Belsen Concentration Camp

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He knew that when the British army liberated the camp many prisoners of the Nazi concentration camp would escape or be freed and would have spread these and other deadly diseases across Germany. So under a white flag of truce he went to the nearest British HQ and explained the situation. A neutral zone and a truce was declared for 48 hours whilst administration and care of the prisoners was handed over to Britain. The British inspection party under the command of the Divisional Director of Medical Services Royal Army Medical Corps went to the Belsen Concentration Camp and were the first to see the horrors of this Nazi Concentration Camp. This included thousands of emaciated bodies lying unburied or decomposing in open pits and thousands of dying people in the overcrowded prison huts. The book Sisters In Arms: British Army Nurses Tell Their Story has a collection of photographs of the Bergen Belsen camp including the burning by flame throwers of the contaminated huts, a QA nurse caring for a Russian Jewish prisoner and the RAMC and QAIMNS staff enjoying leave at Belgium after the horrors they had witnessed. British troops took over the Belsen camp on the 17 April 1945 and at gun point ordered the Nazi guards and some of the locals to bury the dead. British engineers set up proper sanitation and a water supply. Number 32 Casualty Clearing Station and No 11 Field Ambulance were posted to care for the survivors of the Belsen Concentration Camp. The senior Sister was Miss Higginbotham and other QAs included Sister Mary Sands. An army report from the 10 May wrote that Field Ambulances are ideal because ...initiative, drive and improvisation are essential requirements. (cited in the book Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (Famous Regts. S) by Juliet Piggott). Most of the survivors were Poles and Russians (cited in the book Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (Famous Regts. S) by Juliet Piggott) and included men women and children. Those that survived the Nazi atrocities were like walking skeletons and despite the best care of the QAIMNS and the RAMC hundreds of the prisoners died each day. When the British Army entered Belsen Concentration camp there were two camps. The people were housed in huts much like those used to house about 30 people. However the prisoners at Belsen were crowded into these huts without beds, furniture, sanitation, blankets and even no clothes. One hut had 1100 people housed along with corpses of varying stages of decomposition. Six hundred men were counted in the other building (cited in the book Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (Famous Regts. S) by Juliet Piggott). The patients and their accommodation were thoroughly cleaned in an operation called human laundry. Each internee was hosed clean each day, shaved and sprayed with DDT (cited in the book Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (Famous Regts. S) by Juliet Piggott). All were ridden with lice and each patient had to be thoroughly deloused before admitted to the now cleaned ward accommodation. One QA Sister was placed in charge of the camp kitchen because food was still scare in the area and the patients had to be re-hydrated and given close monitoring of malnutrition as well as treatment for dysentery, tuberculosis, typhoid, typhus, diphtheria, heart and kidney problems and many more medical conditions. Authority to Enter Belsen Camp Document One QA Nursing Sister who cared for the patients of Belsen Concentration Camp was Sister Eva Moreen Jones. Below is a copy of her Authority to Enter Belsen Camp document: It reads: Belsen Camp Pass B4 Serial No 186 No: P/209884 Rank: Sister Name Jones. E.M. Regt/Corps QAIMNS/R is stationed in the Camp Area and is authorised to enter BELSEN Camp. Date of Issue: 29/6/45 Signature of Holder: Date of Approval: Issuing Officer: Date: Counter Signed: HQ Belsen Camp Sister Eva Moreen Jones Sister Eva Moreen Jones gained her nursing certificates at Moorfields and Guys in November 1940 and Queen Charlotte's midwifery in February 1941. She rarely talked about her wartime service but she did mention on a couple of occasions to her family that she had given William Joyce, the Second World War propagandist known as Lord Haw-Haw, an injection after his arrest and handing over to the authorities. Sister Jones married after the war. Her tunic and skirt uniform with her QAIMNS badges and documentation have been donated to the AMS Museum by her sons John and Rob Vaughan who have kindly provided the images above and below. Army Order Below is a copy of the Army Order granting the rank of honorary sister: It reads: 2/GEN/1577 No. 553 Certificate Certified that Reserve Sister Miss E.M. Jones Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service, is qualified for employment in the duties of Sister in Charge of an operating theatre in a Military Families Hospital under the terms of Army Order 150/1935. A.M.D.4 War Office Matron-in-Chief 11 August 1943 