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.

Those That Served

Latest | A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z | Submit a name
There are currently 92 names in this directory beginning with the letter B.
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
Submitted by: Belsen Archive

Barret, Pte.
11 Light Field Ambulance From Grays, Essex More
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.
Belgian Doctor
Submitted by: Belsen Archive

Bayefsky, Aba (Canadian War Artist)
Submitted by: Belsen Archive

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.
Submitted by: Belsen Archive

Beardwell, Mytle (Sister - Red Cross)
Red Cross More Sometimes reffered to as Bardwell.
Submitted by: Belsen Archive

Beckett, Tommy (113th LAA?)
DLI
Submitted by: Mark Watts

Beckwith, Barry
Submitted by: Archive

Beckwith, Clifford
Green Howards (Yorkshire) More
Submitted by: Joy Hyde

Bell, J.M.T Lieut (113th LAA)
(113th LAA)
Submitted by: 113th DLI Archive

Bell, Whitfield
Head of Section 4 C Platoon 567 Coy American Field Service This consisted of seven men and five ambulances
Submitted by: Belsen Archive

Bendremer/Wideroff, Sally/Selma
JDC Relief Worker More
Submitted by: Belsen Archive

Berger, Monty (RCAF)
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."
Submitted by: Belsen Archive

Berney, Leonard Maj. (later Lt. Col.)
Submitted by: John Wood

Biggar, Robert (58th LAA)
Gunner.-Sergt. 58th L.A.A. Regt. R.A. France 1940; France, Belgium, Holland and Germany 1944-46
Submitted by: Belsen Archive

Biggart, Peter Arnold (Capt.) (113 LAA)
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.
Submitted by: Belsen Archive

Bird, H L W Col. (102 Control Section)
Commander, 102 Control Section. Second Army. Referred to as "Commander of the camp" on May 21st
Submitted by: Belsen Archive

Bird, William Davies
Birth 30 JUN 1924 • Livingstone, West Lothian, Scotland Death 31 MAR 2014 • Tauranga, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand
Submitted by: Belsen Archive

Black, Arnold RCAF 437 Squadron
Navigator More
Submitted by: Belsen Archive

Blackbell, E W (Capt.) (113 LAA)
1912-1981 More
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

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)
Submitted by: Janice Patmore nee Janice Blom

Bluett D. (Col.) ADMS
Divisional ADMS.
Submitted by: Belsen Archive

Bogarde, Dirk
https://dirkbogarde.co.uk/dirk-bogarde-and-belsen/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirk_Bogarde
Submitted by: John Wood (Leonard Berney\'s son)

Bond, Mary (Sister)
29th British General Hospital More
Submitted by: Belsen Archive

Bonsel, Annie
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.
Submitted by: Adrian Bott

Bowden, Tom Derek
Captured british soldier at Bergen Belsen More
Submitted by: Belsen Archive

Bowie, Alan Ian
RAMC
Submitted by: Belsen Archive

Bowler David Philip

Boyd, Edmond Arthur Douglas (Medical Student)
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)
Submitted by: Belsen Archive

Bradley, J L (Lt) (Poss attached the 113)
Address of 127 Victoria Road, Port Talbot.
Submitted by: Belsen Archive

Brawley, Arthur (AFS)
Submitted by: Belsen Archive

Brealey, Bertram Clayton
Oxfordshire Yeomanry. More
Submitted by: Belsen Archive

Brenchley, Sgt
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.
Submitted by: John Brenchley

Brennan, John
Submitted by: Peter Brennan

Brererton, Len (3RTR - 11th Armoured)
More to follow...
Submitted by: Belsen Archive

Bridges, R V
113th DLI - Probably 369 Battery More
Submitted by: 113th DLI Archive

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.
Submitted by: Belsen Archive

Brown, Cpl (1SAS)
Driver to 1SAS Lt John Randall
Submitted by: Belsen Archive

Brown, Eric
Eric Brown - Royal Navy Pilot & Interrogator More
Submitted by: Archive

Brown, Marie (RA)
Submitted by: Belsen Archive

Bruce, Harry
Submitted by: Jan Bruce

Bruins, Mary Joan
34 Casualty Clearing Station (CCS)
Submitted by: Belsen Archive

Brushett, Fred
369 Bty, 113th Light Anti-Aircraft Regt R.A.
Submitted by: 113th DLI Archive

Budge, Molly (Later Molly Jennings)
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
Submitted by: Belsen Archive

Bunting, Josephine (Red Cross)
Submitted by: Belsen Archive

Burger, Oscar William Alfred
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)
Submitted by: Steve Burgess

Burgh, Harold (REME)
Submitted by: Belsen Archive

Burns Lotti

Burridge, Bulldozer Driver
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


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Liberation of Bergen Belsen

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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…

Liberation of Bergen Belsen Concentration Camp
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.

Read here about The Heroes of Belsen.

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.

The Liberation of Bergen Belsen Concentration Camp
Names of British soldiers who liberated Belsen

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