War and was one of the first to enter the Belsen Concentration Camp after its liberation.
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Barnett, Benjamin George Capt. (Later Maj.) (63rd ATR)
249 Battery
63rd Anti Tank Regiment (QOOH)
Receiving his orders on 13 April, Lt Colonel Richard Taylor, officer commanding, 63rd Anti Tank Regiment (QOOH) selected 249 Battery commanded by Major B Barnett to move into the neutral zone and take over the camp at Belsen.
Barras Brian William
Barrel, Robert L (AFS)
American Field Service
Robert L. Barrel [CM 56, C Platoon, 567 Company (Coy)] arrived at Belsen the day it was discovered by British troops and was completely unprepared for the scale of mass murders, deprivation, and degradation he encountered. Inmates, who were too weak to communicate with their rescuers, were carefully removed from their bunks. They were taken to a field hospital where they could recover for a time before they were transported by air to England for further treatment.
“My AFS experience changed the course of my life. I grew up tremendously. My attitude towards other nationalities did not change. I’ve always thought that people are people wherever they are or wherever they come from.”—Robert L. Barrel
British Red Cross.
Woman at Belsen Just returned to Germany after a holiday at home is Capt. Miss Myrtle Beardwell, of the British Red Cross, daughter Mrs. Beardwell, of Avenue Road, Witham. Miss Beardwell was one of the first British women to enter Belsen.
After the wing arrived in Germany, Mr. Berger and some friends borrowed a Jeep to visit the
just liberated Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. He was shocked to find that, because of
manpower shortages, Hungarian guards who had been working for the SS only days before
were still guarding inmates. The sight of unburied bodies, most them Jews, shocked him even
more. "I was sick to my stomach. Overcome with revulsion," he said in his memoirs. "Those
images stay fresh in my mind. I am outraged and recall them vividly when I hear someone
claim the Holocaust never happened."
British Red Cross Civilian Relief Team
Part of the first group of 6 teams. x5 British Red Cross and Order of St Johns (now St Johns Ambulance) and x1 Friends Relief Service. Arriving night of 21st April, starting 22nd April.
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Blake, Harry
Royal Engineers
Submitted by: Pam Rogers
Blom, Stanley
79th Armoured Division. Landed and fought at Sword Beach during the Normandy landings.
(Thank you - if you have any more details or a period photo please email liberator@belsen.co.uk)
Dutch nurse, Annie Bonsel, came with Robert Collis and Han Hogerzeil as part of the Red Cross team
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Booth, A G (Major)
1575th Artillery Platoon (Light) RASC
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Bott, Reginald Douglas (113 LAA)
113th LAA.
Bombardier.
Service No. 1550474
Awarded Croix de Guerre 1940 with Palm
My father was in the 113 regiment as per the attachment. My mother did say that he was part of a regiment that relieved a concentration camp at the end of the war. I do not know if it was in fact Belsen? Please can you perhaps tell me more as I am trying to complete his journey from the Western Desert to the very end.
Medical Student. St Thomas
Contracted Typhus at Belsen.
During his time at the camp, he became very ill with typhus and was confined to care for two years
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Boyes, Kenneth (Jes) (113th LAA)
368 Battery
Quartermaster Sgnt major, In stores
More
Submitted by: Andrew Hudson
Bozovic/Vick Helga Anna
German Red Cross Nurse
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Bradford, David Cordley (Medical Student St Barts)
My dad Sgt brenchley , was a crocodile tank commander at the end of the war . To be honest not to sure of unit etc.
But anyway I thought you may be interested in these couple of pictures from his personal
Photo album. He as sent home at wars end then sent out to Malaya in 1948 with the 4th hussars for 3 years
He just labelled these photos in his album as burning Belsen
Bit blurry as you can appreciate as they are many years old.
Hope they are of interest.
Brierly, Keith (Medical Student) Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Brodie, John Thomas (113th LAA)
113th light anti aircraft regiment. Royal artillery DLI
Thank you - if you have a photo or any more details please email us at liberator@belsen.co.uk
Submitted by: Karen Allison
Bromhead, Albert Edward (113 LAA)
256630
BIRTH 07 JUL 1913 • West Derby, Lancashire, England
DEATH AUG 1989 • Portsmouth, Hampshire, England
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Bromley R. D. Lt.
Brooks, George Maurice (3RTR - 11th Armoured)
11th Armoured Division. His army number was 4620918.
We were told when we were growing up that my Dad had been in one of the first tanks that liberated Belsen. - although he himself never referred to it but for the one time.
More to follow...
Submitted by: Maggie Brooks
Broom, John Edward Maj.
141st (Ayrshire Yeomanry) Field Regt Royal Artillery
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Broughton Bill
Brown Thomas Colin Lyall
Brown, Ada Evelyn (Lyn)
Order of St Johns
Part of the first group of 6 teams. x5 British Red Cross and Order of St Johns (now St Johns Ambulance) and x1 Friends Relief Service. Arriving night of 21st April, starting 22nd April.
Queen Alexandra Sister
Molly, 82 from Ashtead in Surrey, met her husband Harold in the desert in Egypt in 1942. The pair married in Stroud, Gloucestershire, before they were separated as the D-Day forces landed on the continent. Molly followed the invasion armies to Germany where she encountered the horrors of the Belsen concentration camp.
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Bullock, William
Front line surgeon in the Burma campaign, a member of the team that liberated Belsen and a teacher of surgery in Fiji.
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Bunting, Harold William (113 LAA)
He was the eldest son of William and Ursula and was born in September 1894 in Chipping Norton. He had worked as a grocer's assistant and during the Great War he served as a Gunner with the Territorial Royal Field Artillery, serving in France from 1916. He remained in the Territorial Royal Artillery after the war. He married Dorothy Etches in Coventry in 1939 and lived in Royal Leamington Spa.
Recalled to service at the outbreak of the Second world War, he was with 113th Light Anti-Aircraft Battery in Warwick. He died in hospital in Leamington in November 1960, aged 66.
Chipping Norton British Legion
1916–1992
Birth 1 NOV 1916 • Wimbledon, Surrey, England
Death 22 FEB 1992 • Leatherhead, Surrey, England
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Burgess, Douglas Archibald
1917–1984
Birth 26 JUL 1917 • Richmond S, Surrey, Kent
Death JUL 1984 • Chichester, Sussex, England
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Burgess, Jack (RAF)
My late father Jack Burgess was there at the liberation of Belsen prison camp. He was an officer of the R.A.F. Regiment. He never spoke of it to me, but I found out from researching his war record. Later in life dad became a minister of the United Reformed Church.
(Thank you - if you have any more details or a period photo please email liberator@belsen.co.uk)
From Todmordon, Yorks
Bulldozer driver 19th April
More
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Burrows, G H (Gnr) (113 LAA)
113th Durham Light Infantry RA
368 Battery
Submitted by: 113th DLI Archive
Bush, Raymond Aubrey
RAMC
After qualifying, Raymond Aubrey Bush was called up to the Royal Army Medical Corps and was attached to the 15th Scottish Infantry Division. He served with them from 1940 to 1945, landing in Normandy a few days after D Day. He was one of the first doctors to witness the horrors of Belsen concentration camp
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Bushnell, Arthur (63rd ATR)
Lance Bombardier, 63rd ATR
249 Unit.
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Butcher, Edward Harry
Royal Armoured Corps— Regular Army Emergency Commissions
Butcher, E. H. (W.S./Lt. 1/10/42) (T/Capt. 22/11/45) 2nd Lt. 27/9/41
In Apr 1946 Army List still showing, in Aug 1946 List showing as being released by the with honorary rank of Lt.
ROYAL AIR FORCE.
GENERAL DUTIES BRANCH.
To be Plt. Offs. (tempy.) on being employed with the R.A.F. 3rd Feb. 1943: —
Edward Harry BUTCHER (Lt., R.A.C.) (51055).
Flg. Off. to Flt. Lt. (war subs.): —
3rd Feb. 1945.
E.H. BUTCHER (Lt. R.A.C.) (51055).
Commission relinquished. Flt. Lt. E. H. BUTCHER (Lt. R.A.C.) ( 51055) (on return to Army duty). 29th May 1945
More to follow
Submitted by: Michael Butcher
Butcher, R H (Capt.) (113 LAA) Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Butler, Henry Thomas Archer
11th Armoured Division
Thank you - if you have a photo or any more details please email us at liberator@belsen.co.uk
Submitted by: Kaye Redden
Butler, J (113th, 370 Battery)
From Yorkshire
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Cadday, Earnest Submitted by: Denise Waghorn
Cameron, Ross K (Chaplain) RCAF
Cameron, Ross K (Chaplain)
RCAF. Royal Canadian Air Force
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Cameron, Thomas Gordon
B. April 30th 1918.
(Earlier) 11th Light Field Ambulance.
Army Blood Transfusion Unit
Work for 2 months at Belsen
Canadian. I have a photo of my father there. His platoon was the unit that found the place. He was a combat veteran but he once said to me of all the torments his mind kept reminding him of this was the most vivid. He never got over it.
More
Submitted by: Rod Campbell
Carington-Smith, John
RAF. Wing Commander
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Carlton, G S (Capt.) (113 LAA) Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Born in Salem, Oct. 31, 1924, he was the son of Maurice E. and Gertrude (Crane) Carr. He was a graduate of St. John's Preparatory School.
Mr Carr was an ambulance driver for the American Field Service with Britain's 8th army in Italy and in Germany with its 2nd army. He was in the first allied medical team to evacuate prisoners from Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in 1945 during World War I
A Lineman in the 370th battery, 113th DLI
Service No. 14291548
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Cayley M. H.
Chambers, Bernard
Soldier
Submitted by: Pauline Daniels
Chapman, Charles (Major) (58th LAA Regt RA)
58th LAA Regt RA
My grandfather was Major Charles Chapman.
He only spoke of his experience just before he died. He was 44 years old when he crossed over to France
58th LAA Regt RA were at Belsen April 16
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Chapman, Frank (Sapper)
“The young soldier on the dozer was Frank Chapman 21 years old. He had to do this terrible job I met him at the 50 years commemoration at Bergen Belsen in 1995.” - Hetty Verolme
Submitted by: Archive
Charters, Cyril John (RAOC 37 Kinema Section)
Letter dated 15th May, 1945
“The full story of Belsen has yet to be written, but when the day dawns of its publication this most brutal, inhuman and ghastly Hell on earth will be revealed to the whole world.......I do not believe in gloating and publishing the sins of another whether that be a man or a nation, but this is a crime of which the whole world should know....”
C Platoon 567 Coy AFS
(American Field Service)
Bayard D. Clarkson [CM 90, D Platoon, 485 Company (Coy)] also participated in the evacuation and cleanup of the camp. Clarkson carried many survivors in his arms and brought them to an area where they could be stripped of their uniforms, wrapped in blankets, and deloused by German nurses.
14 Amplifier Unit.
Use of loud-speaker to restore order in the camp; organisation of inmates for first distribution of food in the camp; arrest of collaborators from among inmates of the camp; organisation of an interpreters pool from among inmates of the camp, the marshalling of the first 3,000 “healthy” women evacuated from the camp to the Panzer Training School (in cooperation with 250 Mil. Gov. Det.); allotting of evacuated people to new quarters, carried out by Sgt E. A. Clyne of 14 Amplifier Unit (in co-operation with 904 Mil. Gov. Det.)
