William A. Davis papers

William A. Davis (1908-1999) served with the U.S.A. Medical Corps and was appointed to the United States of America Typhus Commission established by President Roosevelt’s executive order. He arrived in London in October 1944, was attached to the British 21st Army Group, and worked in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark. In April 1945 he was ordered to report to the Deputy Director of Medical Services, Second Army, at Bergen-Belsen. He was put in charge of typhus control and made responsible for delousing the prisoners, vaccinating key personnel, helping with diagnosing cases, and isolating the typhus strain. He published articles about typhus at Bergen-Belsen in the American Journal of Epidemiology in 1947 and the Annals of Internal Medicine in 1951. After the war, he worked at the Veterans Administration hospitals in Grand Junction, CO and Tucson, AZ. The William A. Davis papers contain correspondence, instructions, memoranda, orders, and reports related to Davis’ work with the United States of America Typhus Commission in France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and Denmark; an extensive report on typhus at Bergen‐Belsen; two newspaper clippings about the 1945 Belsen trial; Davis’ notes about his daily activities; his immunization register; and photographs of members of the Typhus Commission. A chronological file includes correspondence, instructions, memoranda, orders, and reports related to Davis’ work identifying and combating typhus in France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and Denmark. This file also contains Davis’ July 26, 1945 report detailing the typhus epidemic at Bergen‐Belsen with illustrative black and white photographs of Bergen‐Belsen, inmates, and the cleansing, delousing, and treatment process. A daily activities record contains Davis’ personal notes about his daily activities in Europe, lists the cities and camps he visited, and includes his frank impressions of the conditions at Bergen‐Belsen. Additional black and white photographs in the collection depict members of the Typhus Commission and the bestowal of Typhus Commission medals on Brigadier R. Galloway and Colonel J.S.K. Boyd.