Phillip John Lamason, (15 September 191819 May 2012) was a pilot in the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) during the Second World War, who rose to prominence as the senior officer in charge of 168 Allied airmen taken to Buchenwald concentration camp, Germany, in August 1944. Raised in Napier, he joined the RNZAF in September 1940, and by April 1942 was a pilot officer serving with the Royal Air Force in Europe. On 8 June 1944, Lamason was in command of a Lancaster heavy bomber that was shot down during a raid on railway marshalling yards near Paris. Bailing out, he was picked up by members of the French Resistance and hidden at various locations for seven weeks. While attempting to reach Spain along the Comet line, Lamason was betrayed by a double agent within the Resistance and seized by the Gestapo.
After interrogation, he was taken to Fresnes prison. Classified as a "Terrorflieger" (terror flier), he was not accorded prisoner-of-war (POW) status, but instead treated as a criminal and spy. By 15 August 1944, Lamason was senior officer of a group of 168 captured Allied airmen who were taken by train to Buchenwald concentration camp, arriving there five days later.
At Buchenwald, the airmen were fully shaved, starved, denied shoes, and for three weeks forced to sleep outside without shelter in one of the sub-camps known as "Little Camp". As senior officer, Lamason took control and instilled a level of military discipline and bearing.
For several weeks Lamason negotiated with the camp authorities to have the airmen transferred to a POW camp, but his requests were denied. At great risk, Lamason secretly got word to the Luftwaffe of the Allied airmen's captivity and, seven days before their scheduled execution, 156 of the 168 prisoners were transferred to Stalag Luft III. Most of the airmen credit their survival at Buchenwald to the leadership and determination of Lamason. After the war, he moved to Dannevirke and became a farmer until his retirement. During the 1980s and 1990s, he was a regular speaker at KLB Club and POW reunions.
Early career Lamason was born and raised in Napier, a city in New Zealand's North Island, on 15 September 1918.Thompson, H. L. (1953). New Zealanders with the Royal Air Force. (Vol. 1). Published by War History Branch, Dept. of Internal Affairs, Wellington. . He was educated at Napier Boys' High School and Massey University (Palmerston North campus) where he was awarded a Diploma in Sheep farming.Massey College: Diplomas and Prizes, New Zealand Evening Post, Volume CXXIV, Issue 141, page 7, date 11 December 1937; retrieved 6 May 2012.
During this period, Lamason described himself as "a bit of a ratbag".Anzac Day: From teen ratbag to hero , hawkesbaytoday.co.nz, 25 April 2012; retrieved 2 May 2012. Prior to the war, he worked for the Department of Agriculture at New Plymouth as a stock inspector.AWARD OF BAR TO D.F.C. Evening Post, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 31, p. 6, date 5 August 1944; retrieved 26 April 2011. It was there Lamason took the opportunity of free flying lessons, clocking up 100 hours. He was described as a tall, good-looking man with blue eyes and a broken nose.Burgess, Colin (1995). Destination Buchenwald. Published by Kangaroo Press, Kenthurst NSW. .
Lamason joined the RNZAF in September 1940. By April 1942, he had been posted to the European theatre of operations as a pilot officer in No. 218 Squadron RAF. During a bombing raid on Pilsen, Czechoslovakia, he was in command of an aircraft that was attacked by an enemy fighter and badly damaged, but managed to return to base. As a result of his actions, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) on 15 May 1942.Skill and Gallantry. Evening Post, Volume CXXXIII, Issue 114, p. 6, date 16 May 1942; retrieved 26 May 2011. The citation read:
After his first tour ended flying Stirlings with 218 Squadron, Lamason then instructed other pilots at 1657 Heavy Conversion Unit. Returning to operations with No. 15 Squadron RAF, Lamason was twice Mentioned in Despatches, first on 2 June 1943 and again, having received promotion to acting squadron leader, on 14 January 1944. He was awarded a Bar to his DFC on 27 June 1944, for "courage and devotion to duty of a high order" and "vigorous determination" in attacks on Berlin and other heavily defended targets. Lamason was presented his award after the war by King George VI at Buckingham Palace, where he met and befriended a young Princess Elizabeth.Chatterton, Tracey (26 May 2012). "War hero had 'core of steel'", The Dominion Post; retrieved 26 May 2012. A day after making an emergency landing at an American base in England, Lamason was introduced to, shook hands and spoke with Clark Gable.
Lamason was not afraid to speak his mind. On the night of 30/31 March 1944, when 795 bombers were sent to attack Nuremberg, he was very critical of the route chosen, warning his station commander that heavy losses could be expected.Squadron Leader Phil Lamason obituary, Telegraph.co.uk, 1 June 2012; retrieved 1 June 2012. On the moonlit night, 95 bombers were lost, its heaviest losses of the entire war during a single raid.RAF Timeline 1944 , raf.mod.uk' retrieved 17 June 2012.
Buchenwald On 8 June 1944, Lamason was serving as a flight commander in a Lancaster LM575 LS-HRecord for Lancaster LM575 on lostaircraft.com of No. 15 Squadron RAF, on his 45th operation, when he was shot down during a raid on railway marshalling yards at Massy-Palaiseau near Paris.In Gestapo Hands. Evening Post (Wellington, NZ), Volume CXXXIX, Issue 122, p. 4, 25 May 1945; retrieved 22 September 2010.
