Welcome this new archive relating 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.
We are now inviting any relatives of service personnel who may have been at the camp to get in touch. 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.
There are currently 55 names in this directory beginning with the letter B.
Baines Arthur Raymond
Balston Capt.
Bamber, Helen
Jewish Unit. Relief worker.
Poss part of the Quaker Team
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Barclay W. J. Sgt.
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
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
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Barret Pte.
11 Light Field Ambulance
From Grays, Essex
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Barrington C. R. G. Maj.
Barson, Henry (63rd ATR)
63rd Anti Tank Regiment (QOOH)
Queens Own Oxfordshire Yeomanry
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Barton Russell William Andrew Charles
Barton, Russell (Dr)Submitted by: Archive
Bateman, Basil Richard
3 May 1926 - 22 Jan 1946
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Bauwens Marcel Dr.
Beardwell, Myrtle (Capt) Red Cross
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.
113 LIGHT ANTI-AIRCRAFT REGIMENT ROYAL ARTILLERY
85173
Awarded
CHEVALIER OF THE ORDER OF LEOPOLD II WITH PALM AND CROIX DE GUERRE 1940 WITH PALM
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Billam, Edward
Gunner, 113th L.A.A. Regt
Submitted by: 113th DLI Archive
Bimko/Rosensaft Hadassah Dr.
Bird, H L W Col. (102 Control Section)
Commander, 102 Control Section. Second Army.
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Blackbell, E W (Capt.) (113 LAA)Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Blackman, Muriel J
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
Bluett D. (Col.) ADMS
Divisional ADMS.
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.
Submitted by: Adrian Bott
Bowler David Philip
Boyd, Edmond Arthur Douglas (Medical Student)
Medical Student. St Thomas
Contracted Typhus at Belsen.
256630
BIRTH 07 JUL 1913 • West Derby, Lancashire, England
DEATH AUG 1989 • Portsmouth, Hampshire, England
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Bromley R. D. Lt.
Broom John Edward Maj.
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.
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
Submitted by: Belsen Archive
Burgess, Douglas Archibald
1917–1984
Birth 26 JUL 1917 • Richmond S, Surrey, Kent
Death JUL 1984 • Chichester, Sussex, England
1909–1999 Birth 21ST JULY 1909 • Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England Death NOVEMBER 1999 • Abbeyfield House, Clitheroe, Blackpool, Lancashire, Read more
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…
Belsen sign
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
***
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.
