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: 15th April, 2025. 80th Anniversary. Thank you to everyone for submitting 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. liberator@belsen.co.uk
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.
I’ve just come across your wonderful tribute to the liberators. My father, Thomas Grimes, was a dispatch rider in no. 3 Commando. He never talked much about the serious side of the war and NEVER mentioned till much later in his life that he had been involved in “clearing out Belsen at the end of the war”. I could not bring myself to question him due to their horrors of it all. That human beings were capable of such depravity leaves me speechless. Thanks for your work on this website.
ED. Thank you. If you have any more details or a photo, please email us.
Submitted by: Margo Fraser
Shaw, William Geoffrey
RHQ 3RTR BLA
Trooper WG Shaw was in the third tank to liberate Belsen
Email sent, 9th May.
Submitted by: Geoff and Diane Pierce
Phillips, Stanley Richard
Private.
My father told me he was driving either the first or second truck that entered Belsen.
More
Submitted by: Andy Phillips
Jones, Iorwerth
Pte 14574426
RAMC 11th Field Ambulance. Later posted to BMH Be'er Yaakov from 1945 to 1947.
ED. Thank you. If you have any more details or a photo, please email us.
Submitted by: David Jones
Shuttleworth, Doris
Nurse.
Ed. Thank you. Please email us with any further details.
Submitted by: C Earl
Coe, George Henry
He was my grandfather and believe he was a Major in 1st Royal tank regt. Was one of the first tanks in. We understand he was coordinating feeding of survivors
Submitted by: Caroline Coe
Parkes, James (Jim)
My Grandfather James Parkes was in a tank regiment and helped liberate Belsen. He played for the football team. That’s as much as I know. He never spoke of the war and threw all of his medals away. The National Archives Museum won’t release his Serbia record to me until 2028 due to sensitive medical information.
I’m hoping this site may be able to help me.
ED: Fingers crossed lets see what come up!
Submitted by: Matthew Shelley (Grandson)
Morgan, William
RAF
Submitted by: Dean Brannagan
Rance, Alfred Walter
Regimental Sergeant Major.
Thank you Pauline. We are able to add more details.
Royal Artillery HAA
Service No. 1421237
Submitted by: Pauline Smalls
Menzies, A (Captain)
Celle:
There for several weeks, the Nazi war criminal was placed under the charge of Captain A. Menzies from Eaton Road in St Helens
Kramer was allowed half-an-hour's exercise in the prison yard each morning and Captain Menzies allowed him to have two blankets, instead of the standard one.
"Somebody took them from him, but I got them restored to him because he was in such a state I didn't think he would live to meet his trial, and I wanted him to."
In September 1945, when home on leave in Dentons Green
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. Read here about The Heroes of Belsen.
*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
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UPDATE: 2025. Apologies for the ridiculous amount of Google adverts within the site. We are looking into changing this, to a more appropriate level. That said, the adverts do generate income to keep this site going.
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.