Marked on IWM photos as Clynne from Hampstead
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Coe, Ronald Albert
(No 1442868, 205/89th AA Regiment, No 7 section Mideast Forces. The issue is that he died in the 70's so not much info is left. He did however tell a story of being at Bergen-Belsen. He was an artist and was commissioned to document the camp along with alot of other officers from the British army etc. He told a story of meeting Kramer and painting his portrait for later exhibitions. The painting was lost after the war when my Nan and Pop took it to an exhibition and it was gone when they went to collect it. On the off chance anyone has ever heard of a painting of Kramer with the Signature at the bottom showing as CAP, I think I would believe in miracles, but is worth a try.
Submitted by: Adam Linton
Cohen
Ambulance Driver Jewish relief
British Army
Submitted by: Jonathan Engel
Coigley, Michael Harold Farnham (Medical Student)
Medical Student. St Thomas
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Colclough, Freddie (32 CSS)
32 CSS
Caught Typhus at Belsen and suffered very badly. Evacuated to England and died from the disease.
Registered Deaths:
x1 d. 1945, Birmingham (Born 1921) Frederick H
x1 d. 1946 Wirral, Cheshire (Born 1902) Frederick C
x1 d. 1946, Stoke on Trent (Born 1874 - so can probably discard this reference) Frederick
NO records later than 1946.
Cook, Arthur Thompson (Later Maj. Gen.) (Medical Student)
Medical Student. St Thomas
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Cook, Frederick John (Trooper)
Tank Driver 23rd Hussars RAMC
Submitted by: Dorothy Ramser
Cooke, George
Recovery Group 1939-1946
Submitted by: Violet Cooke
Coombs, Peter
"The fact is that all these were once clean-living and sane and certainly not the type to do harm to the Nazis. They are Jews and are dying now at the rate of three hundred a day. They must die and nothing can save them - their end is inescapable, they are too far gone now to be brought back to life. I saw their corpses lying near their hovels, for they crawl or totter out into the sunlight to die. I watched them make their last feeble journeys, and even as I watched they died." Peter Coombs, British soldier, May 4, 1945 letter to his wife after liberation of Bergen-Belsen.
Submitted by: Archive
Copeland, Mary (Sister)
described how she was ‘now running a building with 180 patients who are being looked after by ten German orderlies, three German sisters and two German doctors, and I might add it is not an unpleasant position to be in, that of supervising doctors, and telling them what to do, quite apart from them being Germans’.
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Costigan, Patrick Gerald (Captain)
Medical Officer, 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion
Arrived Belsen on 15th April.
Stayed for 2 days.
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Cotton, Miss
Miss Cotton was in the first British Red Cross Unit which worked in Belsen after the liberation.
22 September 1954 - Shields Daily News
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Court, Maurice
Possibly Courts, from Wisbech in Cambridgeshire
Details to follow...
Born Dundee 1910.
Royal Horse Artillery
One of the first British doctors to enter Beslen.
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Creelman, Lyle
Canadian
Ms. Creelman was sent first to England and a year later to Germany as Chief Nurse of the British Occupied Zone. She was in charge of nursing at Bergen-Belsen after the British liberated the concentration camp.
(REF. Direct quote)
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Crick, Lewis
113 Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment
Submitted by: 113th Durham Light Infantry RA
Crisp Thomas
Crosbie, John (Jack) Lt. 113th LAA
Lieutenant in the Royal Artillery 113th DLI, LAA
More
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Croston, A K Lt (113th LAA)
(113th LAA)
Submitted by: 113th DLI Archive
Crowley, Cornelius
I had an Uncle who was in the Paras and was one of the first Catholic chaplains who was part of the liberation of the camp. I have a photo of him in uniform.
His name was Fr Cornelius Crowley,a Passionist priest.
He never mentioned anything about his experiences and I only heard about him being in Belsen after his death.
He was in Norway too and took part in a parachute jumps in Norway....
As a result of these ,he arranged for a German POW ' for a dog ,a German shepherd,be sent back to us in Ireland. So,we grew up with that dog,named Hasso. .
In 1939, John joined the Canadian Army as a private and went overseas for the duration of WWII. He landed on Juno Beach on D-Day, celebrated the liberation of Holland in Os and witnessed the liberation of Bergen-Belsen. He received a Commission with the British Army and finished the war as a Captain. John remained in the army and retired as a Lt. Colonel in 1970, the commanding officer of CFB Cobourg.
Passed away in March 2014 in his 96th year after a hard-fought battle against old age. John was predeceased in 2012 by his much loved wife of 67 years, Elizabeth,
L/SGT Belsen Liberator At rest on September 3rd 2019 at the R.S.U.H, Ray aged 95 years of Tunstall, formerly of Knypersley, dearly loved husband of the late Dorothy, much loved dad of Elaine & Adrian, father in law, grandad, dear brother to Catherine and the late Doreen, Joan, Mary & Wilf, brother in law, special uncle & great uncle. Ray will be greatly missed by all his family & friends. Biddulph.
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Dale, Thomas William (113th)
Service number 818096
Regiment 113 LAA Regiment RA
Gazette date 15 Dec 1944
Award Gallantry Cert.
Submitted by: 113th Durham Light Infantry RA
Dane, Rosslyn A J (Capt.) (113 LAA)
Rosslyn A J Dane
Birth 12/09/1912 • Dover, Kent
Death SEP 1997 • Thanet, Kent, England
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Daniell Robert Bramston Thesiger Brigadier
Daniell, Robert (Captain) Submitted by: Archive
Daniels, Bob (Lt Col) Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Captain William Denton, Royal Engineers, Personal No. 287521, Army No. 4749563
More details to follow...
Submitted by: Michael Denton
Deverill, K G Lt (113th LAA)
Att 100 Club (113th LAA)
Submitted by: 113th DLI Archive
Dews, Jesse (Pioneer Corps)
Jesse worked in the Pioneer Corps and served in France and Germany with Canadian troops.
He was one of the first in to the Concentration Camp of Bergen-Belsen.
Submitted by: Martin Greatbatch
Diack, Bill
2nd Fife and Forfar Yeomanry
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Dickson. Michael, Irwin (Sgt)
86th Hertfordshire Yeomanry Field Regt R.A.
Submitted by: Dorothy Ramser
Dixey, John Roger Bertram (Medical Student St Barts)
Medical Student. St Bartholomew’s Hospital
“We were dealing with the killer, the main killer, which was typhus.”
More
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Doherty, Muriel Knox
Arrived at Belsen Camp on July 11th 1945
"Australian nurse, who ran Belsen Hospital, is going Poland as chief nurse UNRRA Mission. This practical - looking woman with a kindly smile had one rule only in her Belsen hospital It was “No rules and regulations allowed.’’ ...
Muriel Knox Dougherty (1896-1988) was a leading figure in Australian nursing and nurse education.
More
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Doignie, Albert
REME Corporal attached to the 109th Heavy Artillery, RA. He too was at Belsen and he told me of some of the most appalling events there. He entered there on 15th April 1944 and remained there until he was sent home on leave, sick with dysentry, on the 18th May
Submitted by: Archive
Dossetor, Andrew Ernest (Medical Student St Barts)
My name is Harry White and I am attempting to find photos of my great grandfather Harold Doward who served in The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders of the Scottish Regiment and was involved in the liberation of Belsen in April 1945. Any information would be much appreciated
My Grandad John Duff went into the camp April 1945. He said it was a terrible place. I remember as a child playing with 2 silver rings a silver signet ting with a black enamel line through it and the other a silver skull and cross bones. He took them from a dead SS officer. He told me the skull and cross bone ring was an honour ring gifted to the Nazi members by Heinrich Himmler as a reward for good service. The camp had to be destroyed it was rife with Typhus.
Submitted by: Marie Millar
Duffy, Dennis Submitted by: Archive
Duncan, William
11th Armoured Division
Fife yeomanry
"Within the first tank squadron which helped the final push towards the camps". Mr Duncan, of Castlehill, Turriff
“in Africa and even in Italy all of us had made a distinction in our minds between the Nazis and the German people...as the first waves of such cruelly broken humanity became a flood [at Belsen], so did the hatred for the Germans in the hearts and minds of all those of A.F.S. who witnessed it at first hand.”
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Edwards, Clement (11th Field Amb) RAMC
Edwards rarely spoke about this experience — only in his later years did he begin to open up to family and close friends, explaining how what he had seen had shaped much of his view of life.
More
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Elberfeld, Richard
My dad was attached to a British unit as a volunteer (He was American) - he served in several theaters as well as Belsen
More
Submitted by: Anne Elberfeld Cole
Elder, Nancy (Agnes)
Nurse
Submitted by: Brian Elder
Ellenbogen, Basil K
Joined RAMC in 1942.
“His experiences of Belsen left a lifelong impression on him“
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Ellener, John Henry
1923–2001
Birth 30.11.1923 • Hunslet, Leeds, Yorkshire, England
Death 22.9.2001 • Leeds, West Yorkshire, England
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Elliott, Bernard
Corporal Bernard Elliott of 8 Royal Pioneer Corps Group.
“The smell and desolation surrounding the camp was overwhelming. The Commanding Officer rounded up all the officials and wealthy people of Belsen and set them to work caring for the sick and dying and burying the dead.”
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Elliott, John
My father Staff Sargent John Elliott of the Dental Corps was one of the first people to be in the capture of Bergen-Belsen Camp. He had to work hard in the first days as some German troops who had been the guards came to the hospital with broken jaws; the result of blows to the jaw by the butts of the first British soldiers who had fought their way into the camp. He then went on with the Army Hospital to secure the sanitanization of the camp before the huts were burned to eradicate any further diseases. He eventually fought with the Army Hospital all the way to Hannover where he was when the war ended.
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Ellis, Sid (RAMC)
Sid Ellis served as a nursing orderly with the Royal medical Corp.
“We had a lot of TB patients in our bit, didn't have em long and they we’re transferred to Sweden.”
He befriended one of the inmates and then went onto marry her.
https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/sid-ellis/
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Elvidge Katherine J. (Sister)
‘There is one English doctor to each square of five blocks, so as you can imagine we don’t see much of her. Then we have some Belgian medical students who also help, I’ve got two assigned to my block.’
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Emmerson, Robert (RAF)
My father was at the liberation of Belsen with the RAF 35 Wing attached to the canadian army contingent
Submitted by: Bob Emmerson. Jun
Essex (Unconfirmed) William
Evans, John Marshall (AFS)
D Platoon 567 Coy AFS
(American Field Service)
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Evans, Roy (34 CCS)
OBE
Commanding Officer. 34 Casualty Clearing Station. The first medical unit to go into Belsen. Twice mentioned in dispatches during the period.
1909–1999
Birth 21ST JULY 1909 • Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England
Death NOVEMBER 1999 • Abbeyfield House, Clitheroe, Blackpool, Lancashire, England
More
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Fagan, James (113 LAA)
The soldier featured in these pictures was James Fagan. James served as a driver/mechanic with the 113th (Durham Light Infantry) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment Royal Artillery having started his military service before the war as a Territorial with the 5/6th Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders based in Paisley.
He is shown at the wheel of his Bedford QLB ‘Bonnie Scotland’ which the vehicle markings tell us was Tractor number 3 belonging to J Troop of 370 Battery 113 Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment Royal Artillery.
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Submitted by: Roddy Brown, Chairman The Scottish Military Vehicle Group
Fairweather, John, Walter (Jack) - poss 113th LAA
Chief amongst these soldiers’ descriptions of the horrors of Belsen are the letters of 11407267 Gunner John Walter Fairweather (known as Jack). His son Stephen found three hundred and seventy six letters covering the period December 1943 to November 1946 which Jack Fairweather sent to his wife-to-be Renee. Five were dated between April 23rd. and May 10th. 1945.
