My cousin's husband served in a Recce' Squadron, and, according to his account, which I remember quite well, his unit was the first into Belsen. Of all the horrors of war witnessed up to then, Belsen was a nightmare he lived with for the rest of his life. I was but a 13-year-old school boy, leaning on every word from my hero. He told how his unit stumbled on Belsen. How corpses littered the area. Inmates struggling to get under the wire had been shot and left there. He walked down an aisle between wooden huts. Bodies lay everywhere, and he struggled to try and understand what had happened. But he was never able to find an answer. As he walked, he was drawn to a sound, so bizarre in that setting, it only compounded his nightmare of Belsen. Someone was playing a piano. He followed the music to a hut and opening the door saw an inmate leaning over the keyboard, seemingly oblivious to the horrors around him. He told of Irma Grese (sp?) an SS guard who occupied her free moments creating lampshades from prisoners' tattooed skin. Of the showers, eagerly sought by inmates, only to be gassed on entering. One can never forget WWII and all its death and destruction, and especially the unearthing of camps like Belsen, one of dozens testifying to Hitler's deranged mind and those of his followers.
Potter, Welcome to the forum. I've moved your post to be more visible. Do you have any more information on your wifes cousin? We should never forget those horrors. Cheers Paul
Potter, Hello and welcome to the forum. Any information on the Reconnaissance Unit would be appreciated especially any photographs of the man in uniform. Regards Tom
It looks like your relative was with the 43rd Wessex Reconnaissance. I just found this information from the BBC History section. BBC - WW2 People's War - Reconnaissance Regiment at Belsen The Wessex lost a lot of Recce men when their ship was anchored off the beach at Normandy and it triggered a magnetic or acoustic mine that had been dropped in the night. Regards Tom Regards Tom
Hi, I have been told by my uncle that my Father who was in 3rd Recce was at Belsen although my Father never talked about it. I have attached a Photo of him in uniform. He apparently spent his 21st Birthday in a loft in Belgium. Any info from anyone would be great . Paul Jobson.
Paul, Welcome to the forum. Do you have your fathers war records as they would confirm which Recce he was with. Cheers Paul
Paul, Thanks, yep I have some of his Army stuff at home, just have to dig it out. Will do it over the weekend ! Paul.J.
Hi there, My grandad was part of the 43rd Wessex and I have a few pictures from around Belsen, Dated August 1945.
My cousin's husband served in a Recce' Squadron, and, according to his account, which I remember quite well, his unit was the first into Belsen. Of all the horrors of war witnessed up to then, Belsen was a nightmare he lived with for the rest of his life. I was but a 13-year-old school boy, leaning on every word from my hero. He told how his unit stumbled on Belsen. How corpses littered the area. Inmates struggling to get under the wire had been shot and left there. He walked down an aisle between wooden huts. Bodies lay everywhere, and he struggled to try and understand what had happened. But he was never able to find an answer. As he walked, he was drawn to a sound, so bizarre in that setting, it only compounded his nightmare of Belsen. Someone was playing a piano. He followed the music to a hut and opening the door saw an inmate leaning over the keyboard, seemingly oblivious to the horrors around him. He told of Irma Grese (sp?) an SS guard who occupied her free moments creating lampshades from prisoners' tattooed skin. Of the showers, eagerly sought by inmates, only to be gassed on entering. One can never forget WWII and all its death and destruction, and especially the unearthing of camps like Belsen, one of dozens testifying to Hitler's deranged mind and those of his followers. My late Father, 6th Guards Tank Brigade, also entered Bergen-Belsen. He never talked about it and I never knew he was there until I read up about his unit's war experiences.
