Keith Mant
Encyclopedia
Arthur Keith Mant was a British
forensic pathologist who headed the Special Medical Section of the British Army
's War Crimes Group which investigated Nazi war crime
s committed during World War II
.
, Surrey
on 11 September 1919. His father George was a solicitor
who represented the tenth generation of members of the legal profession in the family. Mant was educated at Denstone College
before choosing not to follow in his father's footsteps, and in 1939 joined an undergraduate course at St Mary's Hospital Medical School in London
on a rugby
exhibition
. While studying Mant worked as an ambulance driver and plane spotter, and after graduating in 1943 started work in obstetrics
and gynaecology
at St Mary's. In January 1944 Mant was called up for service in the British Army, and joined the Royal Army Medical Corps
. He worked in military hospitals in France and Germany after crossing the English Channel
soon after D-Day in June 1944.
airmen and other airborne personnel from cemeteries and unmarked graves, concentrating on cases where the German personnel responsible were in custody or it was possible a suspect could be arrested. In 1946 he was put in charge of the Special Medical Section of the British Army's War Crimes Group. His main activities were interviewing people who had been in, or worked for, the SS
and were suspected of carrying out human medical experiments
in a number of concentration camps
in particular Ravensbrück concentration camp
. Mant took over 100 statements from staff members and inmates at Ravensbrück, which were used as evidence in later trials. A number of mass grave
s were also exhumed, and Mant carried out 150 autopsies on exhumed bodies. The Special Medical Section was dissolved in 1948, and Mant returned to Britain.
on exhumations and autopsies for his doctorate
. Dr Keith Simpson, then regarded as England's up-and-coming forensic pathologist, offered Mant a job in the Department of Pathology at Guy's Hospital Medical School. Mant succeeded Simpson as head of the department when Simpson retired in 1972, and was awarded a personal chair in 1974. In addition, Mant was an honorary senior lecturer
in forensic medicine at King's College Hospital Medical School and St Mary's Hospital Medical School. Mant also worked for the defence in criminal cases and as a pathologist for the Home Office
, and was involved in investigations into the Teddington
Towpath murders in the 1950s, the death of anti-racist campaigner Blair Peach
, and the deaths of two Provisional Irish Republican Army
members who died on hunger strike
– Bobby Sands
and Michael Gaughan. Mant often lectured in Richmond
, Virginia
, where he also advised novelist Patricia Cornwell
on plots for her mystery novels. Mant retired from Guy's in 1984 but continued to give independent lectures and accept commissions as a pathologist, while also spending more time growing orchids and fishing for trout
. He died in Walton-on-Thames
on 11 October 2000, survived by his three children.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
forensic pathologist who headed the Special Medical Section of the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
's War Crimes Group which investigated Nazi war crime
War crime
War crimes are serious violations of the laws applicable in armed conflict giving rise to individual criminal responsibility...
s committed during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Background and early career
Mant was born in PurleyPurley, London
Purley is a place in the London Borough of Croydon, England. It is a suburban development situated 11.7 miles south of Charing Cross.The name derives from "pirlea", which means 'Peartree lea'. Purley has a population of about 72,000....
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
on 11 September 1919. His father George was a solicitor
Solicitor
Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
who represented the tenth generation of members of the legal profession in the family. Mant was educated at Denstone College
Denstone College
Denstone College is an independent, coeducational boarding school in Denstone,Staffordshire, England and a member school of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. It is also a Woodard school and as such has a strong Anglo-Catholic tradition. It has continued to show impressive academic...
before choosing not to follow in his father's footsteps, and in 1939 joined an undergraduate course at St Mary's Hospital Medical School in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
on a rugby
Rugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
exhibition
Exhibition (scholarship)
-United Kingdom and Ireland:At the universities of Dublin, Oxford and Cambridge, and at Westminster School, Eton College and Winchester College, and various other UK educational establishments, an exhibition is a financial award or grant to an individual student, normally on grounds of merit. The...
. While studying Mant worked as an ambulance driver and plane spotter, and after graduating in 1943 started work in obstetrics
Obstetrics
Obstetrics is the medical specialty dealing with the care of all women's reproductive tracts and their children during pregnancy , childbirth and the postnatal period...
and gynaecology
Gynaecology
Gynaecology or gynecology is the medical practice dealing with the health of the female reproductive system . Literally, outside medicine, it means "the science of women"...
at St Mary's. In January 1944 Mant was called up for service in the British Army, and joined the Royal Army Medical Corps
Royal Army Medical Corps
The Royal Army Medical Corps is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all British Army personnel and their families in war and in peace...
. He worked in military hospitals in France and Germany after crossing the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
soon after D-Day in June 1944.