Such was the dreadful reaction of the Allied authorities to finding Belsen, they relaxed the censorship restrictions and encouraged the soldiers to tell everyone ‘back home’ what they had seen. Jack Fairweather makes this very important observation in his first (and longest) letter dated 23rd. April 1945, four days after his arrival.
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Farmer Capt.
Farrar, Samuel Baxter (113 LAA)
Gunner - C Troop. 368 Battery.
113 LIGHT ANTI-AIRCRAFT REGIMENT ROYAL ARTILLERY
1558693
Awarded CROIX DE GUERRE WITH PALM
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Fay, Vincent Capt. (Army Chaplain)
British Army chaplain of 9th British General Hospital
More
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Fegan, Christopher Edward (Cpl)
REME
My father was a corporal in Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers.
Submitted by: Coin Fegan
Fergusson, Keith Maxwell (Medical Student)
Medical Student. St Thomas
Contacted Typhus at Belsen
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Fiennes, Nathaniel (Lord Saye & Sele)
We went into lots o huts and camps. The smell was appalling, and there were rows and rows of people inside. You couldn’t tell whether they were dead or alive: they might have been either.
“And then outside we saw a tractor and trailer with heaps of bodies on it, and a German sitting on top of the bodies smoking a cigarette.
“Close by there was an enormous pit and in it perhaps 500 bodies, but it may have been a thousand, I don’t know. It was a very large number of bodies.”
Name: FINDLAY, JAMES
Rank: Serjeant
Regiment/Service: Royal Artillery
Unit Text: 369 Bty., 113 (2/5th Bn. The Durham Light Infantry) Lt. A.A. Regt.
Age: 22
Date of Death: 11/07/1944
Service No: 2880635
Additional information: Son of James and Helen Findlay; husband of Winifred Joan Findlay, of Hickling, Norfolk.
Grave/Memorial Reference: 2. C. 13.
Cemetery: HERMANVILLE WAR CEMETERY
Army Number 1490783
Rank Gunner
Arm of service RA (LAA)
369 LAA BTY 113 LAA regt R A (DLI) TA
Date of last enlistment 15.7 1939 release leave certificate 16 Jan 1946
More
We believe he acted as a fitter on the Anti Aircraft guns (I assume) he had made mention that if shells failed, he was responsible for clearing and reloading the guns.
Submitted by: 113th DLI Archive
FISHER, FREDERICK GEORGE (KIA)
FISHER, FREDERICK GEORGE
Gunner
Service Number 412152
Died 30/09/1944
Aged 36
369 Bty., 113 (2/5th Bn. The Durham Light Infantry) Lt. A.A. Regt.
Royal Artillery
Son of Constance Fisher; husband of Ethel Mary Fisher, of Stockwell. London.
Buried at ARNHEM OOSTERBEEK WAR CEMETERY
Submitted by: 113th DLI Archive
Fisher, Harold D. (RCAF)
Harold was born in 1920 and enlisted in the RCAF in 1941. He served with 407 Squadron and then No. 2 127 Wing of Tactical Force at Tangmere on the south coast of England. On June 11, 1944, they sailed for France and landed at Beny-sur-Mer, Juno Beach. Heavy losses were incurred by their unit over the coming weeks. Harold volunteered to drive supplies into Bergen Belsen Concentration Camp after it was liberated. No words can describe the horrors encountered there. After VE Day the men in Harold’s unit volunteered to go to the Pacific theatre of war but it was over before that was necessary.
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Fisk, Magdalene
QARANC
(Thank you - if you have any more details or a period photo please email liberator@belsen.co.uk)
Submitted by: Julia Gilliatt
Flanagan, Mike
A warm-hearted Irishman who after liberating the concentration camp Bergen Belsen, fought in the British Army in the land of Israel/Palestine and deserted in order to join Jewish fighters in the war of Independence (1948).
More
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Fletcher-Barrett, K (Colonel) Senior Medical Officer
Dr Heinz Fuld, a well-known consultant physician on Merseyside, died on 21 January, aged 99. For nearly 70 years he had a home in North Wales in Llanarmon yn Ial, from where, after retiring from the NHS, he travelled to provide an outstanding private Rodney Street practice. Dr Fuld was born in Berlin, studied medicine in that city, as well as in Frankfurt, Vienna, Munich, Freiburg, and Heidelberg. He did research in Freiburg under the guidance of Hans Krebs, Nobel Laureate, and followed his mentor to the United Kingdom in 1933 as a result of Nazi oppression.
He obtained his MRCP in Edinburgh before entering general practice in south Liverpool until he was appointed physician to Sefton and Newsham General Hospitals. A major in the Royal Army Medical Corps during the second world war, he was the first British doctor to enter Belsen on its liberation. One can only wonder what distress this must have caused him—a secret he retained throughout his long life.
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
FULTON, ANDREW LIVINGSTONE (KIA)
Name: FULTON, ANDREW LIVINGSTONE
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Lance Bombardier
Regiment/Service: Royal Artillery
Unit Text: 376 Bty., 113 (2/5th Bn. The Durham Light Infantry) Lt. A.A.
Regt. Age: 22
Date of Death: 28/06/1944
Service No: 2984157
Additional information: Son of David Smith Fulton and Jeanie McMaster Fulton, of Paisley, Renfrewshire. His brother Angus McIntosh Fulton also fell.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: XVIII. E. 26.
RAMC Lt. 1945 Mentioned in dispatches. The first British medical officer to enter Belsen.
Won the Militray Medal in First World War on active service.
Medically trained at St Barts, qualifying in 1925.
Killed in a car accident January 22, 1956, Cooksbridge near Lewes. He was 53.
WCIT. War Crimes Unit.
Arrived 20th May. Produced initial report 22nd June.
14 page document summarised investigators key findings and made recommendations for the cases against key concentration camp personnel.
More
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Gent, Marie Lillian
Queen Alexandra\'s Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMNS)
More
In 1945 he became the Daily Express's "War Correspondent Cartoonist" with the 2nd Army.
At one point during World War II he was assigned as War Correspondent to the Coldstream Guards unit which liberated the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Giles interviewed the camp commandant, Josef Kramer.
More
Apparently, my grandfather trained in the REME but transferred to the 4th Royal Tank Regiment, fought on Gold Beach, Normandy, then the Battle of Falaise Gap, through to the Battle of the Bulge, then Operation Plunder in the Rhine and then Belsen.
Submitted by: Gemma Taylor
Gillies, Coll Royal Engineers
My Dad Coll Gillies Royal Engineers was one of the first into Belsen he never talked much about it he was 22 at the time.
More
Miss Muriel Gofton, Cala Sona Enterprise, Netherton. Miss Gofton, who was one of the first women to enter Belsen after the liberation and has done a remarkable work amongst refugees.
24 April 1959 - Wishaw Press - Wishaw, Lanarkshire, Scotland
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Goldberg, Sol
First Canadian Army. Mobile shower and laundry unit.
More
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Goldfinger. B. Rabbi
Rabbi Goldfinger. French Army.
Part of an open-air service at the festival of Shavuot on 18 or 19 May with Hardman
Gonin, Mervin Willett - Lieutenant Colonel (11 Field Ambulance)
Lieutenant Colonel
11 Field Ambulance
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Gooch, Colin
1909-1999
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Goodere, Alf
5th Infantry Regiment
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Gordon-Walker, Patrick Chrestien. (BBC)
BBC Radio reporter.
BOOK: The Lid Lifts: Patrick Gordon Walker, 1945 1st; Radio reporter Walker writes of his 2 trips to Germany to record victory; he arrived at Belsen 5 days after it was liberated, interviewing men of the Ox and Bucks who took the camp; camp inmates and a female guard;
Later MP
(3 June 1924 – 26 March 2013)
Educated at Winchester College, Gow was commissioned into the Scots Guards during World War II. He was one of the first British officers into Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in April 1945.
He became Commanding Officer of 2nd Bn Scots Guards in 1964 and Commander of 4th Guards Brigade in 1967 before becoming a Brigadier on the General Staff of Headquarters British Army of the Rhine in 1971.
Name: GRANT, ALBERT ERNEST
Rank: Gunner
Regiment/Service: Royal Artillery
Unit Text: 370 Bty., 113 (2/5th Bn. The Durham Light Infantry) Lt. A.A. Regt.
Age: 21
Date of Death: 03/07/1944
Service No: 11429818
Additional information: Son of James and Mary Ann Grant; husband of Edith Ellen Grant, of Nuneaton, Warwickshire.
Grave/Memorial Reference: V. G. 6.
Cemetery: ST. MANVIEU WAR CEMETERY, CHEUX
Gray, J W (GHQ Liaison Regmt) Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Gray, Martin (Soundman)
Soundman No.1 camp on 23rd & 24th April, along with cameraman Paul Wyand
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Gray, William F (Sgt)
B Sqr, 23rd Hussars
April 15th (War Diary)
At 08.00 hours. 23rd Hussar Group moved through Winsen, turning north, "B" Squadron leading. Some Bazooka and machine gun opposition was met north of Winsen in 4758, but this rapidly cleared and the enemy dispersed by setting fire to the wood. North of Walle, 4862 there were notices in English declaring the Belsen area to be typhus infected and to be a Neutral Zone. This was observed without incident and we passed the camp at great speed, little knowing what horrors it concealed. At about 14.00 hours "A" Squadron Group which had moved via 5186, passed through "B" Squadron Group which had established itself in Bergen, 5070 without incident. 1/100,000 Sheet M4.
"Two or three days later we were halted and informed that there was a 24 hour truce and we had to remain where we were. I later learned that a camp full of Jewish prisoners was nearby. This was the notorious camp called Belsen. We were actually the first tank to reach the white ribbon that stretched across the road. Somehow I thought this was a ruse and it allowed many high ranking officers to escape. On passing through the village I often wondered how the villagers could deny knowledge of its presence. I could see and smell the emaciated prisoners clinging to the wire fence as we passed through."
Wiltshires. though the actual day in april the wiltshires arrived is not clear. that said he was de-mobbed at hohne barracks in november 1945. he must have been there in the early days of liberation as when we went to belsen in 1982 he recalled the layout of the camp clearly, the head of the camp, kramer, being led out under close guard and the local population of belsen town being forced to visit the camp - they did so in their sunday best clothes! they were forced to see at first hand what belsen was and still denied any knowledge. he also described the torching of the wooden huts by 5th wilts owing to typhus.
he had a walking stick carved there by a german nco for a packet of cigarettes - it details all the main 4th batt. wiltshires battles and ends "belsen horror camp 1945. it is now in the wardrobe museum in the belsen display; one of two carved at that time.
Haddow, James Charles Morrison (Royal Signals Corp) Lt.
Born September 19, 1922; Died July 28, 2010.
JAMES Charles Morrison Haddow, who has died aged 87, was a Renfrewshire lawyer who, during the war, took part in the invasion of Normandy and later was part of the force that liberated Belsen. He was also the man who gave a job to a young Annabel Goldie, the future leader of the Scottish Conservatives in the Scottish Parliament.
Known to all as Morrie, he was born in Kilmacolm, the only son of Charles Morrison Haddow and Jean Greave Haddow (nee Penman). On leaving the High School of Glasgow in 1938 he embarked on a law degree at Glasgow University and had just completed his first year of study when the Second World War broke out and he enthusiastically answered the call of king and country. He served as a lieutenant in the Royal Signals Corp, where he served with distinction and took his full part in their war efforts, being part of the D-Day landings, going ashore on D-Day plus 2 on Sword Beach.
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Haines, Doris
Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Nursing Service
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Hale, Tom (AFS) Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Hall-William, John
(Friends Relief Service)
FRS arrived at Belsen Sat night 21st April and started 22nd April.