QAIMNS Red Cross Identity Certificate Below is a copy of the Red Cross Identity Certificate issued to Sister Jones: It reads: Serial No: 246 Army Form W3050 Naval Form M190 RAF Form 1889 Date of Issue:11 July 44 British Red Cross Unit Stamp Identity Certificate Royal Navy Army Royal Air Force [Strike out services not applicable] Number:209884 Rating or Rank: Sister Surname: Jones Christian names (in full): Eva Moreen Ship or Unit: QAIMNS (R) Signature of Issuing Officer: H.E. Forth Major RAMC For O.C. Ship or Unit Signature of Holder To be withdrawn immediately on ceasing to perform the duties for which issued. Reference from Matron Here is the reference from Matron issued to Sister Jones: It reads: 121 British General Hospital BAOR 27/4/46 Sister E.M. Jones QAIMNSR P/209884 Miss Jones has completed more than four years very satisfactory war service. She is an excellent Theatre Sister, has a certificate for Ophthalmic Training and SCM part 1. She has had good practical experience in war-time Surgery and Ophthalmic work, she is good tempered and undertakes every duty allotted to her with professional skill. Her patients are well cared for and happy. I am very sorry to lose her from my staff on demobilisation. (sgd) Z. Scott Principal Matron QAIMNS War Office Discharge Letter Below is a copy of the War Office discharge letter issued to Sister Jones. It has the War Office stamp at the top and reads: Sister E.M. Jones 209884 QAIMNS Madam, Now that the time has come for your release from active military duty, I am commanded by the Army Council to express to you their thanks for the valuable services which you have rendered in the service of your country at a time of grave national emergency. At the end of the emergency you will relinquish your commission, and at that time a notification will appear in the London Gazette (Supplement) granting you also the honorary rank of Sister. Meanwhile you have permission to use that rank with effect from the date of your release. I am Madam, Your obedient servant, The War Office AMD 4 10 May 1946 Army Release Certificate Below is a copy of the Army Release Certificate issued to Sister Jones It reads: Army Form X203 (Original) Release Certificate Officers of the Women's Forces (Class "A" Release in UK) Sister E.M. Jones (209884) Q.A.I.M.N.S./R The above named has been granted 77 days leave commencing 3-5-46 and is, with effect from 19-7-46 released from actual duty under Regulations for Release from the Army, 1945. Office Stamp The War Office A.M.D.4 10 May 1946 Initials Notice This certificate is not valid unless it bears the official War Office stamp, showing date of issue. This document is Government property. Any person being in possession of it without authority or excuse is liable under Section 156 (9) of the Army Act to fine of £20 (twenty pounds), or imprisonment for six months, or to both fine and imprisonment. If found, please enclose this certificate in an unstamped envelope and address it to the Under Secretary of State, The War Office, London, SW1. The book Sisters In Arms: British Army Nurses Tell Their Story has an account by QA Molly Budge who nursed at Belsen Concentration camp and met the notorious female guard Irma Grese and the camp Commandant Josef Kramer. Both were hanged as war criminals in December 1945. Sister Budge’s account narrates the difficulty the Nursing Sisters faced and the lengths they went to care for the prisoners. During this period the Bergen Belsen Concentration camp was attacked by a German Luftwaffe pilot and several RAMC personnel were severely wounded and one medic was killed. A QARANC wall plaque and shield is available to buy through Amazon. The QA shield is hand made and ready to hang on the wall. . Buy Now. Findextrawork Since leaving the QA's we have done an assortment of self employed work and jobs, some which only take an hour a week, others have been full time. We have written about these at our other website Findextrawork at www.findextrawork.co.uk where we share the information for free to help others with information and resources about earning more money. Visit Findextrawork for more information. Amongst the internees there were many doctors and nurses. Unfortunately their moral values had been destroyed by their treatment in Belsen. They were unable to help with medical treatment or nursing care because they would scrounge the food from patients for themselves. Many were incapable of giving care to others because of their own physical weakness (cited in the book Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (Famous Regts. S) by Juliet Piggott). As the patients health improved they became more difficult to manage prior to their repatriation. Many turned to stealing food having been starved and ill treated by the Germans. For their own safety the CO had to stop QAs working night shift and would only allow infantry guards to keep the peace at night. There is more written about Belsen Concentration Camp in the book Quiet Heroines: Nurses of the Second World War by Brenda McBryde. Two weeks after the