Recce in Belsen? My Father was Sgt Major Ward who served with The 15th Scottish Reconnaissance Regiment, "C" Squadron. As I have mentioned in a previous post he only twice talked about his WW2 experiences. Once about how he got his MM for his actions a Nettlekamp and.. the second time, he told me he was there with the American forces when they entered Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. He said it was so horrific he didn't go in. So not disrespectful to Daddy - he was awarded his MM for his actions at Nettlekamp which was on 14/15 April 1945 yet Bergen-Belsen concentration camp was liberated on the 15 April 1945? Were members of "C" Squadron there at or just after the The Liberation Of Bergen-Belsen? (I have been to Bergen-Belsen
Hi - all a little bit puzzling. Around mid-April 15th Recce Regt would have been on 15th Scottish Division’s axis of advance taking the regiment from Celle to Uelzen and not in the vicinity of Belsen. Nettelkamp is just to the south of Uelzen and it was in this area in mid -April that units of 15th Scottish fought a fierce and decisive encounter battle with Panzerdivision Clausewitz. You must be very proud of your father for winning the MM. Belsen lay on 11th Armoured Division’s axis. I’m not aware of any US forces being involved in its liberation and the Americans were advancing well to the south-east of the Belsen area. Could your father have visited Belsen after the surrender in May? If he did, it is possible that some US forces were also visiting such was the place’s infamy. Hope that sheds some light. Best wishes
Ciao JDKR thank you for your swift response. I was indeed puzzled too when I saw the date of Nettlekamp, liberation of Belsen and googled the location of Nettlekamp. I must have misunderstood Daddy when he said, he went to Belsen but he did say with US army as he said he couldn't go in but the Americans went in. So it must have been after the liberation - thank you for shedding light on this. And thank you, I am incredibly proud of Daddy but also of ALL the 15th Scottish Division and other WW2 British soldiers. One can never take the army out of an army daughter Thank you for shedding light on this. And thank you for the this informative, "documentive" and warm forum
Ciao JDKR I think I have some evidence that I did understand Daddy correctly and that some 15th Recce where at the Liberation of Belsen from "Scottish Lion on Patrol: 15th Scottish Reconnaissance Regiment" By T. Chamberlin, M.R. Riesco, W. Kemsley 11 April 1945 The regiment were in the forests around Celle. [P240] 12 April - B & C squadrons halted for the night at Altenhagen and RHQ, Bostel And A squadron in Celle "where a small and gruesome concentration camp was discovered - a subsidiary of Beslen. The horrible camp of Belsen was only a few miles away, and on the morning of that day a German delegation had arrived at the headquarters of the 11th Armoured Division to negotiate the surrender of a large area around it, because typhus had broken out." [P242] Clive Rdge:- Near the end of the war we operated with the 2nd SAS... Several members of the 15th Recce believe that it was whilst operating with the 2nd SAS that they were amongst the first to encounter the horrific camp at Belsen. Lieut Harry Green entered the camp on the 12 April and had seen the inmates in desperate circumstances.. Some troops did enter the camp..." [P260] Scottish Lion on Patrol
Yes, I have read elsewhere (can’t at the moment think where) of the camp at Celle. The 2 SAS members would have been part of Op ARCHWAY, a composite force under the command of Lt Col Brian Franks, CO 2 SAS. Frankforce comprised 146 members of 1 SAS and 120 of 2 SAS and was tasked to supplement 2nd Army’s recce effort during the advance across NW Germany. It’s therefore not surprising that elements of 15 Recce operated with Frankforce and also entirely possible that as a consequence they were among the first into Belsen. However, if I had been given a quid for every time I read that someone or some unit was first into Belsen I would be extremely rich!
JDKR you made me really giggle on the quids in I may have got it wrong but Daddy only mentioned the war twice (Nettlekamp and Belsen). He was so honest - he said he didn';t go in at was so awful - and he must have seen the awful sights of warfare. Also Mummy did say he was there. This was an extremely sensitive topic as she was German and hid her Jewish boyfriend (Lothar Besch) at the time in Berlin http://www.sushi-rider.com/trischi/ward/m/uschi-ward-baingo32.jpg . But when she fled Berlin (with Lothar) before the Russians came in, she returned to Hamburg and later came Daddy who charmed her with... silk stockings and chocolate My pound is on the table for Belsen or could it have been Buchenwald?
Ahh, silk stockings and chocs! Those must have been the days! Belsen most certainly but Buchenwald highly unlikely as it lies way to the south near Weimar and was liberated by the Americans.
This thread (maybe?) JDKR. Was my grandad really one of the first into Belsen? Kind regards, always, Jim.
Thanks Jim! I've remembered the book: The SAS in World War II: An Illustrated History by Gavin Mortimer.https://www.amazon.co.uk/SAS-World-.../ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=. On p.216-217 there is mention of the unit MO, Capt Joe Patterson, being shown the camp and experiencing its revolting stench. He was also made aware that it was a satellite camp for Belsen.
Ciao JimHerriot thank you very much for the very informative thread link, particularly the harrowing extract from typed transcript (an old one) written by Doc Patterson of 2 SAS . To everyone thank you all so much for replying to my threads and posting images, accounts, documentation. I am so annoyed with myself that I didn;t gently ask Daddy about his experiences but i did ask him so many times to write down an account. When I had to give up the family home, i took two years (visiting from London) to clear the family home and go trhough every item to find all photographs I could (which is on his web page). Again thank yuo so much for your amazing forum and everyone.s contributions and replies.