Rose to rank of acting Lt Col.
Worked with repatriation of refugees at Belsen.
Subsequently bacame a doctor
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Hall, James (49th Tank Regt) Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Hamilton, Mervyn Leslie (Medical Student)
During the second world war Leslie was so horrified to hear of the atrocities in Germany that he broke off his medical studies and went to Bergen Belsen to help tend the survivors. When he graduated he set up a singlehanded practice in Merthyr and in the mid-1960s set up practice in the Ely part of Cardiff. Here his interest in sports medicine started and in 1965 he became honorary medical officer to Cardiff City Football Club.
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Hancock John Arthur Harland
Hankinson, John (Later Professor) (Medical Student)
Medical Student. St Mary’s
London
10/03/1919 - 09/03/2009. Prof of Neurosurgery. Newcastle upon Tyne.
More
Submitted by: Liz Earl (Daughter)
Hanks, George (63 ATR)
Oxfordshire Yeomanry. 63rd Anti-Tank Regiment
More
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Hansell, Les
Parachute Regiment - 6th Airborne Division, 9th Battalion
More
Reverend Leslie H. Hardman was the 32-year-old Senior Jewish Chaplain to the British Forces, attached to 8 Corp of the British 2nd Army when Bergen-Belsen was liberated. Hardman was born in Wales; his father was from Poland and his mother was from Russia. After the war, he wrote a book entitled "The Survivors - the story of the Belsen remnant" (Vallentine, Mitchell & Co. Ltd) in which he described what he saw at Bergen-Belsen.
More
1919–1979
Birth 17/02/1919 • Sheffield, South Yorkshire
Death c1979 • Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Marriage 24/08/1946 • Sheffield, Yorkshire West Riding, United Kingdom
Maria Kazyzanowska (1920–1995) was interred at Bergen Belsen Concentration camp when she met Harry who was serving with liberating British Army.
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Harmon, John J (AFS) Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Harper Francis Edward Lt.
Harrell, William Cecil (89th Infantry Division)
Mr. Harrell was born November 16, 1921 in Lincoln Parish and passed away October 18, 2014 at his home surrounded by his family. He was a committed Christian who was a faithful member of Salem United Methodist Church.
On July 11, 1944 he married Armede Wright, while home on leave from the U.S. Army. In December of that year he shipped out overseas to serve in World War II with General George Patton's 89th Infantry Division. He served in France, Germany, Italy, Czechoslovakia, Belgium, and Switzerland. He said many times that he walked all the way across Germany. After V-E Day he was stationed at Camp Lucky Strike, a deployment camp in France for solders returning home. His company also helped liberate survivors of the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp.
After returning home from the war he worked for Chevron, formerly the California Company, until his retirement in 1986.
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Harries, John (113 LAA)
55 Searchlight Regt RA: 113th LAA
Submitted by: 113th DLI Archive/Belsen Archive
Harrison Sgt.
Harrison, Earl G
President Truman's representative for DP affairs in Occupied Germany
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Hartman, Harold Arthur
Mr. Hartman proudly served in the US Army Air Corp during World War II. He was inducted January 4, 1943 in Alpena, Michigan and served in the Central Europe Campaign under Patton in HQ Battery 550th AA BN 3rd Army participating in the Battle of the Bulge. He was a PFC and served as an interpreter for the interrogation unit in Patton's Third Army. During his time overseas he was present at a meeting involving Churchill, Stalin, Eisenhower, Montgomery (whom he met personally) and Patton discussing who was going to take Berlin. He was also involved in the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.
1919-2012
Guy's Hospital medical student.
Haywood John Edward
Haywood, Harold Sgt. No.5 AFPU
No 5 Army Film and Photographic Unit
Arrived and filmed 16th April.
Was in the camp for one day (16th)
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Heard, Miss.
British Red Cross
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Heath, James Kitchener (Lance Corporal)
12 DPACS (Displaced Persons Assembly Centre)
Arrived mid July 1945
More
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Heaven, Reg
RAF
Displaced persons
Submitted by: Alan Heaven
Helfgott, Herman, Rabbi
Rabbi Helfgott was a chaplain in the Yugoslav army who was captured by the Germans in 1941 and liberated by the British near Celle in Germany in 1945. He made his way to Belsen, arriving there on 30 April, and threw himself into the work of the Central Jewish Committee which had been established there by former inmates.
Part of an open-air service at the festival of Shavuot on 18 or 19 May with Hardman
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Henderson, Jim (113th LAA)
"Young people don't always believe it. It is important to remind them," said the 83-year-old great grandfather at his home in Huntington, York.
More
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Hennals, (Gnr)
113th Durham Light Infantry RA
369 Battery. Awarded Croix de Guerre with Bronze Star. 15th April, 1945
Submitted by: 113th DLI Archive
Hepplestone, David (113 LAA)
SERJEANT
975639
113 LIGHT ANTI-AIRCRAFT REGIMENT ROYAL ARTILLERY
Awarded CROIX DE GUERRE 1940 WITH PALM
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Herbert, R B Lieut (113th LAA)
(113th LAA)
Submitted by: 113th DLI Archive
Herford, M.E.M. Lt. Col.
163 Field Ambulance
Lieut.-Col. M. E. M. Herford, D.S.O., R.A.M.C.
More
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Hermitage, Ted (3RTR - 11th Armoured)
More to follow...
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Herzog, Chaim
Intelligence Corps
(Later became Israel's Ambassador to the UN and then President of Israel)
More
He never spoke about his experiences to anyone, nor did I get the chance to ask.
More
Submitted by: Nick Mavroidakis
Hibbert, Ernest (113 LAA)
From Sheffield
Birth 13 MAR 1901 • Sheffield, Yorkshire, England
Death ABOUT 1979 • Rotherham, Yorkshire, England
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Higginbotham (Sister 32 CSS)
Senior Sister Miss Higginbotham attaqched to Number 32 Casualty Clearing Station OR No 11 Field Ambulance
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Hill, Ernest (58th LAA regiment)
I recently came across your web site concerning the liberation of Belsen concentration camp.
My father, Ernest Hill, was a bombardier in the 58th LAA regiment, and typed in the camp his impressions of the first few days of the liberation. He did not talk about his experiences but I have copied out his original memories that I hope will be of interest
(More details to follow)
Submitted by: Alan Hill
Hill, Frederick Thomas
1895–1973
Received medal from Pope for being at liberation of Belsen Concentration Camp.
More
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Hills, S J (Capt.) REME attached (113 LAA) Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Gunner 997767 Matthew Hutton, 113th
Light Anti Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery, died on 16th January 1945 age 24.
Son of Roger and Mary Jane Hutton of Kenton, Newcastle upon Tyne.
Cremated in Newcastle upon Tyne (West Road) Crematorium.
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Ibbotson, J Lt (113th LAA)
(113th LAA)
Submitted by: 113th DLI Archive
Illingworth, James William (Jim) Gnr. (113 LAA)
Gunner James William Illingworth and I live at Cheshire.
Featured on Cine film 24th April, 1945
More
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Impey, Lilian (FRS Team 100)
In April 1945, FRS Team 100 under Lilian Impey was summoned from Belgium to the concentration camp at Bergen Belsen, just days after it had been liberated by the British army.
PhotoMore
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Ingle, Thomas
Spr Thomas Ingle
285. (W). Field Park Company
Royal Engineers
BAOR
General practitioner Andover 1946-82 (b Belfast 1915; q Queen's Belfast 1938), d 2 April 2000. As a captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps, he was involved in the evacuation of Dunkirk, field hospitals in El Alamein, and returned to Normandy on D-Day. He later helped at Belsen camp, a subject about which he declined to speak. Demobilised in 1946 as a major, he joined a singlehanded practice, which grew to be the largest four man partnership in town by the end of the 1960s. He became senior partner in 1959, and was a driving force behind the new health centre. Outside medicine, he enjoyed sailing in his motor yacht, golf, and visits to his daughter in Corfu
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Isaac, Cyril - Photographer
Together with Alan Moore, was one of two Australian photographers who found themselves present at the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp on 15 April 1945. Their photographs unflinchingly capture the horror of the camps.
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
JACKSON, ERIC (KIA)
Name: JACKSON, ERIC
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Gunner
Regiment/Service: Royal Artillery
Unit Text: 113 (2/5th Bn. The Durham Light Inf.) Lt. A.A. Regt.
Age: 28
Date of Death: 03/07/1944
REF in war diary
Service No: 1526427
Additional information: Son of John and Elizebeth Jackson; husband of Viola A. Jackson, of Nawton, Yorkshire.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: VIII. F. 8.
Cemetery: BAYEUX WAR CEMETERY
Killed by splinters, believed to be from an enemy 88mm shell.
Sergeant with the Intelligence Corps - British Army for six years. Following the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, Tom was part of the team that arrested the SS Guards on 17 April 1945.
More
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Jackson, William (Bill) Sgt (113th LAA)
Regiment 113th LAA, Royal Artillery
Rank: Sergeant (Regimental Sergeant Major)
DOB: 3/12/1920 Birth place around durham / hartlepool area
Address: 17 Park Street. West Hartlepool
Submitted by: 113th DLI Archive
Jacobsthal, Hilde
Hilde Jacobsthal worked as a childcare provider, nurse, ambulance driver for the Belgian resistance. As a nurse at the newly liberated Bergen-Belsen camp, she learned that her best friend Margot Frank and Margot's sister, Anne, had died there weeks earlier
I am wondering if you may have any records or information in regards to my great grandfather, 14340467 Sgt Thomas Jasper. He was in the anti tank platoon of the south Lancashire regiment and the story goes his section was involved in the liberation of Bergen Belsen concentration camp.
Submitted by: Benn
Jenkins Edward G LCpl.
Jenkins William John
Jenkins, Edward G
Lance-Corporal. Guarded Josef Kramer. Nes article 26th April, 1945
368 Battery
On landing in Normandy the Battery commander.
85862
Awarded MILITARY CROSS. 11/10/1945
From Sunderland.
Badly Injured, 25th March 1945, Rhine Bridges.
Born: Jan 1906, Sunderland.
Probate Ref: 7 Palatine Road, Birkdale, Southport, Lancs.
Died 9th February, 1962. Married to Sheila Ethel Jobling
Liberation Dolls given to Miss Johnson of the British Red Cross.
More
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Johnson, Ronald Sydney
My grandfather was always reluctant to talk of the experience and only spoke about a boy in the camp he offered a bar of chocolate from his rashion pack to
Submitted by: Martin Slade
Johnson. Gordon Rankin
CSqdn 5RTR. My father told me how their stomachs were too weak for food. They had to have "slops". Dad saw lampshades made from tattooed skin. He said the smell was horrific, and never forgotten.
(Thank you - if you have any more details or a period photo please email liberator@belsen.co.uk)
Submitted by: Gillian Johnson
Johnston, James Alexander Deans Lt. Col. (Later Maj. Gen.)
Commander of the 11th Light Field Ambulance unit and appointed senior medical officer.
32nd Casualty Clearing Station
MoreMore 2
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Johnston, William James (RA)
1918–2012
Birth 03 MAR 1918 • Norton Bavant, Warminster, Wiltshire, England
Death 29 JUL 2012 • Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia
Enlisted in British Army - Artillery (25 pounders) -Served in post-D-Day landings in France, Belgium, Battle of the Bulge. Remained in Germany in Occupation Forces including witnessing, first hand, Belsen Concentration Camp just after surrender.
369 Battery
Perhaps B.S.M. J. Joyce. of 59 Tenth Street, Blackball
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Jones Richard Kingsley
Jones, Douglas
B Platoon. RASC.