War crimes investigation
Following the end of World War II, in November 1945 Mant was promoted to major and posted as officer in charge of the War Crimes Investigating Team's pathology section covering north-western Europe. His initial task was largely restricted to exhuming the bodies of AlliedAllies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
airmen and other airborne personnel from cemeteries and unmarked graves, concentrating on cases where the German personnel responsible were in custody or it was possible a suspect could be arrested. In 1946 he was put in charge of the Special Medical Section of the British Army's War Crimes Group. His main activities were interviewing people who had been in, or worked for, the SS
Schutzstaffel
The Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...
and were suspected of carrying out human medical experiments
Nazi human experimentation
Nazi human experimentation was a series of medical experiments on large numbers of prisoners by the Nazi German regime in its concentration camps mainly in the early 1940s, during World War II and the Holocaust. Prisoners were coerced into participating: they did not willingly volunteer and there...
in a number of concentration camps
Nazi concentration camps
Nazi Germany maintained concentration camps throughout the territories it controlled. The first Nazi concentration camps set up in Germany were greatly expanded after the Reichstag fire of 1933, and were intended to hold political prisoners and opponents of the regime...
in particular Ravensbrück concentration camp
Ravensbrück concentration camp
Ravensbrück was a notorious women's concentration camp during World War II, located in northern Germany, 90 km north of Berlin at a site near the village of Ravensbrück ....
. Mant took over 100 statements from staff members and inmates at Ravensbrück, which were used as evidence in later trials. A number of mass grave
Mass grave
A mass grave is a grave containing multiple number of human corpses, which may or may not be identified prior to burial. There is no strict definition of the minimum number of bodies required to constitute a mass grave, although the United Nations defines a mass grave as a burial site which...
s were also exhumed, and Mant carried out 150 autopsies on exhumed bodies. The Special Medical Section was dissolved in 1948, and Mant returned to Britain.
Later career
Mant returned to work at his former department at St Mary’s, while preparing a thesisThesis
A dissertation or thesis is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings...
on exhumations and autopsies for his doctorate
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
. Dr Keith Simpson, then regarded as England's up-and-coming forensic pathologist, offered Mant a job in the Department of Pathology at Guy's Hospital Medical School. Mant succeeded Simpson as head of the department when Simpson retired in 1972, and was awarded a personal chair in 1974. In addition, Mant was an honorary senior lecturer
Senior lecturer
Senior lecturer is an academic rank. In the United Kingdom, lecturer is a faculty position at a university or similar institution. Especially in research-intensive universities, lecturers lead research groups and supervise research students, as well as teach...
in forensic medicine at King's College Hospital Medical School and St Mary's Hospital Medical School. Mant also worked for the defence in criminal cases and as a pathologist for the Home Office
Home Office
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
, and was involved in investigations into the Teddington
Teddington
Teddington is a suburban area in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in south west London, on the north bank of the River Thames, between Hampton Wick and Twickenham. It stretches inland from the River Thames to Bushy Park...
Towpath murders in the 1950s, the death of anti-racist campaigner Blair Peach
Blair Peach
Clement Blair Peach was a New Zealand-born teacher who was fatally assaulted by a police officer during an anti-racism demonstration in London, England....
, and the deaths of two Provisional Irish Republican Army
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
members who died on hunger strike
Hunger strike
A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance or pressure in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most hunger strikers will take liquids but not...
– Bobby Sands
Bobby Sands
Robert Gerard "Bobby" Sands was an Irish volunteer of the Provisional Irish Republican Army and member of the United Kingdom Parliament who died on hunger strike while imprisoned in HM Prison Maze....
and Michael Gaughan. Mant often lectured in Richmond
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, where he also advised novelist Patricia Cornwell
Patricia Cornwell
Patricia Cornwell is a contemporary American crime writer. She is widely known for writing a popular series of novels featuring the heroine Dr. Kay Scarpetta, a medical examiner.-Early life:...
on plots for her mystery novels. Mant retired from Guy's in 1984 but continued to give independent lectures and accept commissions as a pathologist, while also spending more time growing orchids and fishing for trout
Trout
Trout is the name for a number of species of freshwater and saltwater fish belonging to the Salmoninae subfamily of the family Salmonidae. Salmon belong to the same family as trout. Most salmon species spend almost all their lives in salt water...
. He died in Walton-on-Thames
Walton-on-Thames
Walton-on-Thames is a town in the Elmbridge borough of Surrey in South East England. The town is located south west of Charing Cross and is between the towns of Weybridge and Molesey. It is situated on the River Thames between Sunbury Lock and Shepperton Lock.- History :The name "Walton" is...
on 11 October 2000, survived by his three children.