W.R.C. Spicer Collection: Letter from liberated Bergen-Belsen
Biographical History
William Robert Colquhoun Spicer (1905–1983) was a doctor and a full-time officer in the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC), serving from 1928 to 1957. By the end of the Second World War, he held the rank of Colonel and served as Assistant Director of Medical Services in the headquarters of the 2nd Army.
In April 1945, shortly after the liberation of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, Spicer entered the camp as part of a temporary detachment. His primary responsibility was medical care for the survivors. Later in his career, Spicer was posted to Southeast Asia. He returned to the UK in 1947, where he was appointed Officer in Charge of the Cambridge Military Hospital.
Scope/Content
This collections consists of a letter concerning medical conditions in the liberated Bergen-Belsen camp and the challenges of caring for survivors.
Written by W. R. C. Spicer during his temporary detachment to the camp in 1945, the document provides firsthand insight into the dire health situation and the difficulties faced by medical personnel in treating the survivors.