liberation of Belsen the Royal Army Medical Cops (RAMC) performed the same relief work at Sandbostel camp (cited in the book Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (Famous Regts. S) by Juliet Piggott). The Relief of Belsen The Bergen Belsen Concentration Camp liberation was featured in the drama documentary The Relief of Belsen that was broadcast on Channel 4 television on Monday 15 October 2007 at 9pm until 11:05pm. It starred the actors Jemma Redgrave and Corin Redgrave (acting for the first time together), Iain Glen, and Tobias Menzies. The Relief of Belsen showed real life footage film from the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp and factual events re-enacted as well as news footage from the Second World War. The Relief of Belsen drama depicted the British ambulance unit that was diverted from the frontline to Bergen-Belsen in April 1945 during the local truce with Nazi troops. It captures the horrors that was witnessed by the British Army and those serving in the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) and the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Services (QAIMNS) though the uniform worn by Jemma Redgrave looked more like a Red Cross nurse or a VAD (Voluntary Aid Detachment) nurse. The Relief of Belsen also has scenes of a survivor of Bergen Belsen Concentration Camp talking about her experience and how fellow inmates, including her son, died in the camps. In The Relief of Belsen on Channel4 TV Corin Redgrave played Brigadier Glyn Hughes, Iain Glen was medic Colonel James Johnston, Tobias Menzies was Derrick Sington, Jemma Redgrave was Mac, Simon Day was Stadler, Nigel Lindsay was Gonin and Paul Hilton played Rabbi Leslie Hardman. The Director was Justin Hardy and The Relief of Belsen was written by Peter Guinness. Buy The Relief Of Belsen On DVD. There is more written about concentration camps and WWII on the QA World War Two Nursing page. The Real Tenko The latest book about British Army nurses and nursing describes a dark chapter in the history of the QAs. The Real Tenko: Extraordinary True Stories of Women Prisoners of the Japanese by Mark Felton is an account of the fall of the Far East to Japan. It comprehensively covers war atrocities performed by the Japanese troops to women stationed in places such as Singapore and Hong Kong. This included Sisters of the QAs who were stationed in hospitals such as BMH Bowen Road Hong Kong and BMH Singapore. Read the Qaranc.co.uk review or Buy Now with free delivery available. View more British Army Nursing Books - with free delivery available. If you would like to contribute to this page, suggest changes or inclusions to this website or would like to send me a photograph then please e-mail me. The photos and pictures on this page have been kindly sent to us for inclusion on this page. If you would like to contribute photographs then please contact us. For the official Army QARANC webpage please go to www.army.mod.uk/home.aspx For the QARANC Association website please go to www.army.mod.uk/army-medical-services/qaranc/9884.aspx ********************************************* Help Needed** A reader of Qaranc.co.uk is researching the exhumation of Heinrich Himmler in Luneberg, Germany circa 1945-46. He thinks that two nurses from the QAIMNS attended the exhumation due to the poor state of health of Walter Schellenberg. He would like to learn if any of the nurses kept a diary of the events leading up to the exhumation or sent any personal letters home to friends or family that may have provided an insight into Walter Schellenberg and the exhumation. Please contact Qaranc.co.uk if you have any information. Qaranc.co.uk have recently learnt about two former Military Hospitals that we would like to write about. These are the British Military Hospital at Wuppertal in Germany and BMH Benghazi. If you know any information, would like to share your memories or have photographs that we can use on the site then please contact Qaranc.co.uk A reader is writing an article about the demise of the Military Hospital for the RAMC Magazine and seeks some help. There was, in Kuala Lumpur, a hospital called BMH Kinrara. He would like to know when it opened and closed, what happened to the buildings and the staff. He thinks that Kinrara closed as Terendak opened and that the staff were transferred across to 34 Company RAMC? He would also like any information about the Military Maternity Hospital, Penang. If you can help then please contact Qaranc.co.uk There is a lovely photo of three QA Midwives from the 1960s about half way down on the Royal Herbert Hospital page. If you can help with information about the Maternity Unit in Woolwich or identify the QA Officers then please contact Qaranc.co.uk The BMH Dhekelia has new photos which includes a stunning picture of the demolition of the original building and some staff photos. The contributor would like some help with the date it was demolished and would love to hear from anyone who worked with her relative.			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