Phillip John Lamason, (15 September 1918 – 19 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.
Lamason was born and raised in Napier, a city in New Zealand's North Island, on 15 September 1918. He was educated at Napier Boys' High School and Massey University (Palmerston North campus) where he was awarded a Diploma in Sheep farming.
During this period, Lamason described himself as "a bit of a ratbag". Prior to the war, he worked for the Department of Agriculture at New Plymouth as a stock inspector. 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.
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. The citation read:
Pilot Officer Philip John. LAMASON, (N.Z. 403460), Royal New Zealand Air Force, No. 218 Squadron.
One night in April, 1942, this officer was the captain of an aircraft which attacked Pilsen. During the return flight his aircraft was attacked by an enemy fighter and sustained damage; the hydraulics were shot away and the turret rendered unserviceable, while a fire broke out in the middle of the fuselage. Displaying great presence of mind, Pilot Officer Lamason coolly directed his crew in the emergency and, while 2 of them dealt with the fire, he skilfully outmanoeuvred his attacker and finally shook him off. By his fine airmanship and great devotion to duty, Pilot Officer Lamason was undoubtedly responsible for the safe return of the aircraft and its crew. This officer has completed 21 sorties and he has at all times displayed courage and ability.
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. 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. On the moonlit night, 95 bombers were lost, its heaviest losses of the entire war during a single raid.
On 8 June 1944, Lamason was serving as a flight commander in a Lancaster LM575 LS-H 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.
Lamason recalled: On the night of the raid our bomber was spotted by a German fighter, which locked on to it. I decided to turn and fight him. Within seconds an incendiary round hit a wing and caught the fuel tank. I gave the order to bail out as the gas torched. But Robbie, our mid-upper gunner, kept on firing. When he eventually did jump, we no longer had enough height. I saw his parachute open, but too late. He must have died on impact. I pushed the navigator out and managed to jump clear at the last minute.
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. 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. 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.
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. After five days travel, during which the airmen received very little food or water, they arrived at Buchenwald on 20 August 1944.
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. It was known for its brutality and barbaric medical experiments.
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'. Little Camp was a quarantine section of Buchenwald where the prisoners received the least food and harshest treatment.