King’s Shropshire Light Infantry
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Jones, Eva Moreen (Sister) QAIMNS
Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Jones, John Frederick Submitted by: D Pearse
Jones, John Spencer
Guy's Hospital medical student.
Jones, Jonah
224 Parachute Field Ambulance
Attached to 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion
More
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Jones, Joseph
My Uncle Joseph Jones was one of the first through the gate, giving medical assistance to the poor people in there. He spent weeks working in there and gave evidence that was used at the Nuremberg war trials to send the Nazis to the gallows. On his return to the UK, he became a vicer in Blackpool and passed away about 20 years ago.
Unfortunately don't know his unit or whether he was RAMC. I know he married a Wren who worked as a BOMBE Operator in Bletchley Park, my Aunt Jessie. The only photo I have of him is with a dog collar on. I'll contact his son Martin to see if he has any details. I'm a Navy Veteran myself.
(Yes please - a photo and any more details would be fantastic!)
Submitted by: Michael Woodfin
Jones, Len
"Old Soldiers never die, they just fade away" Veteran of Normandy Landings and a Liberator at Bergen Belsen Concentration Camp Len, sadly passed away at the age of 93 years on 20th May 2017 at Hengoed Park Residential Home, formerly of Orchard Court. Loved father of Cheryl and Jeff, dear father-in-law of Clive and Roberta, much loved grandpa of his grandchildren and great grandchildren.
He joined the Royal Army Medical Corps in 1932 but resigned his commission in 1934 to return to dispensing practice in Ballymena and to be medical officer of health. He served in the army during the second world war and was wounded at Dunkirk. He served in Persia and Iraq and was second hygiene officer Second Army from Normandy to Lunenberg Heath. He was responsible for the sanitary clearing of Belsen and other concentration camps, for which he was awarded a military OBE. He was also present at the surrender of the German medical services at Lunenberg Heath in 1945. He returned to general practice and took an active interest in public health matters. For 32 years he was medical officer of the Royal Ulster Rifles, later the Royal Irish Rangers, at the Ballymena regimental depot.
Name: KENNY, ALFRED JAMES
Rank: Gunner
Regiment/Service: Royal Artillery
Unit Text: 113 (2/5th Bn. The Durham Light Inf.) Lt. A.A. Regt.
Age: 36
Date of Death: 28/06/1944
Service No: 1617489
Additional information: Son of James and Christina Kenny, of Stirling.
Grave/Memorial Reference: V. D. 20.
Cemetery: ST. MANVIEU WAR CEMETERY, CHEUX
Submitted by: 113th DLI Archive
Kent Philip David Alexander
Kenyon, Eric
My dad's next door neighbour Eric Kenyon was one of the first through the gates of Belsen. They occupied the site for six months, clearing up and their 'reward' was to be sent to Japan to clean up after the atomic bomb devastation there.
My dad was with the british tanks there, he cried about it even just before his death in 1986. he was not jewish , just a human being in a peoples army trying to do the right thing. His name PAUL Knoth i am Howard knoth one of his sons.
My father, George W. Knowlton, served with The American Field Service in WW2. He was in North Africa and participated in the liberation of Bergen Belsen.
(More details to follow...)
Submitted by: Joy Knowlton
Kohn Elisabeth
Korn Gerald Woolf
Krantz, Hermina
Former inmate.
Birth date: 3 May 1918; Birth place: Hamburg
Kinderbaracke (children’s barrack)
Kunkel, Norman C. (AFS)
1918 - 2009
Once WW2 broke out Kunkel tried to enlist but was rejected because of an old elbow injury. He joined the AFS as an ambulance driver in the summer of 1943 and was sent to India and Burma. From November 44 - April 45 Kunzel served in Italy before entering Belsen.
Interrogation team.
Ref 24th April.
Ref as former inmate prior to being with french resistance.
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Latus, Harry
RAMC att. 8th Army. Medical Corps.
My Dad (Henry) Harry Latus was amongst the first medics to enter Belsen. He rarely spoke about it but you could always tell he was hiding something in his heart and memores. In his eighties he wanted to return , to lay the ghosts I think , but he was very poorly by then so we took him to see the Holocaust exhibition at the Imperial War Museum London. All the horrors were documented there. The first and only time I ever saw Dad cry was when he remembered a small girl coming to him for help. She had typhus tumours and he couldn’t do anything for her. She died that night.
RAMC
Medical Hospital
“We the unit to which I was attached arrived at Belsen, premilimary clearing of the camp had already been done. This was soon completed and we were present at the official burning down of the camp.”
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Lewis, Mike Sgt (AFPU)
Mike Lewis, a Jewish soldier in the British Army, filmed the bulldozers, driven by British soldiers, as they shoved the emaciated bodies towards the mass graves. This documentary film is still shown today at the Memorial Site. In the film, Mike Lewis said that he took a turn driving the bulldozer himself, while another soldier held the camera.
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Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Lewis, Richard A.
Native of Columbus, born April 10, 1925, to Joseph and Ruth Berliner Levison. After graduating Columbus East High School, Richard joined the U.S. Army serving in both World War II and the Korean Conflict. He earned Silver and Bronze Stars, two Purple Hearts, and was commissioned as an officer in the field, ultimately earning the rank of Lt. Colonel. He was among the forces that liberated Bergen-Belsen.
Richard founded Richard Lewis Travel with branches in Columbus, Dayton, Cincinnati, Louisville, Houston, San Francisco, and London, England. He was known as "Mr. Travel" throughout the travel industry.
My dad was a British soldier at Belsen but after the war he wouldn’t speak about it (I was born on April 17th 1945).
My dad was Gunner 1575864 George Bernard Liddiard of 110 HAA regiment and he went to Belgium in the autumn of 1944.
However, as there were no enemy aircraft to shoot at in the Spring they joined the infantry and were ‘mopping up’ so not sure if they stumbled across Belsen or were ordered in?
His release book says that he was transferred to RASC/Pool with EFI.
113th DLI
SERJEANT
4690934
Awarded MILITARY MEDAL
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Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Ling, Arthur Patrick (poss 113th)
Gunner.
(Asked if related to 113th LAA Lance Serjeant Ernest Ling)
Submitted by: Patricia Wainwright
LING, ERNEST (KIA)
Name: LING, ERNEST
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Lance Serjeant
Regiment/Service: Royal Artillery
Unit Text: 368 Bty., 113 (2/5th Bn. The Durham Light Infantry) Lt. A.A. Regt.
Age: 25
Date of Death: 22/07/1944
Service No: 2061888
Additional information: Son of Henry Joseph and Rose Ling; husband of Florence May Ling, of Forest Hill, London.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: I. E. 12.
Cemetery: BAYEUX WAR CEMETERY
Rank: Warrant Officer Class II (B.S.M.)
Regiment/Service: Royal Artillery
Unit Text: 113 (2/5th Bn. The Durham Light Inf.) Lt. A.A. Regt.
Age: 31
Date of Death: 28/11/1944
Service No: 1694013
Additional information: Son of Joseph Edward and Maud Lipscombe; husband of Muriel Mary Lipscombe, of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Grave/Memorial Reference: IV. A. 9.
Cemetery: VENRAY WAR CEMETERY
Submitted by: 113th DLI Archive
Livingston, William Francis (Royal Armoured Corps)
William Francis Livingston joined the 7th Armoured Division North Africa on 29th June 1939 at the age of 16 as part of Royal Armoured Corps. It as only discovered he was under-age to join after completion of basic training and on the sea journey to relieve Torbruk as 1st Armoured Division to North Africa - at this point it was too late to do anything about it.
On the 15th September 1943, the Regiment landed at Salerno in Italy, but after the Volturno crossing, it returned to England with the rest of 7th Armoured to prepare for North West Europe. Located at Thetford Forest, Norfolk to prepare and waterproof equipment and vehicles for further battles in Normany and into Europe.
Now part of the British 21st Army Group (under General Montgomery), British Second Army. The Fifth landed in Normandy on the 7th June 1944 and, after heavy fighting in the “Bocage” the Fifth took part in the Great Advance through France and Belgium. By December 1944 the Fifth was in Germany, crossing the Rhine in March and reaching Hamburg by May. His unit was amongst the first to enter and witness the horrors of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, see: http://www.scrapbookpages.com/BergenBelsen/Introduction.html
After the German surrender, 21st Army Group was converted into the headquarters for the British zone of occupation in Germany. It was renamed the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) on 25 August 1945 and eventually formed the nucleus of the British forces stationed in Germany throughout the Cold War. The Fifth remained in Germany for the next eight years at; Wilster, Brunsbuttel, Hamm and Hohne. The Fifth was the first Armoured regiment to be issued with Centurion Tanks. He left the army in November 1949, one day before his 27th birthday.
Primarily a driver of lorries, armoured vehicles and tanks, losing his two front teeth as he crashed into a tree taking a corner, as a dispatch rider, on a motorbike. During his time in Germany he was a corporal and PT Instructor, becoming extremely fit and running many long distance races. He was amongst a handful of athletes who ran sub 4 minute miles in the early 50's. However, Roger Bannister was the first to be officially recorded. Discharged on 28 Oct 1949 with an Exemplary Military conduct from 5th Royal Tank regiment.
Rank: Bombardier
Regiment/Service: Royal Artillery
Unit Text: 113 (2/5th Bn. The Durham Light Inf.) Lt. A.A. Regt.
Age: 23
Date of Death: 28/11/1944
Service No: 11254046
Additional information: Son of Christopher Richard and Esther Annie Mary Loades; husband of Gwendoline Doris Loades, of Littlehampton, Sussex.
Grave/Memorial Reference: IV. A. 8.
Cemetery: VENRAY WAR CEMETERY
Driver RASC
Aged 38
On duty in 10 May 1945 at Belsen. A week later he was taken ill, was flown to England, and died on June 15, from Leucemia.
(Leucemia: A different spelling of leukemia, cancer of the blood cells. The growth and development of the blood cells are abnormal.)
Born Goveton in 1900
As a young man he served in the Royal navy for 12 years. In 1939 he joned the RASC as an Ambulance driver and took part in the relief of Belsen. Soon after he developed Tuberculosis of the lungs from which he dies in 1945. Buried at Thurlestone. Exeter
St Thomas’ Hospital, medical student Alan MacAuslan joined a volunteer party of aid relief comprising of medical students from London’s teaching hospitals.
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2/5 DLI (TA) 4453730, survived the war and re-enlisted into the Royal Signals almost immediately after de-mob, serving in the Far East and Germany , he completed his service in 1957 , I remember living in Essen, Luneburg and Oldenburg, his length of service earned him a LSGC Medal, sadly he passed away before his 65th birthday.
(Thank you - if you have any more details or a period photo please email liberator@belsen.co.uk)
Sgt. Major
58th Light A.A Regt.
Men of which had been detailed for guard duty at Belsen after its liberation. A Liverpool man. Willow Place, Fair-street.
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Mandel Irene
Mandel John Eric
Marcovitch, Jack
Canadian Regt.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mXVpVwx59g
My uncle Lesli Markey was with the first into Belsen he was never the same man when he came back. He spoke to my mother about it once and said they had walked through the gates of hell . And never spoke of it again .
Submitted by: Lesley Hill
Marks, Charles (Charlie) Submitted by: Belsen Archive
4453856 Sergeant Walter Marsh
Death: Dec. 9, 1943 (Training Accident)
4453856 Sergeant Walter Marsh
368 Bty., 113 (2/5th Bn. The Durham Light Infantry) Lt. A.A. Regt. Royal Artillery
Died age 27
Son of Walter and Charlotte Marsh, of West Hartlepool; husband of Eliza Marsh, of West Hartlepool.
