Moment SAS were gripped with 'utter rage' after arriving at Belsen concentration camp

SAS troopers successful their heavily-armoured Jeeps pursuing the liberation of France (Image: Courtesy Damien Lewis)

As their tiny convoy of Jeeps rumbled on the wooded lanes of Germany’s Lüneberg Heath, the SAS soldiers enjoying the outpouring sunshine had small thought of the horrors awaiting them. After warring down force lines successful France passim 1944, sabotaging Nazi attempts to repel the D-Day landings, past spearheading the unsafe propulsion into the Fatherland, their latest ngo seemed tame by comparison.

It was April 15, 1945, and the men of 1 SAS had been fixed “a tiny task” to cheque a reported “concentration camp” for grounds that a captured subordinate of the regiment, Trooper Jenkinson, was being held there. Colleagues from 2 SAS had days earlier discovered 200 French absorption fighters held successful appalling squalor successful adjacent Celle, but, close up to the infinitesimal they spotted immoderate incongruous wrought robust gates opening onto a ungraded way adjacent the hamlet of Belsen, the men expected to find a military-style situation camp.

All that changed erstwhile they passed done the entrance. Lieutenant John Randall successful the pb Jeep sensed a acheronian malevolence arsenic they went by a radical of German SS guards, eyeing them warily, but showing nary signs of having immoderate combat near successful them. Then, arsenic they reached the fortified gatehouse, ranks of barrack-like huts stretched retired earlier them, arsenic acold arsenic the oculus could see, and they were deed by the overpowering sickly-sweet odor of death.

They were astir to observe the existent depths of Nazi depravity.

Easing done the gates, Randall’s Jeep was rapidly surrounded by crowds of skeletal figures, immoderate successful pyjama-like uniforms, immoderate successful specified rags, and galore wearing thing astatine all, each pleading for food, h2o and medicine. They pressed connected further into the camp, witnessing with fearfulness the zombie-like prisoners scavenging for items of covering among grotesquely twisted piles of quality bodies.

Even arsenic they tried to process what they were seeing, they were “welcomed to KL Bergen-Belsen” by campy commandant Josef Kramer and his newest sidekick, Irma Grese – nicknamed the “Hyena of Auschwitz” for her caller enactment determination – arsenic if the campy was thing to beryllium arrogant of. The SS guards, meanwhile, continued their murderous work, seemingly unconcerned by the arrival.

When a pistillate captive tried to scope nether the ligament to drawback a stray turnip, a defender simply drew his limb and changeable her dead.

The nightmarish infinitesimal is recalled successful historiographer Damien Lewis’s latest book, SAS Daggers Drawn, recounting the unthinkable exploits of the Special Forces mavericks successful 1944 and 1945. Lewis records however the SAS troops were gripped with “utter rage” and could hardly restrain themselves from shooting the guards. Witnessing different defender beating a captive with his firearm butt, Sergeant Reg Seekings, the British Army boxing champion, was fixed support to punch the thug to the ground.

Belsen attraction campy nether British power aft its liberation (Image: Getty Images)

Kramer and Grese were locked successful the guardroom and the remainder of the guards were told that if immoderate much prisoners were shot, “you are each going to dice precise horribly”.

Having recovered and freed Trooper Jenkinson, the SAS men were soon relieved by advancing Allied troops, but galore of the hardened warriors would stay traumatised by what they had seen, agelong aft the war. They were peculiarly angered by section Germans’ attitudes – a effect of indoctrination by the Nazis.

Author Lewis says: “You tin lone statesman to ideate what it was similar for them successful that camp, and past afterwards with the locals denying that it existed. There was 1 feline who took photographs and got them developed successful a section chemist and past was questioned by the subject constabulary due to the fact that the chemist, presuming nary German could beryllium liable for specified barbarity, reported him.

“One pistillate asked the British soldiers, ‘When volition we person to larn English?’ having been led to judge she would beryllium shipped to England arsenic a enactment slave, due to the fact that truthful galore radical from antithetic countries had been enslaved by the Nazis. She had been told the British Secret Service was arsenic atrocious arsenic the German Gestapo. The level of brainwashing and power is thing that we can’t adjacent conceive of. The thought that the British were escaped to criticise Churchill, and inactive blessed to combat for him, was anathema nether the Nazi regime.

“In that situation, radical go automatons. If you presumption it successful that context, that’s wherefore Kramer and Grese gave the SAS a circuit of the camp, arsenic if what they were doing to radical was mean due to the fact that that’s what that authorities espoused.”

In stark opposition to cowardly monsters similar Kramer, the legendary person of 1 SAS, Lt-Colonel Blair “Paddy” Mayne, had, conscionable 5 days earlier the find of Bergen-Belsen, shown the eventual courageousness and attraction for others. Yet somehow, arsenic Lewis’s publication explains, enemies wrong the British constitution contrived to contradict him the highest grant for gallantry – the Victoria Cross – for his actions.

Pushing into bluish Germany arsenic pathfinders for the Canadian 4th Armoured Division – who regarded the SAS’s Willys Jeeps arsenic “mechanised messiness tins” – Paddy Force, arsenic they became known, were casual targets for die-hard SS troops, warring to the last, arsenic good arsenic brainwashed, forcibly equipped Hitler Youth children.

Mayne divided his unit into 2 groups to trim the hazard but, arsenic Major Dick Bond led 1 of the patrols crossed a constrictive causeway, a ample German unit sprung a perfectly planned ambush from adjacent workplace buildings.

SAS leader Paddy Mayne successful 1942 (Image: Library Image)

The British soldiers – respective severely injured – abandoned their Jeeps and dived into the water-filled ditch astatine the broadside of the road. Bond and his operator Trooper Max Levinsohn were each killed by a azygous changeable to the caput from a German sniper.

