Looking For My Great-Grandad

Hi! I was told by my grandmother, the daughter of the man whom I'm looking for, that my great grandfather (Fred Miller from Yorkshire, near Bawtry or Doncaster) was one of the very first people to visit Bergen-Belsen to liberate it directly after the war, and he was only 19 at the time as he was born in 1926. I'd love to find some documentation around his existence and assistance of liberation of the concentration camp after the war. Thanks very much!

 

Welcome Edward.

Do you have Fred's full name, Date of Birth & Place of Birth and his Service Number? Maybe which regiment / unit /corps he served with. Has the family retained any documents, photos and medals? All can help to identify him and what he did in his service.

I did try to search The National Archives (TNA) with his name and year of birth, there are many possibles.

We always recommend applying for the subject's full service record. Yes, it may take a year to arrive - either from the MoD or National Archives (TNA). It is not available online and is the definitive record. There is nothing you can do about the wait. The records were never intended to be read today. See: Get a copy of military records of service

Please bear in mind any times we have new members arrive with family stories of being @ Bergen-Belsen. It is well documented which units were there initially (15/4/1945) and others were taken there before VE-Day (8/5/1945) to see what the Nazis had done, in effect what liberation meant for many.

I expect after VE-Day many British soldiers visited/.

For some context Wiki is a starting point: Bergen-Belsen concentration camp - Wikipedia

 

I apologise but as I never met him, I am only able to source his name as Fred Miller from Yorkshire, perhaps Bawtry. I am unaware of his regiment number as this is what I am trying to find out, to see if he was definitely one of the people to liberate Bergen after the war.

 

All noted. Do you know where and when he died?

The genealogy site I used currently does not help.

 

Fairly recently, somewhere near Doncaster. Past year or two. Sorry for the vagueness, I've sadly never met him, I'm basing this off my grandparents.

 

Nowt still. Others may be along to help.

 

Firstly, bear in mind that you do not need his service number to apply for his official records and discover the units that he served with, you will need a date of birth and evidence of death and that is the likely starting point. It's a typical genealogical problem, usually solved by starting from a later person and working backwards.

Accuracy is obviously essential, do you know for a fact it is Miller, as opposed to say Millar, Fred or probably Frederick, and was there a middle name?

Can you share your grandparents details, full names, dates, addresses, in fact anything that could provide a start?