Burial: Stranton Grange Cemetery
Hartlepool County Durham, England
Plot: 5. Div. B. Uncons. Grave 817.
(b Ardbeg, Islay 1901; q Glasgow 1925; DSO, OBE), d 13 June 1998. Called up on 1 September 1939, he served with distinction throughout the war reaching the rank of lieutenant colonel. From 1941 he was commanding officer of 174 Field Ambulance, 51st Highland Division, in north Africa, Sicily, and Normandy and later of a casualty clearing station. He was awarded the DSO and OBE and mentioned in dispatches twice. His unit was one of the first to enter Belsen concentration camp at its liberation. In 1956, much to his astonishment, he was promoted to colonel and recalled to duty as commanding officer of a field general hospital in reserve for Suez.
British Red Cross Civilian Relief Team
Part of the first group of 6 teams. x5 British Red Cross and Order of St Johns (now St Johns Ambulance) and x1 Friends Relief Service. Arriving night of 21st April, starting 22nd April.
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Mcghee, Arthur (113 LAA)
55 Searchlight Regt RA: 113th LAA
Submitted by: 113th DLI Archive/Belsen Archive
McGhee, John (RAMC)
Army No: 7382606
Rank: Private
Service Trade: Nursing Orderly
Unit: 67th British Military Hospital RAMC
Call up Date: 7th July 1940
Dispersal Unit 16th May 1946
British Red Cross Relief Team
“In the latter year of the war, I was in Germany with the Red Cross Mobile Relief Tam. We were asked by the Army to go to this newly found labour camp, to run it for the surviving inmates. Typhus was rampant and the Belsen Camp had been cleaned and cleared by the Army, now moving on.” Ref. Living in Cirencester. Wilts & Gloucs Standard. 9th April 2017
Lance Bombardier. 1st Class No 1658027.
My grandfather died almost 24 years ago, he never really spoke too much about his war time service however, I do know he was in the 113th LAA and I know most of the route he took from D-Day by reading around general histories and some personal accounts.
Grandad George Milner, 1908-1977. Royal Artillery 21st Army Group. 1939-1945. His war ended at Luneburg heath, may 1945, never spoke about what he heard and saw at Belsen.
Corporal Jim Molyneaux, RAF. A nine-man specialist group of commandos to reconnoitre for airfield sites.
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Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Mongomery Mrs.
Montagu Lt. Col.
Moody, George
British Army
16th Air Formation Royal Signals Regiment.
D Day veteran too. Never spoke about this till recently but traumatised. He was 21.
Submitted by: Pat Bielby
Moore Andrew David
Moore Reginald
Moore, Alan (Lieutenant)
Australian official war artist, VX93880 Lieutenant (Lt) Alan Moore Lt Moore was briefly attached to the Welsh Guards during his war time service with the Australian Army. Whilst at Belsen, Lt Moore made several paintings, sketches and drawings as a record of Nazi atrocities committed against the inmates.
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113th Durham Light Infantry RA
368 Battery
Mentioned in Despatches c April 1945
More
Submitted by: 113th DLI Archive
Moren, Archibald George
Born June 3, 1924 to a family of four that shared a one-room flat in a London tenement, Moren's service, whether to his country, his friends, or his customers, took him much farther.
The tumultuous years of World War II set much of life's stage for Moren, who as teenager did night duty as a firewatcher, looking out for enemy bombing raids, atop the roofs of London. During the day, he served as an apprentice to his uncle, who was the maitre d' at the posh Mayfair Hotel.
At 18, he was conscripted by the British Territorial Army, trained as a tailgunner for the Royal Armored Corps and sent off to fight the Nazis.
The next years brought adventure and triumph for Moren. He landed on the beaches of Normandy, north of American troops, on D-Day, and later was among the first Allied forces to enter the concentration camp at Bergen-Belsen in Germany.
After the Allies' victory, Army officials decided Moren's restaurant experience made him well suited to become a cook for the occupying forces in Germany.
George Morris, Royal Armoured Corps, was from Bradford, West Yorkshire. He arrived at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp 13 days after it had been liberated.
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Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Morris, Ian Benson (Lt Col)
RAMC
Mobile Laboratory.
Gave evidence at the Belsen Trial
Gunner John Morris.
Despatch rider attached to 113th. There were 70 despatch riders
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Submitted by: Paul Wilson
Morris, Robert William
1913–1992
I'm doing research of my father-in-law Robert William Morris who I never knew. Robert was born in 1913 and was much older by 23yrd than his 2nd wife my mother-in-law. We don't know much about his time in the army during WW2 has like many he never spoke about it to his family. We thought he was in the tank regiment 39th brigade from badges we have found in an old suitcase. But the mother-in-law told us he was in the intelligence corps. The only thing he said to her was he had at some point met Eva Braun who he described has an evil woman and he was one of the first into Bergen Belsen which he said was an awful experience. Other than that we don't know much about that time. He could speak fluent German, French and Romansh which could explain why he was picked. After the war and following the death of his 1st wife in 1948 he went to Switzerland as a tour guide where many years later he met my mother-in-law who also worked as a guide. Would love to find out more info for my wife if you could point me in the right direction.
Submitted by: Dave Edwards
Morrison, Michael C. (Padre)
PhotoMore
Father Michael Morrison (October 1908, Listowel, County Kerry, Ireland, U.K. - April 1973, Dublin, Republic of Ireland was an Irish Jesuit priest. Educated at Sexton St. Christian Brothers, and at the Jesuit Mungret College, Limerick, he trained as a Jesuit Priest in St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, Co. Offaly from 1925, and was ordained on July 31, 1939.
Arrived on 17th April with the 32nd Casualty Clearing Station (a mini field hospital),
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Morton, (Lt)
113th Durham Light Infantry RA
370 Battery
Mentioned in Despataches c April 1945
Unit currently unknown.
George William Nankeville (24 March 1925 – 8 January 2021) was a British middle distance athlete who won the AAA mile title four times in five years between 1948 and 1952.
Nankeville was born on 24 March 1925 to a working class background and his father was a milkman. Nankeville was a natural runner and early on didn't have any coaching but he still raced before joining an athletics club. In 1944, during World War II, he joined the army having made parachute containers and petrol tanks in Woking for three years prior. He served in Brussels, Belgium, Hamburg, Germany and took part in the liberation of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.
He was also the father of television impressionist Bobby Davro. He died in January 2021 at the age of 95.
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Natolski, Richard Dr. (Camp 1 Hospital)
A political prisoner at Belsen.
In the very early days Hardman appealed to Colonel Johnston, who allowed him to set up a “first-aid centre” in camp 1, the death camp. With Doctor Natolski and Lieutenant Marian Tatarczuk, who were both Polish political prisoners, and Stephen Green of the British Red Cross, Hardman created the first improvised hospital at Belsen in what had been the SS pharmacy, which contained some medical supplies. Hardman got it cleaned up by SS women, and doctors and nurses among the inmates helped to establish it. There was space for about a dozen beds, with two patients to a bed, so that it accommodated twenty to thirty sick people at a time. Serving in the first four weeks of liberation as a miniature hospital, its staff struggled to save lives, caring for critically ill people until they could be evacuated to the new hospital in the military barracks.
Affidavit of Richard Natolski at Belsen Trial
I am a doctor of medicine and 42 years old. I was arrested on 7th January, 1940, as being a meber of the Polish Partisan Army. I have been in concentration camps ever since and came to Belsen only on 11th April, 1945.
126 Wing RCAF. Left their station at Wunstorf and spent approximately four days assisting at Bergen-Belsen
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Newby, Harry (RAMC)
My father was in the Army Medical Corps. during World War II, his unit was one of the first in April 1945 to reach Bergen-Belsen, the consentration camp in Lower Saxony northern Germany, were 70,000 Soviet and Political prisoners had died.
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Newson, George
My Grandfather, Trooper George Newson, helped liberate Belsen as part of the Royal Armourmed Corp
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LANCE BOMBARDIER
1795509
113th Light Anti Aircraft, DLI
Awarded MILITARY MEDAL
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Nicklin, Cyril
113th Durham Light Infantry
Submitted by: Nick Price
Nixon, Ernest
6th Guards Tank Brigade.
“He had to bulldoze bodies into a pit using his tank with a large blade attached to the front. I believe my Father had influenza at the time and his duties were turned over to another guardsman.”
At the age of 19, Scott volunteered to serve in the Royal Canadian Air Force for the duration of the Second World War. Following his training at Trenton, Ontario, as a leading aircraftman, he served on the staff of the ground instructing crews at Calgary and Vancouver. He then joined the ground crew of bomber Squadron 415 in England, rising to the rank of Sergeant. In anticipation of the D-Day invasion, he transferred to 143 Wing in order to support fighter air bases in Europe. Scott joined the liberating forces in France on D-Day plus 6, moving on to air bases in Belgium and Holland. He moved on to Germany to join the Allied forces who had just liberated Bergen-Belsen, where he witnessed the horror of the Nazi atrocities and assisted with the rescue of the survivors. He returned to Canada in June of 1945.
Nov 14, 1920 - Sep 07, 2009
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
O' Hara, Hugh
11th Armoured Brigade
Bulldozer driver at Belsen
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63rd Anti-tank regiment.
He was in the Oxfordshire Yeomanry which became the 63rd anti-tank regiment. I know he was among those who liberated Belsen, but I don’t know any more details than that. We used to have a Belsen Report which he brought back from there, but unfortunately we can’t find it now.
His name was Gerald Vigors De Courcy O’Grady and I think he may have been a Major in 1944. He later become a Lt Col.
James Willis Oliphant served with the Fife and Forfar Yeomanry all through the war, latterly with the 2nd Fifes as part of 11th Armoured Division, the Black Bull which liberated Belsen
RNZAF Squadron Leader 41545. Doug was seconded to the RAF in mid 1942. He subsequently become part of the Allied Forces thrust east into Germany after D Day. He is said to be the first New Zealander to enter Bergen Belsen. He took four photographs of what he saw there. His children grew up understanding what these photos were and what they meant to the free world.
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Submitted by: Elizabeth O’Brien
Pares, Andrew (Captain)
Adjutant of the 113th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, The Royal Artillery TA
Submitted by: 113th DLI Archive
Parker, Edgar Samuel
My late father was a transport driver with the rasc 19.s.t. Coy and according to his records was on regular runs to the POW camp in Baydon for a few years. On the 26 August 1944 his record is marked "embarked for BLA". He was in NWE until 1946. His release paper states he was released in Belgium and it is dated 31 January 1946. The unit number also has 19.S.T. (206) Coy against it. 59 COY GEN TPT RASC
Submitted by: Archive
Parker, Kenneth
Member of the new 2nd battalion royal Scots Fusiliers
Parker, Leslie (113 LAA)
55 Trg Regt RA (Searchlight) Enlistment Date: 29/07/1940
Submitted by: 113th DLI Archive/Belsen Archive
Parkinson, Bill
My grandfather, Bill Parkinson, was among the British soldiers who went into #BergenBelsen in 1945
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Submitted by: Archive
Parkinson, Joyce (FRS)
Initial Team 100 of the Friends Relief Service (Quaker)
One of the first civilian teams to enter the concentration camp at Belsen
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Submitted by: Hazel Arnold
PARRY, LESLIE JOHN (KIA) (113 LAA)
Name: PARRY, LESLIE JOHN
Rank: Gunner
Regiment/Service: Royal Artillery
Unit Text: 368 Bty. 113 (2/5th Bn. The Durham Light Infantry) Lt. A.A. Regt.
