WONZ 362: The Phil Lamason Trust

Guest: Mike Harold (Chairman of The Phil Lamason Trust)

Host: Dave Homewood

Recorded: ‎7th of October 2026

Released: 9th of October 2026

Duration: 2 hours 4 minutes 23 seconds

Dave Homewood talks with Mike Harold of Dannevirke. Mike is the chairman of the Phil Lamason Trust, which is a group that is doing its best to ensure the memory of one of New Zealand’s bravest men is not forgotten.

Squadron Leader Phil Lamason, DFC and Bar, was a pilot in the Royal New Zealand Air Force during the Second World War. After undertaking flight training in New Zealand, he was shipped to the UK and was attached to the Royal Air Force’s Bomber Command.

He flew his first tour of operations with No. 218 (Gold Coast) Squadron, RAF, on Vickers Wellingtons and Short Stirlings. He was awarded his first Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) while on this squadron and he managed to get his aircraft and crew back to the safety of England after it his Stirling suffered a bad fire in the air.

His second tour was with No. 15 Squadron RAF, on Avro Lancasters. It was halfway through this tour that Phil’s aircraft was shot down while attacking railway yards in France. Managing to escape the stricken aeroplane and parachuting to safety, he was picked up by French Resistance workers and with his navigator Ken “Chappy” Chapman, he was passed off down the Comet Line, an escape route for downed airmen. However, unfortunately one of the contacts on the line was a doble-agent and they were handed over to the Gestapo.

Following a bad stay at Fresne prison, Phil was among 168 downed airmen moved from there by train on a harrowing journey to a new prison – not a Prisoner of War camp as they’d hoped, but in fact Buchenwald concentration camp. By the time they arrived, Phil Lamason had already taken charge of the multi-national bunch of Allied airmen. Over the next two months he rallied his fellow captives, he made friends with other prisoners already there in Buchenwald, and he continued to stand is ground and challenge the Gestapo camp staff. His bravery kept the morale up among his men and almost all survived the ordeal by the time the Luftwaffe got wind that they were being illegally held there and got them moved to a regular P.O.W. camp.

Mike Harold, who grew up as a neighbour to the Lamason family and knew Phil personally, tells his story in detail. He also talked about the books about Lamason and the new memorial to his memory and all the airmen who were held at Buchenwald, which is being unveiled in Dannevirke on the 28th of November 2026.