Kiwi saved fellow airmen
A New Zealand World War II bomber pilot, who saved a large group of Allied airmen from death in the infamous Buchenwald concentration camp, has died aged 93.
Phil Lamason died on Saturday at his home on the farm outside Dannevirke where he lived, his son John said.
Lamason, a squadron leader, ranked as senior officer among the 168 airmen marched into the camp in August 1944 and risked his life to get word to the Luftwaffe, the German air force, that the men were being held there illegally.
The determined New Zealander learned the Gestapo had ordered the execution of the group of fliers and worked to smuggle out news of their incarceration.
On October 19, 1944, Luftwaffe officers, who had no time for the Gestapo, arrived at the camp gates and demanded the release of the airmen. The fliers were freed and taken to Sagan, a regular prisoner of war camp.
The majority of the 168 had been shot down in raids over France and, like Lamason, had been on the run in civilian clothes before being captured and held in Fresnes prison outside Paris.
Because they were not in uniform they were regarded as enemy agents or saboteurs and not accorded POW rights.
One RAF man wrote later that Mr Lamason ‘‘epitomised all that is good in a leader and there is no doubt in my mind that his sustained effort as the front man for our group was a major contributing factor in us getting trans- ferred to camp.’’
Mr Lamason joined the RNZAF in September 1940, learned to fly in New Zealand and sailed for England in April 1941.
He flew his first tour on Stirlings with 218 Squadron, winning an immediate Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) in April 1942 for beating off German night fighters with some skilled flying on the way back from Pilsen, Czechoslovakia.
He then instructed other pilots at 1657 Heavy Conversion Unit and while there was twice mentioned in dispatches for ‘‘bravery and distinguished service’’ before joining 15 Squadron on Lancasters for his second tour.
Mr Lamason flew the tough targets in early 1944 – Berlin, Leipzig, Nuremberg – and was awarded a second DFC for ‘‘gallantry, leadership and enthusiasm’’.
His Lancaster was shot down outside Paris the night after D-day, June 7, 1944. .
Born in Napier on September 15, 1918, Philip John Lamason is survived by two sons and two daughters. His wife died in 2009.
a
recognised POW