Age: 34
Date of Death: 14/09/1944
Location: Joe's Bridge
Service No: 14290685
Additional information: Son of William George and Ellen Georgina Parry; husband of Winifred Catherine Parry, of Camberwell, London.
Grave/Memorial Reference: III. A. 19.
Cemetery: LEOPOLDSBURG WAR CEMETERY
Gnr Parry was good friend of Frank Moreham and he was killed crossing the bridge next to Frank. His widow Winifred refused to accept news of his death until visited by Frank on Leave who gave her a personal account. Joe's Bridge is the nickname given to Bridge No.9 on the Bocholt-Herentals Canal outside the town of Neerpelt, in the Belgian city of Lommel just south of the Belgian-Dutch border. The bridge was captured by British troops in September 1944, becoming the springboard for the ground offensive of Operation Market-Garden.
63rd Anti Tank Regiment (QOOH)
Queens Own Oxfordshire Yeomanry
Driver and mechanic
“there was 'very little chatter' among the British soldiers after Belsen's liberation”
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Payne, Ronald Leslie (113 LAA)
344/55 Anti-Aircraft Searchlight Regt RA Enlistment Date: 02/02/1939
Submitted by: 113th DLI Archive/Belsen Archive
Pearce Richard David
Pearce, Ruth
A Coventry nurse who helped to look after survivors at Belsen after their liberation by Allied forces. Mentioned in despatches.
My grandad I understand was one of the soldiers that buried the dead there. He caught a disease from doing this and was brought home where he passed away.
RIP James Perry.
11th Field Ambulance
Shot by Focke Wulf fighters at Belsen
Died.
"One or two were wounded. One who was wounded badly was my mate Frank Phillips. They took him off to 25km from where we were, and he died that day. He had been shot away. He was a D-Day veteran.”
FRANK CECIL PHILLIPS
Private
Service Number: 7405499
Royal Army Medical Corps
United Kingdom
Died 21 April 1945
23 years old
Additional Info Son of Sidney Harold and Millicent Phillips, of Bemerton, Wiltshire.
Personal Inscription IN PRECIOUS MEMORY OF OUR DEAR FRANK. HIS MEMORY OUR DEAREST TREASURE
More to follow
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Phillips, Robert James Lt. Col. (RAMC)
MBE. Born 6th October 1907
RAMC. Rescued from Dunkirk.
Consultant psychiatrist to the British Second Army.
My Dad was a cook attached to the Royal Engineers he had been with then since the planning for the Pluto fuel line at the Isle of Wight then Normandy France Belgium Holland Germany (Belsen) although little did he talk about his experiences he did say how they had to dilute soup so the prisoners could tolerate it as it had been so long since they had anything at all and any food was impossible for them it was doing more harm than good.
My Dad was TPW(Tom) REECE 410099 army catering corps. Before the war he was in the Shropshire Yeomanry and a baker in civilian life, that's how he came to be in the catering corps, he didn't have an option.
He enlisted in the Royal Army Medical Corps in 1940, saw service in Africa, and was one of the first to enter Belsen concentration camp after liberation by the Allies.
Service Number 4535197
(Lance Bombardier)
Died 29/07/1944
Aged 33
370 Bty., 113 (2/5th Bn. The Durham Light Infantry) Lt. A.A. Regt. Royal Artillery
RIP
1516030
My grandfather was with 113 LAA - Sergeant Arthur Roberts 1516030. It was his second time in Europe having narrowly escaped with the BEF at Dunkirk.
Arthur returned to England after the war and had a successful career finding oil in the North Sea for BP
My grandad was Joseph Roberts and was part of the medical Corp who went into Belsen April 1945 after its liberation.
He never talked about it .
My mam has all has papers .
George Rodger (19 March 1908 – 24 July 1995) was a British photojournalist noted for his work in photographing the mass deaths at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp at the end of the Second World War.
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John Rollinson who served in WW2 as a cook with the Army Catering Corps, army no. 7600895. In 1945 he was attached to 91 Reception Camp in Amersham, catering for injured repatriated POWs. We know from John's personal testimony when he was alive that he was one of a number of army cooks sent to Bergen-Belsen on the camp's liberation to feed the prisoners. However, there is no reference to this on his records (Army form B103 etc.), presumably as it was a secret operation (?).
Submitted by: Archive
Rooke Geoffrey Basil
Roscoe Harvey Charles Barnet Brig.
Rose Berhard
Rose, James Dudfield
RAMC.
Evacuated from Dunkirk, was at the seige of Tobruk and was sent to the liberation of Belsen.
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Rosensaft, Josef
Josef Rosensaft (January 15, 1911 – September 11, 1975) was a Holocaust survivor who led the community of Jewish displaced persons (Sh'erit ha-Pletah) through the establishment of a Central Committee of Liberated Jews that first served the interests of the refugees in Bergen-Belsen DP camp and then DP camps throughout the entire British sector.
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Rosenstock/Abadi Odette Dr.
Ross, John (Capt.) (113 LAA) Rev Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Rothery, Vincent
Lance bombardier 249 battery
Submitted by: Peter Rothery
ROWBOTHAM, STANLEY (KIA)
113 (2/5th Bn. The Durham Light Inf.) Lt. A.A. Regt.
Royal Artillery (Gunner)
Killed: 20th July 1944. Age 37 HERMANVILLE WAR CEMETERY 2. E. 2
Son of Henry and Ellen Rowbotham; husband of Margaret Ann Rowbotham, of Bradford, Manchester.
RIP
Just started to try and find out more about my father who was in 113th LAA. I think 370 bty.
His name was Sidney Salt and I think he was listed as a mechanic on the transport. Definately went to Belsen and also Bad Pyrmont where we have visited and stayed in actual guest house he was billeted in
Submitted by: Ron Salt
Sanderson, Joseph Wyatt (113th LAA)*
369 Battery, 113 Durham Light Infantry
Mentioned in Despatches c April 10, 1945
https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1030022185 (Incl Photo of 369 Battery)
Birth: 23 Nov 1914
Death: May 1998 Newcastle Upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England
Submitted by: 113th DLI Archive
Sands, Mary (Sister)
Number 32 Casualty Clearing Station OR No 11 Field Ambulance
Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (QA)
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Sangster, John Mackay
My dad John Mackay Sangster was a member of 141 RAC the Buffs flame thrower tank regiment.
He was in Belsen at the liberation and then another two years until 1947.
He never spoke about it but I have some momentos of his time there.
One of the prisoners there made him a wooden cigarette box that is a prized possession of mine. Another item is the telegram sent to him in Belsen that he had become a dad with my big brother being born.
Submitted by: Kenneth Sangster
Sanker, Louis Morris. Rev
Rev. Dr. Louis Morris Sanker (born in 1909) ministered to Bristol Hebrew Congregation. He joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve on 1 September 1944 and was appointed on 17 November the Senior Jewish Chaplain to the 2nd Tactical Airforce Rear in the rank of Squadron Leader. Sanker arrived in Belsen some ten days after its liberation and spent a week there. He arranged for Air Force units to contribute everything they could spare to alleviate the suffering there, and vast quantities of food and supplies were donated. One Royal Air Force Reserve squadron went on biscuits for two days to allow the white bread to go to Belsen. Sanker took Hardman to a Royal Canadian Air Force unit, and after Hardman had talked with their officers the medical officer ransacked his whole medical room and the officers contributed and sent in truckloads of food and medical supplies
Royal Army Medical Corps between 1941 and 1946. He was one of the first medical officers to be allowed into Belsen concentration camp after its liberation. His shocking accounts of the atrocities there were too horrific to record, although he maintained some diaries which he later destroyed. On demobilisation, he started his anaesthetic career by being appointed the first resident anaesthetist to Manchester Royal Infirmary. Registrar and senior registrar appointments followed. In 1950 he was appointed to the South Manchester Group of Hospitals and set about forming a department of anaesthesia which ultimately became the university department of anaesthesia. “Uncle Jack,” as he was affectionately known by his colleagues, retired in 1981.
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Scholes, Thomas (58th LAA)
An Officer selected Tom and 3 others to follow him with their trucks that towed water carriers. They had no idea where they were going but, eventually, they arrived at Belsen Concentration Camp. The visit lasted about 4 hours, during which time all they could do was leave some water at the Medical Core.
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My gran said he was there as a reason why he didn\'t like the TV program 'World at War'.
He wouldn't talk about his service, burned his uniform and gave away his medals.
He was probably a corporal in the army but my gran said he was a serjeant.
I do not even know his regiment but have seen others in the Burton-upon-Trent area that confirmed what my gran said and why he wouldn't talk about it.
Submitted by: Stephen John Davis
Simpson, Fred (32nd CCS)
British NCO served with 146th Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps and 30th British General Hospital in GB and Iceland, 1939-1942; served with 32nd Casualty Clearing Station, Royal Army Medical Corps in GB and North West Europe, 1942-1945
Audio Recording via IWM
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Simpson, James (Pioneer Corps)
1908 - 1964 (Aged 55)
"Commandant at Belsen" Ref at Belsen by 18th June, 45
Name: SKINNER, HAROLD
Rank: Gunner
Regiment/Service: Royal Artillery
Unit Text: 113 (2/5th Bn. The Durham Light Inf.) Lt. A.A. Regt.
Age: 22
Date of Death: 07/07/1944
Service No: 1780611
Additional information: Son of William Thomas Skinner and Emily Winifred Skinner, of Brockenhurst, Hampshire.
Grave/Memorial Reference: I. B. 2.
Cemetery: SECQUEVILLE-EN-BESSIN WAR CEMETERY
Submitted by: 113th DLI Archive
Slade, Christopher
225 Company Pioneer Corp 21 Army Group and was moved to 71 Company Pioneer Corp, then 229 Detachment Military Government.
6 sections of the company were moved to Belsen in May 1945. Christopher was then part of the British Army of the Rhine and part of the 618 Military Government ‘R’ Detachment.
Christopher was at Belsen until around June 1946, and was awarded a papal medal by the Vatical Mission at Belsen in March1946. While at Belsen he met Marlene Dietrich in relation to Marlene’s sister Elizabeth.
Submitted by: Archive
Slater, Richard Submitted by: Dale Goodman
Small, Gunner (113th LAA)
(113th LAA)
Submitted by: 113th DLI Archive
Smallwood, Geoffrey (Major) War Crimes Unit
Arrived 27th April. Heading up a Scratch Team of researchers for War Crimes.
No. 1 War Crimes Investigation Team. (WCIT)
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Smart, Owen (Sergeant)
‘Before we entered the camp I had never heard of Bergen-Belsen. I knew nothing of what had been going on. We heard about atrocities, which are bantered backwards and forwards, but we didn’t realise really what it was, and then it was just after that, that all the rest of it came about, other camps just like Belsen.
'But to me the name Belsen after that was shocking. I didn’t see anything of the inmates in the prison really. I saw a few, possibly the remainders of those that were fit enough to be put into a hospital – but I didn’t see many of the actual people. They had been taken away, or the remains of them. That was awful... There’s no doubt that after seeing something like what had gone on in Belsen, it does stay in your mind and never goes away.’
3rd division dispatch driver. Drove a high ranking official into the camp to be signed over to the British. He rode his motorcycle with the official in a side car, passing the armed SS guards who were leaving the camp. The two were on their own travelling in without any protection. What he saw in that camp haunted him until the day he died aged 94.
Before qualifying, he joined a group of final year medical students working in relief work at Belsen just after the liberation of the camp. This affected him deeply and he remained reticent on the subject.
Bryce enlisted as Medical Orderly, served in various regiments, ending the war as M.O. Belsen after the concentration camp was liberated.
