{"id":18290946,"date":"2026-08-30T23:08:28","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T21:08:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/buchenwald-168-allied-airmen-klb-club-1944\/"},"modified":"2026-09-04T08:45:36","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T06:45:36","slug":"buchenwald-168-allied-airmen-klb-club-1944","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/buchenwald-168-allied-airmen-klb-club-1944\/","title":{"rendered":"Buchenwald&#8217;s Lost Airmen: 168 in a Concentration Camp"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\n<!-- mfsh:top -->\n\n<style>\n.mfsh-trigger{display:inline-flex;align-items:center;gap:10px;height:44px;padding:0 18px;margin:0 0 26px;border:2px solid #0F1720;background:#fff;color:#0F1720;font-family:inherit;font-size:14px;font-weight:700;line-height:1;letter-spacing:0;text-transform:none;cursor:pointer;box-shadow:none;transition:background .15s,color 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They were not spies or saboteurs. They were downed aircrew, men who should by every law of war have been sent to a prisoner-of-war camp. Instead they were dumped inside one of the Nazi regime&rsquo;s most notorious camps, and an execution order was quietly scheduled.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That they nearly all survived is down to discipline, luck, and one New Zealand bomber pilot who refused to let the group fall apart.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f5f5f5;padding:20px;margin:24px 0;border-radius:6px\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 10px;font-weight:700;font-size:17px\">Quick Facts<\/p><table style=\"width:100%;border-collapse:collapse;font-size:15px\"><tr><td style=\"padding:4px 12px 4px 0;color:#555;white-space:nowrap\"><strong>Who<\/strong><\/td><td style=\"padding:4px 0\">168 Allied airmen (US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and others)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:4px 12px 4px 0;color:#555;white-space:nowrap\"><strong>Where<\/strong><\/td><td style=\"padding:4px 0\">Buchenwald concentration camp, near Weimar, Germany<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:4px 12px 4px 0;color:#555;white-space:nowrap\"><strong>When<\/strong><\/td><td style=\"padding:4px 0\">Roughly 20 August to 19 October 1944<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:4px 12px 4px 0;color:#555;white-space:nowrap\"><strong>Why<\/strong><\/td><td style=\"padding:4px 0\">Captured out of uniform \/ linked to the Resistance and branded &ldquo;terror-fliers&rdquo;<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:4px 12px 4px 0;color:#555;white-space:nowrap\"><strong>Leader<\/strong><\/td><td style=\"padding:4px 0\">Squadron Leader Phil Lamason, Royal New Zealand Air Force<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:4px 12px 4px 0;color:#555;white-space:nowrap\"><strong>Rescue<\/strong><\/td><td style=\"padding:4px 0\">Transferred to a POW camp after the Luftwaffe learned of them<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:4px 12px 4px 0;color:#555;white-space:nowrap\"><strong>Died at Buchenwald<\/strong><\/td><td style=\"padding:4px 0\">Two of the 168<\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/div>\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Airmen branded as terrorists<\/h2>\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The men had one thing in common: they had been shot down over occupied France and, in most cases, sheltered by the Resistance or captured in civilian clothes. The SS chose to treat them not as soldiers but as <em>Terrorflieger<\/em> &mdash; &ldquo;terror-fliers&rdquo; &mdash; and spies, outside the protection of the Geneva Convention. That legal fiction is how uniformed aircrew ended up behind the wire at Buchenwald.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/08\/p-38-lightning.jpg\" alt=\"Lockheed P-38 Lightning\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block;border-radius:6px\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">American fighter pilot Joe Moser, shot down in a P-38 Lightning like this one, was among the 168. He later wrote a memoir of his months at Buchenwald. Photo: Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Conditions were brutal. The airmen had their heads shaved and their boots taken, and for roughly three weeks they slept outdoors in the camp&rsquo;s notorious &ldquo;Little Camp&rdquo; on starvation rations. American P-38 pilot Joe Moser, shot down on 13 August 1944, would later describe it all in his memoir, <em>A Fighter Pilot in Buchenwald<\/em>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dr2an0o1B0c\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0;border-radius:8px\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The man who took command<\/h2>\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The senior officer among them, New Zealand Squadron Leader Phil Lamason, refused to let the group become a leaderless mass of prisoners. He organised the men, imposed military discipline, and insisted they conduct themselves as airmen, not victims. His address to them has become the defining line of the whole episode.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #1565c0;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;border-radius:0 8px 8px 0;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/08\/phil-lamason.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"flex-shrink:0\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/08\/phil-lamason.jpg\" style=\"width:96px;height:96px;border-radius:50%;object-fit:cover;display:block;border:2px solid #ddd\"><\/a><div><em>&ldquo;Gentlemen, we have ourselves in a very fine fix indeed. The goons have completely violated the Geneva Convention and are treating us as common thieves and criminals. However, we are soldiers.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Squadron Leader Phil Lamason<\/strong> &mdash; Royal New Zealand Air Force, to the airmen at Buchenwald<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For the survivors, the memory of the place never softened.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #d32f2f;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;border-radius:0 8px 8px 0;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;So cruel, so savage, so brutal.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Ed Carter-Edwards<\/strong> &mdash; Canadian survivor<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/08\/buchenwald-gate.jpg\" alt=\"The gate of the former Buchenwald concentration camp\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block;border-radius:6px\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">The gate of Buchenwald, where 168 Allied airmen were held in 1944. Photo: Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Saved by the Luftwaffe<\/h2>\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Their salvation came from an unlikely quarter. A message smuggled out of the camp reached the Luftwaffe, whose officers were appalled that captured Allied aircrew were being held as terrorists in an SS camp. Under pressure, the SS relented. On the night of 19 October 1944, 156 of the airmen were transferred to the POW camp Stalag Luft III; the ten too sick to move followed over the coming weeks. An execution order for the group had reportedly been set for 26 October &mdash; days away. Lamason kept that detail secret for nearly forty years.