Lost Airmen of Buchenwald

[PennfieldParish]

Lost Airmen of Buchenwald is a documentary that chronicles the little-known story of Allied airmen imprisoned at the Buchenwald Concentration Camp in the waning months of World War II.

In the summer of 1944, 168 airmen from the US, England, Canada and other Allied countries were captured in Paris by the German Gestapo and sent to the infamous "Koncentration Lager Buchenwald" in Germany. Falsely accused of being "terrorists and saboteurs," the airmen faced a terrifying fight for survival and a race against time to escape their execution.

A controversial moment in history that their home countries tried to hush-up, Lost Airmen of Buchenwald tells this harrowing story through interviews with seven surviving members of the group, including their heroic commanding officer. The film follows them from their days hiding with the French Resistance to the darkest corners of the Holocaust, where they struggled to survive as Germany collapsed under the weight of the advancing Russian and Allied armies.

For more information: http://www.lostairmen.com/

Regards,
Christian

[AlanW]

Christian,
There was a piece about this subject, included in a recent UK TV documentary, (Bomber Boys) which stated that the airmen were removed from the camp by Luftwaffe officers, the day before their executions were supposed to have taken place.

[PennfieldParish]

Hi Alan,

In the documentary, "Lost Airmen of Buchenwald", it says they were removed from the camp seven days before their scheduled execution. This was a fact their leader, S/L P.J. (Phil) Lamason (NZ403460), kept from them for 39 years until revealing it at a POW reunion.

I was presented the DVD by F/L J.A. (Jim) Stewart, DFC, ONB who was one of the seven airmen interviewed for the documentary.

Regards,
Christian

[AlanW]

Christian,
Not sure if you can access this, but www.channel5.com/shows/bomber-boys-revealed
The quote about being taken away the day before execution, may just have been added to the documentary for shock effect.

[PennfieldParish]

Hi Alan,

It says the video is not available in my country. Too bad as I would have like to have seen it.

Regards,
Christian

[barnsley]

Has anyone actually seen a list of the names of the airmen in Buchenwald? I know Flying Officer Kay of 100 Sqn was one of them.B

[COL BRUGGY]

Hello,

Take a look here:

http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?4129-A-Kiwi-called-Lamison

US airmen omitted from the listing, some surnames incorrect.

Col.

[PennfieldParish]

Col Et Al:

On the listing of 87 Commonwealth and UK. prisoners in Buchenwald, Stewart, J A is listed as a Canadian.

F/L James Alexander STEWART, DFC, ONB served with the RAF during WWII and immigrated to Canada in 1952. Stewart went back to Buchenwald in 2010 at the invitation of the Buchenwald-Dora Committee on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of the liberation of the concentration camp. He was also there for the 50th anniversary in 1995.

Stewart will join me this coming Sunday (September 9th) to honour all those who served at Pennfield Ridge Air Station (Pennfield Ridge, New Brunswick (Canada)). He will once again be laying the RAF wreath in honour of the 11 RAF/ RAFVR service personnel killed at the base.

Regards,
Christian

[COL BRUGGY]

Hello Christian,

It was beyond the scope of the query to provide precise details on any of the airmen mentioned in Burgess' listing of Buchenwald prisoners. l'll just say, that Stewart is listed under CANADA (your guess is as good as mine, as to what Burgess mean't by that!), not CANADIAN.

I'm well aware of Stewart's background, and the fact that he was RAF.

Stewart was awarded his DFC, in part, for claiming a probable Fw200 on 28-7-1943, whilst serving on the 'Empire Darwin', with the Merchant Ship Fighter Unit. After baling out of his Hurricane, Stewart was picked up by safely by HMS 'Lieth'.*

Stewart later went on to No.609 Squadron RAF. Whilst there, he was involved in the following incident:

2-2-1944
No.609 Sqn
Typhoon IB EK121:PR-F (others sources quote, PR-U).

Stalled on landing and wing hit the ground, Manston.

128449 P/O (Pilot) James Alexander STEWART DFC RAFVR

Stewart ended up a PoW, as follows:

13-5-1944
No.609 Sqn
Typhoon IB MN414

Hit by flak, Fleury. Baled out, initially evaded, later PoW.

128449 F/O (Pilot) James Alexander STEWART DFC RAFVR

Initially in Fresnes Prison, later transferred to Buchenwald.

*Some interesting comments, here:

http://forum.keypublishing.com/archive/index.php?t-87072.html

Col.