William J. Atkins Photographic Collection, 1945 | Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs

William James Atkins was born on December 9, 1920 in Antigo, Wisconsin to Thomas Roy Atkins and Margaret May Atkins. He attended Washington Park High School in Racine, Wisconsin and was completing his third year in the University of Wisconsin’s School of Journalism in Madison, Wisconsin when he applied to be a volunteer ambulance driver for the American Field Service on March 8, 1942.

When Atkins was sent overseas with AFS unit ME 8 on April 17, 1942, the ship carrying his unit was torpedoed at sea. All AFS members were rescued after eighteen hours on a life raft, transported to Bermuda, and flown to New York City. Atkins left again for the Middle East on June 30, 1942 with AFS unit ME 16. He arrived was sent to a British training camp outside of Cairo, Egypt after arriving overseas on September 6, 1942. Assigned with his AFS unit to the British Eighth Army, he witnessed the onset of the battle of El Alamein in Egypt on October 23, 1942 before being sent to the New Zealand division following the German advance on El Aghelia. The Germans were unsuccessful in their advance, and Atkins was moved to Tripoli, Libya. He became one of the few Americans to watch the city fall in January 1943. After the loss of Tripoli, Atkins was attached to the Fourth Indian Division and saw the loss of the German Army in Cape Bon, Tunisia in May 1943.

On January 23, 1944, Atkins was promoted to Second Lieutenant and took charge of one of AFS’s postal and censorship departments. He was also granted a leave to visit Syria and Palestine, which was done through the Red Cross tours. Afterwards, he moved into Italy and on April 2, 1944, Atkins was promoted from Second Lieutenant to Lieutenant.

Atkins returned to the United States for a two-year leave in June 1944, only to sign up again to volunteer with AFS that same month. He was sent overseas again in July 1944. From January through March 1945, Atkins was stationed in Naples, Italy, before moving to Belgium in April.

Shortly after the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in northern Germany by British troops in April 1945, a contingent of around 70 AFS volunteers from C and D Platoons of 567 Company were called in to assist in what became a seven-week mission  to evacuate the camp. The AFS volunteers ultimately helped to evacuate more than 11,000 people from the camp, and drove them to the displaced persons camp established nearby. AFS drivers also transported medical equipment for the treatment of survivors and transferred the corpses from the wards of the hospitals to the mortuary. While Atkins is not officially listed as one of the volunteers for the six-week long evacuation, as one of the officers at the nearby AFS General Headquarters in Belgium he visited the camp sometime in late April or May (as evidenced by his photographs), and potentially helped in the evacuation process.

Atkins was transferred to India in July 1945, scheduled for duty with the South East Asia Command (SEAC). Following the termination of the war with Japan, Atkins and his unit were ordered to return home.  Atkins left Calcutta in December 1945, and arrived at the AFS headquarters in New York on January 19, 1946.

Atkins was entitled to a 1939-1945 Star, an Africa Star with an Eighth Army Clasp, an Italy Star, and a France-Germany Star for his service with AFS during the war. He passed away on June 9, 1992.