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two of the 168 did not survive Buchenwald. The rest owed their lives to a rare crack of decency inside the German war machine &mdash; and to the men among them who chose, in the worst place on earth, to keep behaving like soldiers.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/RXwvI4PWT-Q\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0;border-radius:8px\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/1CmydW4XPkA\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0;border-radius:8px\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\n<style>.mfq{margin:34px 0 8px}.mfq h2{font:26px\/1.3 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117;padding-top:22px;margin:0 0 6px}.mfq .qa details{border-top:1px solid #5C91FF;margin:0;padding:0}.mfq .qa details:last-of-type{border-bottom:1px solid #e2e7ee}.mfq .qa summary{cursor:pointer;list-style:none;display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;gap:16px;padding:22px 26px;font:18px\/1.7 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117}.mfq .qa summary::-webkit-details-marker{display:none}.mfq .qa summary::after{content:\"+\";font:24px Helvetica,sans-serif;color:#3568e0;flex:0 0 auto}.mfq .qa details[open] summary::after{content:\"\\2013\"}.mfq .qa details:hover summary{color:#3568e0}.mfq .qa .a{font:16px\/1.7 \"Gilroy regular\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#454e5e;padding:0 26px 24px}.mfq .qa .a a{color:#3568e0}@media(max-width:680px){.mfq .qa summary{padding:18px 14px;font-size:17px}.mfq .qa .a{padding:0 14px 20px}}<\/style>\n\n\n<section class=\"mfq\"><h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2><div class=\"qa\"><details open><summary>Were Allied airmen really sent to Buchenwald?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Yes. In August 1944, 168 Allied airmen from the US, Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand arrived at Buchenwald concentration camp. They were downed aircrew who by every law of war should have gone to a prisoner-of-war camp.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Why were they sent to a concentration camp?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Because they had been shot down over occupied France and, in most cases, sheltered by the Resistance or captured in civilian clothes. The SS chose to treat them as Terrorflieger &mdash; terror-fliers &mdash; and spies, placing them outside the protection of the Geneva Convention.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Who led the airmen at Buchenwald?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Squadron Leader Phil Lamason of the Royal New Zealand Air Force, who imposed military discipline on the group and is widely credited with holding it together.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>How did they get out?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">They were transferred to a prisoner-of-war camp after the Luftwaffe learned that uniformed aircrew were being held at Buchenwald. An execution order had been quietly scheduled before that intervention.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>How many of the 168 died?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Two died at Buchenwald. That nearly all of them survived is attributed to discipline, luck and Lamason&rsquo;s leadership.<\/div><\/details><\/div><\/section>\n\n\n\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Were Allied airmen really sent to Buchenwald?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Yes. In August 1944, 168 Allied airmen from the US, Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand arrived at Buchenwald concentration camp. They were downed aircrew who by every law of war should have gone to a prisoner-of-war camp.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Why were they sent to a concentration camp?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Because they had been shot down over occupied France and, in most cases, sheltered by the Resistance or captured in civilian clothes. The SS chose to treat them as Terrorflieger \u2014 terror-fliers \u2014 and spies, placing them outside the protection of the Geneva Convention.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Who led the airmen at Buchenwald?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Squadron Leader Phil Lamason of the Royal New Zealand Air Force, who imposed military discipline on the group and is widely credited with holding it together.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"How did they get out?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"They were transferred to a prisoner-of-war camp after the Luftwaffe learned that uniformed aircrew were being held at Buchenwald. An execution order had been quietly scheduled before that intervention.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"How many of the 168 died?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Two died at Buchenwald. That nearly all of them survived is attributed to discipline, luck and Lamason\u2019s leadership.\"}}]}<\/script><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Sources: Joe Moser, &ldquo;A Fighter Pilot in Buchenwald&rdquo;; accounts of Phil Lamason; CBC; Wikipedia.<\/em><\/p>\n<!-- mfsh:bottom -->\n\n<button type=\"button\" class=\"mfsh-trigger mfsh-bottom\" data-mfsh-placement=\"bottom\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><svg><use href=\"#mfsh-i-share\"\/><\/svg>Share this story<\/button>\n\n<!-- \/mfsh:bottom -->\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px;border-radius:0 8px 8px 0\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Related Posts<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/marcel-dassault-bloch-buchenwald-mirage\/\">The Man Behind the Name on the Rafale<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/cornelia-fort-pearl-harbor-wafs-first-woman-pilot-killed\/\">Cornelia Fort: Airborne Over Pearl Harbor<\/a><\/p><\/div>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Share this story In August 1944, 168 Allied airmen &mdash; American, British, Canadian, Australian and New Zealander &mdash; arrived at Buchenwald concentration camp. They were not spies or saboteurs. They were downed aircrew, men who should by every law of war have been sent to a prisoner-of-war camp. Instead they were dumped inside one of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":18290087,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[666,664],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18290946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history-and-legends","category-military-aviation"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Buchenwald&#039;s Lost Airmen: 168 Allied Aircrew | MiGFlug<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In 1944, 168 Allied airmen were held in Buchenwald concentration camp as &#039;terror-fliers&#039;. 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