1916–2004
Birth 19 AUG 1916 • Manchester, Lancashire, England
Death 15 OCT 2004 • Poole Hospital, Dorset, England
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Stewart, David (Rev) Submitted by: Robert Thompson
Stewart, Hugh (No.5 AFPU)
Major. MBE
14 December 1910 to 30 May 2011
Beginning his career as an editor, Stewart worked on The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934) and The Spy In Black (1939). During the war he filmed the real life horrors of a liberated Belsen, and later produced films for Norman Wisdom, Morecambe and Wise and the Children’s Film Foundation.
Featured on film
“Reverend T.J. Stretch, attached as padre to the formation concerning this camp. My home is at Fishguard. My parish is at Holy Trinity Church Aberystwyth.”
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Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Strezbak, Henri (Lt) (113th LAA)
(113th LAA)
Submitted by: 113th DLI Archive
Stringer, Eric
1917–2002
Birth 1917 • Croydon, Surrey
Death JUN 2002 • Worthing, West Sussex, England
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Gunner RA. Served 1938- 1945..present at liberation of Bergen Belsen ...Never spoke about his experiences
Submitted by: M. Harland- Suddes...daughter in law
Suddes, Ernest 113th LAA
Gunner RA. Served 1938- 1945..present at liberation of Bergen Belsen ...Never spoke about his experiences
Home, Brandon, County Durham
(Possible 113th LAA - being in County Durham)
Submitted by: M. Harland-Suddes...daughter in law
Summers, James F (113 LAA)
Born 25 Feb, 1912
Lived Leamington Spa
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Sumpster, A D Lt (113th LAA)
(113th LAA) Possibly Antony Douglas b: 15 Dec 1918 Petersfield, Hampshire
Submitted by: 113th DLI Archive
Super, Arthur Saul (Rabbi & Dr)
Rabbi Dr. Arthur Saul Super, a Chaplain with the British army, was present at the liberation of Belsen. (He was my late wife’s uncle).
Photo
My grandfather Edwin Oliver Sutton was born in Hankow, China (a district of Wuhan) in 1902. He was a Methodist minister and served as a chaplain in the British Army in the second world war. He joined the newly formed 11th Armoured Division – known as the ‘Black Bull’ – under Field Marshal Montgomery, and he was one of the first Allied soldiers to participate in the liberation of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp 75 years ago today. Apparently, one of his main tasks was assisting with burying the bodies and helping to mark the graves of those who died in that camp.
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Rev Father Edmund Swift, SJ, Roman Catholic Chaplain to 81 British General Hospital.
“On the first day of their gruesome task of burying the corpses, a party of the Wehrmacht [German] soldiers broke down completely. Having deposited about two dozen bodies in the grave, a corporal ripped off his Iron Cross and stamped it in the ground. The rest of the company followed suit and tore off their badges and decorations in sheer disgust.”
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Sydenstricker, Virgil P. Lt. Col.
Head of the Nutrition Section, Health Division, UNRRA
Visited the camp shortly after liberation
In the very early days Hardman appealed to Colonel Johnston, who allowed him to set up a “first-aid centre” in camp 1, the death camp. With Doctor Natolski and Lieutenant Marian Tatarczuk, who were both Polish political prisoners, and Stephen Green of the British Red Cross, Hardman created the first improvised hospital at Belsen in what had been the SS pharmacy, which contained some medical supplies. Hardman got it cleaned up by SS women, and doctors and nurses among the inmates helped to establish it. There was space for about a dozen beds, with two patients to a bed, so that it accommodated twenty to thirty sick people at a time. Serving in the first four weeks of liberation as a miniature hospital, its staff struggled to save lives, caring for critically ill people until they could be evacuated to the new hospital in the military barracks
Taylor, Richard. I. G (Dick) (Lieutenant-Colonel) (63rd ATR)
Commanding Officer of the 63rd Anti-Tank Regiment.
“A great number of them [the inmates] were little more than living skeletons with haggard yellowish faces. Most of the men wore a striped pyjama type of clothing—others wore rags, while women wore striped flannel gowns or any other clothing they had managed to acquire. Many of them were without shoes and wore only socks and stockings. There were men and women lying in heaps on both sides of the track. Others were walking slowly and aimlessly about—a vacant expression on their starved faces.” April, 15
Taylor, Robert (113 LAA)
“I was immediately sent to a room nearby to be treated with insecticide. I was stripped completely and men of the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) sprayed my body with that now famous powder, A.L.63. On completion I dressed and prepared to deliver my goods into the concentration camp.”
“I visited a cookhouse controlled by a British Army sergeant. He was issuing good hot food, strictly rationed and controlled. A British mobile bath unit was already in operation, hot water and soap being freely given. Ablution and sanitation facilities never before existed in Belsen, water being a luxury commodity, for drinking only, and strictly rationed at that.”
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Thompson, George Wilbert
No known unit. Just visting or something else?
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Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Thompson, JE (Flight Officer) RCAF
My grandfather, F/O James Ernest Thompson of 437 sqn RCAF.
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Thwaite, Herbert Henry Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Tilbe, Ronald
Royal Service Corps, driver 10 Ton Mack dessert truck. Transportation of medical supplies, food & removal of German prisoners from the camp. I know my dad gave Kramer, the camp commandant some cigarettes.
(Thank you - if you have any more details or a period photo please email liberator@belsen.co.uk)
Please add my father to the directory. His name was John William Turner and he served with the Kings Troupe, Royal Horse Artillery. His DOB was 16th June 1923. Thank you for keeping the memories alive.
Participated in the Normandy landings. He was ordered to Belsen concentration camp the day after its liberation to assess the medical needs of the inmates; in his memoirs he describes how the army authorities did not believe his estimates of the scale of human tragedy revealed. Because of his linguistic skills he was left in administrative charge of 13 German military hospitals and a large civilian hospital.
(Earlier) 8th Army Western Desert Blood Transfusion Unit
Among the firts medical staff at Belsen. Awarded CBE in 1972.
Later Honorary Consultant Surgeon at Great Ormond Street
1 SAS.
Two jeeps arrived about 3pm on Sunday the 15th of April 1945. with John Randall.
(The SAS left shortly after with the exception of Weaver who stayed on as a translator for the 63rd C.O)
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Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Webb, Leonard Submitted by: Archive
Webb, William Stanley
Royal Artillery (poss 113th)
Badly wounded 4th November 1944.
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14th Light Field Ambulance, RAMC
He was sent to France with the B.E.F. At Dunkirk they drew lots which let him try to get back to England. He was lifted off the mole by an almost new Destroyer with only one set of rear guns and two sets of torpedo tubes believed to be HMS Harvester.
The unit was then sent to North Africa, Syria(attached to Australians), back to north Africa. For a time he was an orderly in an American Field Service ambulance. These were volunteer American drivers and dodge ambulances supplied by the American Red Cross.
After North Africa he was in Italy before returning to the UK for the Normandy landings. From then on to Belgium, Holland and Germany.
He did not often talk of his experiences. Once he said that after large tank battle the M.O. was with them and if the casualty was beyond help they would be given an excess of morphine.
He was also at Bergen-Belsen a few days after it was liberated and said if you were not there in person you would not be able to take it all in. All the years I knew him he never used the word ambulance it was always a Blood Wagon. After the war he worked at Betteshanger Colliery in Kent as a male nurse
He was in one of the first tanks to liberate Belsen concentration camp. When I was in my 20's when he opened up one afternoon and told me everything he witnessed there.
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Submitted by: Ray Westbury
Westwell, Matthew (Army Catering Corp)
Corporal Matthew Westwell, a butcher by trade, served in the Army Catering Corps formed in March 1941. He was also in the Royal Berkshire Regiment and the Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry - He was at Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp after it was liberated by the 11th Amoured Division (Great Britain).
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Private served as dental technician with Army Dental Corps, No 32 Casualty Clearing Station, Royal Army Medical Corps
32nd Casualty Clearing Station
"Outside the huts were piles and piles of dead bodies. Many of the soldiers who first entered the camp were desperate to try and alleviate the prisoners' starvation by giving them army rations. This first intake of food was fatal for many prisoners, who were too weak to digest it.”
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Woodruffe, F C Lt (113th LAA)
(113th LAA) Possibly Frederick Charles b: 1916 Kent
From Hoddington, Scotland
Bulldozer driver 19th April
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Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Wyand, Paul (Cameraman)
Filmed No.1 camp on 23rd & 24th April, along with soundman Martin Gray
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Wyer S. G.
Wyndham-Ward, Margaret
British Red Cross Civilian Relief Team
Part of the first group of 6 teams. x5 British Red Cross and Order of St Johns (now St Johns Ambulance) and x1 Friends Relief Service. Arriving night of 21st April, starting 22nd April.
Awarded MBE
Yates, T M (Capt.) (113 LAA) Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Yeoman Philip Metcalfe
Yorath, Lyndon Lewis. Sergeant (113th LAA)
Ref: D/DLI 7/404/33
Photograph of Sergeant [Yorath] sitting among discarded German artillery, Hanover, Germany, July 1945
Enlistment Date: 15 Jul 1939
Regiment: Royal Artillery
Military Unit: 16 Searchlight Militia Depot RA
Service Number: 1492589
Birth: 12 Sep 1918 • Bridgend, Glamorganshire, Wales
Marriage Peggy Thompson (1918–2008), Jun 1943 • Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland
Death JAN 1995 • Eastbourne, East Sussex, England
Born 1903, Ayrshire
Landing in France on D-Day with 21st Army Corps of Canadians as Medical Officer.
MO at Belsen with Canadian unit. Mentioned in Dispatches in November 1945.
Known as 'Hammy'
EMAIL/CONTACT PLEASE NOTE: Recently we found an important email hidden away as spam. It could have been lost. If you contact us and either do not get a personal reply or a mention/update on this website, please send your email again. Thank you.
This site will progress and I’d encourage anyone with any info to get in touch. My granddad, Reg Price served with the 113th Durham Light Infantry*, as part of 369 Battery. As a signwriter, he produced this sign…
The Sign at the Liberation of Bergen Belsen Concentration Camp
And this was kept in the family for years – so for the 75th anniversary of the Liberation of Belsen in 2020, subsequent VE Day and VJ Day, I thought it’s about time I’d try to find out more about Reg – his comrades (many of which are names, simply written on the back of photos), what they did together and for a way to remember them all, properly.
To coinicide with the anniversary, I was able to be filmed both on national and local BBC TV to tell Reg’s Story. Whilst this was totally out of my comfort zone and I dreaded every moment – I decided I needed to do something to start this all off. BBC Midlands Today aired 7th May and a VE Day Antiques Roadshow Special aired Sunday 10th May.
The main photo, shown here was coloured for the 75th Anniversary and we’ll tell you all about it shortly – and what happened next!
*Just 113th Durham Light Infantry? No we are interested in all Service and Medical personnel who took part during the humanitarian effort at Belsen Concentration Camp. Their roles and names are largely forgotten, as many were too horrified to ever speak of what they had to do, so this archive seeks to form a tribute to ALL those that were there, to find out more and to remember them. If you have a relative, or any info, on the relief effort at Belsen, we’d love you to please get in touch. Email us: liberator@belsen.co.uk – Thank you
***
The Liberation of Bergen Belsen Concentration Camp
Any 113th Durham Light Infantry friends or family are encouraged to get in touch via 113th@belsen.co.uk
** In 1938 the old 5th Battalion DLI changed its role to Searchlights and then in 1940 to Anti-Aircraft. This 113th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment went to Normandy in June 1944 and joined the advance into Germany in early 1945. Official designation – Brigade: 100 AA • Division: 30 Corps. • Unit: 113 LAA Regt. RA (DLI) TA.
