Evelyn Elizabeth Patricia Bark, (1900 - 1993) was a leading member of the

British Red Cross The British Red Cross Society () is the United Kingdom body of the worldwide neutral and impartial humanitarian network the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The society was formed in 1870, and is a registered charity with 1 ...

Biography

Bark was born on 26 December 1900. Bark joined a

Voluntary Aid Detachment The Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) was a voluntary unit of civilians providing nursing care for military personnel in the United Kingdom and various other countries in the British Empire. The most important periods of operation for these units we ...

at the outbreak of WWII. In 1944 she moved to the Foreign Relations Department and then to the British Red Cross Commission in Europe which entered the newly liberated areas in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. She was one of the first to enter the

Bergen-Belsen concentration camp Bergen-Belsen (), or Belsen, was a Nazi concentration camp in what is today Lower Saxony in Northern Germany, northern Germany, southwest of the town of Bergen, Lower Saxony, Bergen near Celle. Originally established as a prisoner of war camp, ...

, By first helping cut the mortality rate, and then establishing a tracing service for the survivors which evolved into the

International Committee of the Red Cross The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a humanitarian organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, and is a three-time Nobel Prize laureate. The organization has played an instrumental role in the development of rules of war and ...

International Tracing Service The Arolsen Archives – International Center on Nazi Persecution formerly the International Tracing Service (ITS), in German Internationaler Suchdienst, in French Service International de Recherches in Bad Arolsen, Germany, is an international ...

. She stayed in Germany until 1949, including organising the

Bad Pyrmont Bad Pyrmont (, also: ; West Low German: ) is a town in the district of Hamelin-Pyrmont, in Lower Saxony, Germany, with a population close to 19,000. It is located on the river Emmer (Weser), Emmer, about west of the Weser. Bad Pyrmont is a popul ...

Hospital and Rehabilitation Centre.Independent Obituary: Evelyn Bark
/ref> Evelyn Bark returned to London, eventually becoming Director of International Affairs, and helped establish Red Cross and Red Cresecent societies across the world, responding to successive crises. In 1956 she co-ordinated relief for

Hungarian refugees Hungarian may refer to: * Hungary, a country in Central Europe * Kingdom of Hungary, state of Hungary, existing between 1000 and 1946 * Hungarians/Magyars, ethnic groups in Hungary * Hungarian algorithm, a polynomial time algorithm for solving the ...

in Austria for the

League of Red Cross Societies The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is a worldwide humanitarian aid organization that reaches 160 million people each year through its 191 member National Societies. It acts before, during and after disast ...

. She was awarded an

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in 1952. On 23 January 1964 she was the subject of an episode of '' This Is Your Life''. After the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...

was opened to women in 1965, she became the first female CMG in the 1967 New Year Honours.Supplement to the London Gazette, 1 January 1967, p.4
/ref> Bark died on 7 June 1993.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bark, Evelyn 1900 births 1993 deaths Officers of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George