Honouring Phil Lamason: a New Zealand memorial with a Jewish resonance
The small New Zealand town of Dannevirke is preparing to honour one of its most remarkable sons, Squadron Leader Phil Lamason, whose forgotten wartime heroism saved the lives of 167 Allied airmen in 1944.
Phil Lamason
Lamason and his men were betrayed to the Gestapo after being shot down over France. Instead of being sent to POW camps, they were classified as “terror fliers” and incarcerated in Buchenwald concentration camp, where they endured the same starvation, filth, and brutality inflicted on Jewish prisoners in the notorious Kleine Lager.
Against impossible odds, Lamason’s leadership sustained the airmen. His smuggled letter to the Luftwaffe triggered an intervention by General Otto Trautlofft, leading to their transfer to POW camps just days before a scheduled execution.
The Phil Lamason Heritage Centre Trust has launched a memorial project in his hometown, and the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation (JASHP) has stepped forward as a major donor. Its name will be inscribed alongside others with a prominent Star of David, acknowledging that Lamason’s story is not only about military valour, but also about the shared
Phil Lamason
memory of human beings whom the Nazis deemed “life unworthy of life.”
For Jewish communities, the Lamason story resonates deeply. Though the Buchenwald airmen were not Jews, they were deliberately degraded and dehumanised in the same way Jews were. Their survival depended on courage, solidarity, and the refusal to surrender to despair — themes at the heart of Jewish remembrance.
In an era when Holocaust memory is fading and history is too often distorted or ignored, the Dannevirke memorial serves as more than a local tribute. It is a reminder that cruelty thrives when ignorance prevails, and that memory itself is an act of defiance against inhumanity.
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I have a little to do with this project. 82 Americans, USAAF.48 British, RAF. 26 Canadians, RCAF. 9 Australians, RAAF. 2 New Zealanders, RNZAF. and 1 Jamaican, RAF. made up the 168. It was the 167 that wanted him as their leader. details of the 168 can be found at http://www.buckwaldairmen.info To made a donation to the $400000 NZ plus fund can be found at http://www.phillamison.com and also on the facebook page in his name. The book written about Phil’s Life Story available in paperback on Amazon. It would like to see it become a school text book telling the story of a gentile interned in a Nazi concentration camp. If you would like more Information Feel free to contact me on + 64 21 1298429 any time. Leave a message and I will call you back or email me on [email protected].
John McCormick Chairman Hawkes bay Hawkes Bay Friends of Israel. Waipukurau New Zealand.