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Leonard Berney

Leonard Berney was born in London in 1920. After leaving St Paul’s School, Hammersmith in 1938 he joined the Territorial Army as a Second Lieutenant.
Leonard Berney Belsen
At the beginning of 1939 he and his Anti-Aircraft Regiment were mobilized for full-time military service in the defence of London. He took part countering The Blitz and the V1 flying bomb attacks. In August 1944 he was in Normandy as the Staff Officer, Anti-Aircraft Defence, of XIII Corps of the British 21st Army.

He played a significant role in the liberation of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp and was appointed the Commandant of the Belsen Displaced Persons Camp that housed the survivors. Following his time at Belsen, he was appointed Military Governor of Schleswig-Holstein and was released from the army at the end of 1946, with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. He pursued a business career until he retired. He regularly delivered lectures on the liberation of Belsen, such as to Congregation Ner Tamid, Las Vegas and to Greenwich University, London and he appears in two notable documentaries on the Holocaust: “Night Will Fall” which was broadcast on television in twenty countries around the world to mark Holocaust Memorial Day 2015, and “No Asylum: the untold chapter of Anne Frank’s story”.
Liberation of Bergen Belsen

On 15th April 2015 to mark the 70th anniversary of the liberation, he published his personal account, “Liberating Belsen Concentration Camp”.

Leonard Berney – 1920-2016

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This archive has been established after my own relative, Reg Price, took part in the liberation and subsequent humanitarian effort of Bergen Belsen in April 1945. Reg produced this famous sign at Belsen. As part of the 113th DLI, Reg and his comrades were at Belsen for 5 weeks and left when the last hut was empty and ceremonially burnt down. This archive compiles all available resources to build a lasting tribute to all the men and women who helped - any unit, any nationality. 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.ukThank you Nick Price CreativesFacebookTwitter