Topic: Was Canadian Army unit at Bergen-Belsen?

[baccalieu]

Names I have tracked down so far.

Aba Bayefsky  RCAF Official War Artist
Monty Berger  RCAF
Roy Burden,    RCAF, Pilot
Alex Colvill       RCAF
Kenneth D Curry
Matthew Nesbitt  RCAF
Saul Laskin      North Nova Scotia Highlanders
Leo Heaps      1st Parachute Battalion  Army No. : CDN/415 Awards : Military Cross
http://www.pegasusarchive.org/arnhem/leo_heaps.htm
Some people have asked if the war ended for me and some of my friends when John Hackett returned to the Allied lines, and the De Nooy sisters received the news of the brigadier's escape. I will tell you. It did not. I still travelled on, this time into northern Holland to witness an ambush of a long, plodding column of German infantry trying to flee into Germany. My friend, Major Henry Druce, who headed the ambush with his six SAS jeeps each mounted with four Vickers machine guns, was dressed in corduroy trousers and a black silk top hat for the occasion. He had picked up the top hat in some deserted house. In one terrible moment of slaughter, the several hundred Germans in the ambush were all killed and wounded. Then I went east into Germany with my jeep driver, Stimson, a dry, old, gnarled western Canadian of twenty-four. We were among the first people to enter Bergen Belsen concentration camp. Here I saw another kind of horror, more profound and incomprehensible than the first. I only mention these events because I think they must have had a lasting effect upon me. If often takes a while for the meaning of these experiences to settle below the numbed conscience of a soldier - sometimes decades. When I went home to Canada it was difficult to return like many others to the kind of youthful innocence which I left behind. Some years later a strange thought came to me and it gave me a feeling of hope. I do not know its significance. But I realized suddenly that I had never killed a man.'
                                                      ....


 I was in the Canadian military during WW2. We moved to a location about 8 kilometers from the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany

Shortly after it was liberated. The bodies were put into a big pit for burial and while one of the British soldiers was pushing the bodies into the pit with a bulldozer he thought that he saw a movement in one of the bodies he stopped the machine and found that a young Jewish girl was still alive. She was taken to the hospital and survived.

At that time I was able to speak several languages besides English and talked to many of the survivors. Besides Jewish people there were also Polish, Yugoslavian, Russian and many other nationalities who perished in that camp. This is very seldom mentioned by the news media. These people also deserve to be remembered.

Kenneth D. Curry
Sherwood Park, Alberta

[baccalieu]

Bergen-Belsen Relief/Liberation Staff
316 Names --British, US, and Canadian--
didnt get a chance to go thru it as yet but spotted an RCAF Sqn Ldr. Edwin Miller Aplin

http://www.bergenbelsen.co.uk/pages/Database/DatabaseReliefStaff.asp

[Blackadder1916]

Only one other Canadian seems to show up on that list.

Sgt. Stanley Winfield  RCAF.  And a link to a photo of the man shows him with S/L Aplin.


Sqn Ldr. Edwin Miller Aplin
http://www.bergenbelsen.co.uk/pages/Database/ReliefStaff.asp?HeroesID=120
Also Known As : Ted
Date Of Birth : 01/04/1909
Place Of Birth : Teignmouth, UK
Position :  84 Group R.C.A.F.
Died :  02/06/1973

Brief History
Emmigrated to Canada in 1930 where he met his future wife Elinor Grave Leef. They married on 4 July 1931.

01 May 1942 he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force and was stationed in Toronto, Camp Borden, Trenton and Belleville.

December 1944, he left Canada for England and, after the German surrender, was stationed at Celle, as part of Royal Air Force 84 Group Disarmament HQ Unit which was responsible for ensuring that the Luftwaffe was incapacitated in northwest Germany. Being stationed near the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp, Aplin became interested in the welfare of the camp victims, many of whom were interned at Bergen-Belsen long after its liberation. To aid the survivors, he organized a system using the Armed Forces Postal System to put internees in contact with their families and friends, and collected goods from Canadian families for distribution at the camp. His work at Bergen-Belsen led many survivors to refer to him as "The Angel of Belsen"

 
 

[Spr.Earl]

We have photo's of me self and my brother in 56/57 when my father was in te Brit Army at Belsen,we have a photo of the Commandant's Huas,also photo's of us in front of the Mass Grave's.
The 4th Hussars was one of the first element's of the Brit Army who came up on Belsen.

Nick

[Rifleman62]

I read several of Leo Heaps books years ago. The Evaders, The Grey Goose of Arnhem, Operation Morning Light.

Evaders  by Leo Heaps

Of the 10,000 Allied paratroopers who dropped into Holland in 1944, only 2,000 returned. Trapped in enemy territory, 250 of the toughest--the Evaders--survived for months aided by the Dutch Resistance and their own courage. Here is former "Evader" Leo Heaps' eyewitness account.

Although not at Bergen-Belson, Frank Pickersgill was in Buchenwald concentration camp. For thoes old enough to remmember, Frank was the younger brother of Jack Pickersgill, a member of the Canadian House of Commons and a Cabinet minister.

