Page 9 - Chiron Spring 2016

is a track that runs from this cemetery directly to the concentration camp; this is where more than 20,000 Russian Prisoners of War were buried in mass graves. On rst look you could be mistaken for being in a country park, but at the realisation that the heath covered mounds had thousands buried beneath, the mood of the group changed from being thoughtful to considerably sombre.
We soon found ourselves at the main entrance of the Bergen-Belsen camp some 600 metres away, and spent the next few hours making our way around the exhibition. Outside, very little remains of the original buildings as the camp was burned to the ground shortly after the arrival of the British due to the contagious Typhus epidemic and louse infestation.
There were survivors’ accounts of their incarceration and photographs taken by the British, documenting the horrors that they found when they reached Bergen- Belsen on the 15th April 1945. Haunting images of the prisoners hung on the walls
– the loss of hope written across their gaunt faces – but what was truly shocking were the videos depicting the dead being hauled into the mass graves. There are 50,000 people buried in the camp grounds; 13,000 were found unburied when the British rst arrived.
At the far end of the camp, a large wooden cross and an epitaph stand tall, serving as a reminder to the world those who were lost there under the Nazi regime.
We held a short memorial and Private Lauren Fegan laid a cross of remembrance. One thing that I noticed, which I found strange, was that not one bird ew overhead during our visit there.
We travelled the short distance to our accommodation for the night, where we settled into the evening with a pub quiz on World War trivia. We split into teams of ve and each team contributed their entry fee towards the Royal British Legion poppy fund raising in excess of €150. We of course were all gracious enough to let the Squadron Sergeant Major’s and OC’s team
win.
The following day brought us to the nal
stop of our remembrance trail at Hanover War Cemetery, which seemed a tting way to nish. At the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, we were gathered around the Stone of Remembrance and conducted our own private memorial service with readings and the laying of a wreath.
The cemetery is split into two parts: the Hanover War Cemetery and the Hanover Military Cemetery, the latter housing the headstones of those who died post-war from the Army of occupation and the British Army of the Rhine. We located the headstones of three more RAVC soldiers.
We departed and returned back to our barracks, Chiron Lines, having a much greater understanding of the atrocities that took place during the 1940s, showing the darker side of human nature. We had paid our respects at the graves of over 100,000 of our allies, civilians and our own RAVC soldiers, appreciative of the sacri ces given and grateful that their legacy lives on.
Chiron Calling 9