The remainder of those successful the ditch were pinned down by dense machine-gun fire, anti-tank missiles and tiny arms rounds.

Mayne, 30 – whose exploits earlier successful the warfare featured heavy successful the deed BBC bid SAS Rogue Heroes – was furious erstwhile helium learned what had happened to his men and, with Trooper Billy Hull astatine the instrumentality of his Jeep, raced to the country of the ambush.

Arriving adjacent the colony of Lorup, Lower Saxony, Mayne assessed the situation, grabbed a Bren weapon and spare magazines, and went to wide retired a farmhouse that immoderate of the Germans had antecedently been firing from. Finding nary left, helium got Hull, 22, to instrumentality up a presumption connected the apical level of the location to springiness covering occurrence portion helium moved connected ft towards the adjacent Nazi position.

When Hull fto loose, provoking a barrage of occurrence successful response, Mayne stepped into wide show of the force and, picking retired a sniper targeting Hull, killed him with large accuracy. Then, arsenic the afloat value of the German weaponry continued to beryllium directed astatine him, Hull and his injured men successful the ditch, helium single-handedly cleared retired a ample barn packed with German soldiers.

One SAS witnesser to his actions described him arsenic “firing burst aft burst from the shoulder, sidesplitting oregon wounding all”. Still the onslaught from different Nazi positions continued and Mayne decided the lone mode to prevention his trapped men was to onslaught consecutive connected to the enemy’s guns. He jumped down the instrumentality of his Jeep and, with Lieutenant John Scott, 1 of the survivors of the ambush, volunteering to antheral the duplicate Vickers-K guns connected the back, helium drove astatine afloat pelt on the bullet-raked road, urging Scott to sprout into adjacent woodlands, wherever astir of the German soldiers were present entrenched.

Witnesses could hardly judge neither antheral was deed by the tempest of German occurrence peppering the lone Jeep but, aft 200m, Mayne spun circular to tally the gauntlet again, with Scott inactive spraying rounds from the duplicate Vickers-Ks.

Back wherever helium started, Mayne turned again for a 3rd tally and this time, level with the ditch, helium jumped retired and began dragging the wounded, 1 by one, backmost to his Jeep, earlier speeding backmost retired of scope of the German guns.

Historian Damien Lewis, writer of SAS Daggers Drawn (Image: Courtesey Damien Lewis)

Sergeant Albert Youngman, 1 of those helium saved, aboriginal reported: “It was specified a brazen happening to do… they were throwing everything backmost astatine him. God knows however they didn’t deed him.” It was, helium added, the “finest enactment of bravery I person ever seen successful my life”.

Lieutenant Scott – himself awarded the Military Medal – said: “Throughout the full action, Colonel Mayne showed a idiosyncratic courageousness that it has ne'er earlier been my privilege to witness.”

The SAS commander, who had already been awarded the Distinguished Service Order 3 times (DSO and 2 bars), was recommended for the VC, backed by SAS Captain David Surrey-Dane, who had been there, and by Canadian Major-General Christopher Vokes.

The citation was signed disconnected by SAS main Brigadier Mike Calvert and adjacent Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, Commander-in-Chief of British forces successful Germany. But backmost successful Whitehall, idiosyncratic – possibly connected the Grant of Honours committee – struck a enactment done the VC proposal and scrawled alternatively “3rd Bar to DSO”.

SAS Daggers Drawn is historiographer Damien Lewis's superb caller peculiar forces publication (Image: Courtesy Quercus)

Major General Bob Laycock, Britain’s Chief of Combined Operations, wrote to Mayne successful August 1945, telling him: “In my opinion, the due authorities bash not truly cognize their job. If they did, they would person fixed you a VC.”

Even King George VI was amazed and asked Winston Churchill to intervene, but was told it was a fait accompli. He expressed his astonishment erstwhile conferring the 4th DSO connected Mayne, but Mayne said later: “I served to my best, my King and Queen, and nary tin instrumentality that honour distant from me.”

Since Mayne’s premature decease successful a car clang successful 1955, respective attempts person been made to person the VC awarded retrospectively, including a petition to the Queen successful 2002 and aboriginal time motions successful the House of Commons.

Author Lewis feels determination is nary crushed wherefore it should not happen. He points retired that, adjacent today, nary British subordinate of the SAS has ever been awarded the VC [Anders Lassen who served with the British SAS and received the VC was Danish], and helium said: “The SAS has ne'er been a fashionable regiment with the establishment.”

He blames the information Mayne did not travel from the close nationalist schoolhouse inheritance and was not English, portion noting that subject chiefs and politicians were astir to disband the SAS successful October 1945. From the galore acts of bravery and ultimate enactment highlighted successful Daggers Drawn, Mayne could easy person earned the VC for cumulative gallantry.

“His enactment astatine Lorup was worthy connected its own. It was suicidal. I don’t cognize however helium survived,” adds Lewis. “Mayne was arguably the astir highly decorated British Army worker successful the Second World War and yet helium didn’t springiness a damn astir gongs. He did it for the attraction of his men. He couldn’t carnivore to suffer immoderate of them and helium felt each nonaccomplishment precise personally.

“His rule information successful that concern was redeeming his men, vanquishing the force and doing the close thing. That’s wherefore helium was truthful revered by those nether his command.”

SAS Daggers Drawn: In For The Kill, the Mavericks Who Made the SAS, by Damien Lewis (Quercus, £22) is retired now. Visit expressbookshop.com oregon telephone Express Bookshop connected 020 3176 3832. For Damien Lewis circuit dates, spell to https://geni.us/Damien-AutumnEvents