Lamason recalled:
Along with his English navigator, Flying Officer Ken Chapman, Lamason was picked up by members of the French Resistance and hidden at various locations for seven weeks.Hancock, Kenneth (1946, p. 96). New Zealand at war. A.H. and A. W. Reed (publishers), Wellington, NZ. . In August 1944, while attempting to reach Spain along the Comet line, Lamason and Chapman were captured by the Gestapo in Paris after they were betrayed by the French double agent Jacques Desoubrie for 10,000 francs each.McKay, Christine. Phil Lamason: Humble Bay pilot, . HawkesBayToday.co.nz, 25 April 2012; retrieved 2 May 2012. After interrogation at the Gestapo headquarters in Paris, they were taken to Fresnes Prison. Many fliers were classified as "Terrorflieger" (terror flier) by the Germans, and were not given a trial. The most common act for Allied airmen to be classified a terror flier was to be captured in civilian clothing and/or without their dog tags. The German Foreign Office decided that these captured enemy airmen should not be given the legal status of prisoner of war (POWs) but should instead be treated as criminals and spies.Veterans Affairs Canada (2006). Prisoners of War in the Second World War , vac-acc.gc.ca; retrieved 6 January 2009.National Museum of the USAF (2008). Fact Sheets: Allied Victims of the Holocaust , nationalmuseum.af.mil; retrieved 5 January 2009.
Consequently, Lamason was among a group of 168 Allied airmen from Great Britain, United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Jamaica who—along with over 2,500 French prisoners—were taken by train in overcrowded cattle boxcars from Fresnes Prison outside Paris to Buchenwald concentration camp. As the airmen were herded into the boxcars, Lamason protested about the poor treatment of the airmen, only to be struck in the face by an SS guard. Lamason fell to the ground and captured pilot Roy Allen watched as an SS Major pulled a Luger from his holster and thought Lamason would be shot on the spot.Childers, Thomas (2004). In the Shadows of War, Henry Holt and Co, New York. After five days travel, during which the airmen received very little food or water, they arrived at Buchenwald on 20 August 1944.Lambert, Max (2005, pp. 464–68). Night After Night: New Zealanders in Bomber Command, Harper Collins, Auckland. . Kinnis, Arthur and Booker, Stanley (1999). 168 Jump Into Hell, Victoria B.C. .
Buchenwald was a labour camp of about 60,000 inmates of mainly Russian POWs, but also common criminals, religious prisoners (including Jews), and various political prisoners from Germany, France, Poland, and Czechoslovakia.Crocker, Brandon (2008). An American in Buchenwald . The American Spectator. Retrieved on 4 January 2009. It was known for its brutality and barbaric medical experiments.Buchenwald (2010). United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington; retrieved 25 August 2010.
Upon arrival, Lamason, as ranking officer, demanded an interview with the camp commandant, Hermann Pister, which he was granted. He insisted that the airmen be treated as POWs under the Geneva Conventions and be sent to a POW camp. The commandant agreed that their arrival at Buchenwald was a "mistake" but they remained there anyway. The airmen were given the same poor treatment and beatings as the other inmates. For the first three weeks at Buchenwald, the prisoners were totally shaved, denied shoes and forced to sleep outside without shelter in one of Buchenwald's sub-camps, known as 'Little Camp'.Marshall, Bruce (2000, pp. 193–94). The White Rabbit. Published by Cassell, London. Dyreborg, Erik (2003, pp. 287–93). The young ones: American airmen of WW II. Published by iUniverse, Inc., Lincoln, NE. Little Camp was a quarantine section of Buchenwald where the prisoners received the least food and harshest treatment.Moser, Joseph and Baron, Gerald (2009). A fighter pilot in Buchenwald. Published by Edens Veil Media, Bellingham, WA. . Canadian POWs Return to Buchenwald. Veterans Affairs Canada; retrieved 27 September 2010.
After their first meal, Lamason stepped forward and said:
Lamason then instructed the group not to trust the SS, or provoke them in any way because as they had experienced on the train, the guards were unpredictable and trigger-happy. Also, they were not to explore the camp because of the chance of breaking unknown rules, but to stay together and keep as far away from the guards as possible.Harvie, John (1995). Missing in Action. Published by McGill-Queen's University Press, Montreal. . He further stated that acting on the group's behalf, he would make further contact with the camp authorities for recognition of their rights.Monteath, Peter (2011, p. 292). P.O.W.: Australian Prisoners of War in Hitler's Reich. Published by Pan Macmillan, Sydney. .
Lamason then proceeded to organise the airmen into groups by nationality and appointed a Commanding officer within each group. Lamason did not do this just to improve their morale but because he also saw it as his responsibility to carry on his war duties despite the adverse circumstances. Captured US pilot Joe Moser believed that Lamason also did this because if the right opportunity presented itself, the group would be able to operate much more effectively if military discipline and operations were applied.
Lamason's leadership boosted the airmen's spirits and gave them hope while instilling a level of discipline and bearing. One of the first assignments Lamason gave was to mount a guard detail, both day and night, to prevent pilfering by other inmates, which had begun during their first night at camp. During their incarceration, Lamason insisted the airmen march, parade and act as a military unit.Taylor, Cliff (18 March 2012). "War Story: Lost Airmen of Buchenwald", New Zealand Herald; retrieved 18 May 2012.
Within days of their arrival, Lamason met Edward Yeo-Thomas, a British spy being held at Buchenwald under the alias Kenneth Dodkin. Lamason, who knew the real Dodkin quite well, immediately became suspicious and later confided in Christopher Burney, who assured Lamason the cover was legitimate. Through Yeo-Thomas and Burney, Lamason was introduced to two Russian colonels, senior members of the International Camp Committee, an illegal underground resistance group of prisoners in the main camp.