Frank Herbert Dedrick Pickersgill (May 28, 1915, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada - September 14, 1944, Weimar, Thuringia, Germany) is a Canadian hero of World War II.
 
Holding an English degree from the University of Manitoba and a Masters degree in Classics from the University of Toronto, Pickersgill had originally set out to cycle across Europe, and then returned to Europe in 1938 to work as freelance journalist for several Canadian newspapers. During his travels he met with Jean-Paul Sartre, whose work he had hoped to translate into English though the oncoming war distracted his labours.
He served the first two years of the war in a labour camp as an enemy alien; he escaped by sawing out a window in the now-cliché style of a hacksaw blade smuggled into the camp in loaves of bread. Once he was safely back in Britain, Capt Pickersgill rejected the offer of a desk job in Ottawa, and instead requested a commission with the newly created Canadian Intelligence Corps.

Because he was fluent in German, Latin, Greek and especially French, he was working in close connection to the British Special Operations Executive .

Along with fellow Canadian, John Kenneth Macalister, he was parachuted into the Loire Valley in occupied France on June 20, 1943, to work with the French Resistance. The two men were picked up by the SOE agent Yvonne Rudellat and the French officer Pierre Culioli, but their vehicle was stopped at a checkpoint set up in response to a tip that the four spies were headed this direction. After blowing their cover at the checkpoint, Culioli tried to speed away, but the Germans opened fire hitting Rudellat in the head and Culioli in the leg, causing the car to crash.

In March 1944, Pickersgill tried to escape the Parisian Fresnes Prison they were being held in, attacking a guard with a nearby bottle, and throwing himself out the second-storey window. He was shot multiple times in the escape attempt and recaptured; on August 27 he was shipped with members of the Robert Benoist group to Buchenwald concentration camp.
Pickersgill was executed by the Nazis on September 14, 1944, along with 35 other Canadian SOE agents, including Roméo Sabourin and John Kenneth Macalister. Though there are conflicting reports of their death, they are commonly thought to have been hung on meat hooks and strangled with piano wire, a painful death typically reserved for traitors and spies.[citation needed] Their bodies were then incinerated.

Posthumously, the government of France awarded him the Legion of Honor, and as one of the SOE agents who died for the liberation of France, he is listed on the "Roll of Honour" on the Valençay SOE Memorial in the town of Valençay in the Indre département. Captain Pickersgill is also honored on the Groesbeek Memorial in the Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery in the Netherlands, and the University of Toronto has designated a Pickersgill-Macalister garden on the west side of the "Soldiers' Tower" monument.
.

[baccalieu]

Heres a few more names, but havnt been able to locate
anything further on them.

Wallace Campbell. Sergeant R. Wallace Campbell went immediately to the Canadian Army HQ
in Lemgo, Germany, where he was initially involved in the interrogation of prisoners in
Bergen-Belsen.

Keith MacLellan a Canadian paratrooper with Britain's famed Special Air Services commando unit

Matthew Stone

Howard Welch

LYLE CREELMAN
Ms. Creelman was sent first to England and a year later to Germany as Chief Nurse of the
British Occupied Zone.She was in charge of nursing at Bergen-Belsen after the British liberated the concentration camp.

Re Monty Berger. Havnt read his book but assume the item below is correct:
 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."

RCAF trucks carrying medical supplies and food were among the first to reach the emaciated
inmates of the concentration camp at Bergen-Belsen. In fact, the scene was painted by Canadian
war artists D. K. Anderson and Alex Colville.

[susseddm]

Heres a few more names, but havnt been able to locate
anything further on them.

Remarkable detective work here! How have you managed to find so many names? Google searches? Or are you using official records?

Fine work indeed.

[baccalieu]

Google,webcrawlers, and also Local library online databases that
have old newspaper and magazine articles in their archives.

[War Baby]

What brought me here was a search for information about my late uncle. He was a Squadron Leader in the RCAF Intelligence. I was actually looking for a reference to the RCAF at Bergen Belsen as I do know he was there at some point after August 1944, the point at which he and his younger brother, my father, NPAM, Canadian Army Signals, 1st contingent of the CASF, RAF and subsequently RCAF met in passing in Montreal, my father returning after 4-1/2 years overseas and he going over for the first time as part of the large team that would be needed for administration of just about everything once the war ended. He was the individual who set up the war rooms in Ottawa at the beginning of the war according to my cousin. I do know that he was instructed to take a team into Bergen Belsen but I have yet to corner my cousin for long enough to get the details. I have been trying for years. I suspect he was doing a bit of both intelligence and administration at Bergen Belsen and a lot of trying to forget afterwards. So, at least you know that the RCAF was there...not that it answers your question.

[MAc5278]

Keith MacLellan, a Canadian Officer originally from the RMR, who served in the SAS during the war, was part of the unit that first liberated Bergen Belsen. 

