I was serving at Bergen-Belsen in 2007 with 7th Armoured Brigade, or the ‘Desert Rats’. At that time, the Brigade was preparing to deploy to the Middle East. The north German barracks were a legacy of World War Two and the Cold War, but we didn’t really think much about the historic surroundings in which we worked, because we were very focused on preparations in the present.
That year, I could have reflected on the story of Seaton resident Muriel Hawker. She survived World War two, and shared her story with the Herald newspaper in 2007, just days before she died. Muriel cast her mind back 65 years, and recalled 1942.
“At the age of 14, I was in service … I worked for retired Major and Mrs Cartwright, whose palatial home was on Seaton seafront.
“A terrible explosion ripped through the house. In my fright, I dashed into the hallway. I didn’t know where I was going. For some reason, I flung open the drawing room door and the blast caught me.
“Four hours later they were digging me out of the rubble. I had been buried alive.
“Five people died at Seafield House that day, and I had been presumed the sixth. … One of the men’s shovels caught my outstretched arm locked in the rubble. I remember telling them to mind my hand or they would have it off….
“The soldier carried me to the Homestead nursing home along the front because there was no hospital in Seaton, and for a week or two the nurses there cared for me … I was very lucky. Major Cartwright and his wife were both killed”.
Earlier this year, I met another civilian caught up in World War Two – Susan. I met her together with 100 year-old Mervyn, who served in the British Army and had liberated Susan from Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. On 15th April 1945, the 11th Armoured Division of the British Army had entered Belsen.
Mervyn and other young soldiers from 11th Armoured Division found 55,000 surviving prisoners, many barely alive. After liberation, 13,000 of Belsen’s prisoners died due to the malnutrition and disease that they had experienced.
Remembrance is a time to be grateful for the sacrifices of service personnel and veterans, in pursuit of the democracy and liberty that we enjoy. Yet it is also a time when we should reflect on the price paid by civilians caught up in war, such as those who were known to Muriel and Susan.