General Dempsey's senior medical officer said to-day that the Belsen prison camp near Bremen, with its thousands of typhus, typhoid, and tuberculosis cases, was "the most horrible, frightful place" he had ever seen. Here are some of the things he saw:

There was a pile - between sixty to eighty yards long, thirty yards wide, and four feet high - of the unclothed bodies of women all within sight of several hundred children. Gutters were filled with rotting dead and men had come to the gutters to die, using the kerbstones as back-rests.

"The prison doctors tell me that cannibalism is going on," the medical officer said. "There was no flesh on the bodies; the liver, kidneys, and heart were knifed out. There were five to seven births daily, but there was no water."

There was bunk accommodation for only 474 women out of 1704 sickness cases. Another 18,600 women who should have been in hospital were lying on bare, bug-ridden boards. In the men's quarters there were 1,900 bunks for 2,242 acute cases with another 7,000 cases who should have been in hospital.

Photographic Record

Thousands of German prisoners have been paraded to the camp to see the conditions, the filth, disease, and death of patients of all nationalities - including four British. A photographic record of this compound of human wreckage has been made.

Before the camp was completely taken over a burst of shooting disclosed that the guards were killing prisoners trying to take potatoes from a pit in the camp.

There were 28,000 women and 11,000 men in the two sections of the overcrowded camp and about 500 children.

"The first night we put tanks round the food," the brigadier said. "Turnip soup was all the Germans gave the prisoners. The British guards had to fire over the heads of prisoners desperate to get at stores. Our first priorities were food and water.

"The next morning I drove round with the camp commandant in a jeep. He was a typical German brute - a cruel, sadistic, heavy-featured Nazi. He was quite unashamed.

"We saw compounds filled with dead and dying. There were a few plump people. They had obviously been there only a short time. One pit was choked with blackened bodies. There were several piles of unclothed dead.

"In one compound typhus cases had not been segregated. Two or three had to share a tiny bunk. The hospital was only huts set aside.

"I saw women lying on bare boards so weak they could hardly raise themselves on their arms to try and cheer as we went though.

"There were between 100 and 150 doctors - mostly women - in the camp. I mobilised them and told them my plans. One of the first things is to move all the people who are going to die.

Starved to Death

"I am told that 30,000 prisoners died in the last few months and I can well believe the figure," the Brigadier added. One of the inmates was a German professor who had made rude remarks about Hitler.

"Typhus caused far fewer deaths than starvation. Naked men and women tried to keep themselves clean with the dregs of coffee.

"Those too weak to move had no food and died. We found a consignment of Red Cross stores sent to Jewish inmates by members of their race outside. It had not been distributed.

"Children were in comparatively good condition. The women had not spared themselves to see that the children were as comfortable as possible. Medical stores were quite inadequate."

Getting food, water, medical supplies, and treatment to these mutilated thousands is one of the biggest jobs the medical personnel of General Dempsey's army has undertaken. The camp commandant is under close arrest.