More information can be found at wikipedia site Keith MacLellan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_William_MacLellan

 

[philosphrstone]

I have no info regarding Canadian Army units at the camp when it was liberated, but my grandfather, F/O J.E. Thompson of 437 sqn RCAF was there shortly after it was overrun by the Brits.  His and two other Dakotas picked up Brass and Medical personell in Belgium and landed next to the camp in a field.  They took some people of interest who had been prisoners there to a hospital in France before they realized the extent of the Typhus epidemic.  A few days later he was on leave in England when he got sick and was taken back to his base there with Typhus.  They drugged him up and when he woke up the next day the first thing they told him was that the war in Europe was over...  I have a video of his description of the situation that was filmed in the 80s by a teenaged social studies student which I really should get around to posting on youtube sometime. 

[susseddm]

Hi,


I was wondering if you could tell me more about your grandfather and Belsen. What was your grandfather's first name by the way? Did he ever mention the other Canadians he went with to Belsen?

In the video taken by the student, did you grandfather discuss Belsen? How long was he at the camp? Was this a subject he discussed often? Did he ever write about his experiences at the camp (i.e. letter, memoir, diary)?

Feel free to message me directly.

Any additional information you can provide will be greatly appreciated.

[philosphrstone]

Hi, His name was James Ernest Thompson...  He's listed on the RCAF site as the pilot of the last operational flight of the squadron before it was disbanded after the war.  Other than his crew and the crews of the other Dakotas from 437 Sqn, I don't recall him mentioning anyone from the Canadian military.  His passengers were British officers and medical personnel.  In the aforementioned video he did discuss it.  I am in camp working but when I get back I will try to get it uploaded to youtube so you can watch it for yourself.  He did write memoirs and I will take a look at those as well to see what he had to say about it.  He also kept his flight logs and was quite meticulous about his records so no doubt there is more info there for you.  Thanks for the interest. 

[susseddm]

Thank you for passing along the information, it's an interesting story. I look forward to watching his video description of it. I would also be most interested in his memoirs. Feel free to message me privately if you prefer.

[philosphrstone]

Finally got that interview uploaded to youtube.  The sound isn't great and the audio gets out of synch for a bit, but you'll still find it interesting.  My aunt has his memoirs and is going to lend them to me so I will let you know when I have them in hand if you want scans or whatever.  I also have his flight logs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Or3x39Uju0

This is part one of the interview where he describes going to Bergen Belsen.

[susseddm]

This is a fascinating interview, thank you for posting it. I sent you a message privately.

I would be most interested in reading his memoir when you get it.

Thanks again.

[IanGMclean]

Hi all ,my late father :- BF Mclean served with the 131st city of glasgow R A under the 15th Scottish Division. I know that for a couple of days he was attached to a Canadian Regiment based at Celle .
He told me that he and others from the Canadian reg and possibly other regs were chosen randomly by the powers that be to go as witnesses to Bergen Belsen.
I do not know the Canadian reg , or whether their visit was the day of liberation or a couple of days after , but they were told not to give any of the survivors food , but cigarettes were ok, other than that my father never said any more.

Ian

[IanGMclean]

Hi all ,i have been reading  all these posts with great interest , My father was with the 131st City of Glasgow R A. At some stage he was attached to a Canadian regiment for a couple of days ( i think they were stationed at Celle ? ) He was one of a group including the Canadians who were sent to Belsen as witnesses only.
I am unsure as to whether this was on the day of liberation or afterwards , but they were pre warned of the horrors and told to only give the survivors cigarettes and no food. My father who passed away last year did not speak much of the war , so at present i have no detail. However i have recently sent of for his service records and these may help , i will post again when i can .

[susseddm]

Is there anyway to know what regiment? There were RCAF squadrons in the area. But, that was the air force, not the army.

[IanGMclean]

Hi all,its been a while but i have received (finally) my late fathers service record,which does not help at all.
However,some more info has surfaced.I now know that my father was billeted for half a day with some Canadians at Celle,he and five others were asked to go as witnesses to Belsen on the day of liberation for only a couple of hours , they were asked not to feed or give drinks to the inmates , but could give cigarettes.
I have now traced some film footage ,showing my father and 5 others , which in all hope should include canadians.its not very clear but could possibly be cleaned up by someone more knowledgeable than me.
I found it via Wikipedia and clicked on an external link called :- Frontline Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp,the link will open up and you need to look for :- Memory of the Camps and the  Witnesses to Belsen.Its narrated by the late British Actor-Trevor Howard.
Look for the section in the movie where Trevor asks 'where are the parents of these children' there is a pause and you see some germans dragging bodies along the ground as Trevor says 'Here' and  shortly afterwards he says 'Or Here' In the foreground you will see a soldiers rifle and bayonnete,but in the background their are six soldiers,one in a kilt holding his rifle horizontally at knee level and 5 others , who all look like they are only their to watch and do not look dressed the same? My father is the shorter of the six,third from the right. Hopefully someone will be able to get the image sharper and more detailed so that the six can be recognized properly.

All the best   Ian