The Phil Lamason Heritage Centre Trust in Dannevirke has sent out a message in regard to the recently launched Lamason-Buchenwald Memorial Project…
The Trust is committed to creating a fitting Memorial in Phil Lamason’s home town to commemorate not only former RNZAF Squadron Leader Lamason’s outstanding leadership and courage, but also the resilience and determination of the 168 Allied airmen wrongly incarcerated in the brutal SS operated Buchenwald work/death camp in Nazi Germany in 1944.
The Trust has engaged the services of former New Zealand Defence Force artist Matt Gauldie to design a Memorial which will be worthy and appropriate to this epic WWII story. Matt Gauldie has worked closely with a local engineering company Metalform to create a design and plan, using corten and stainless steel as construction materials, which will emphasise the triumph of the human spirit.
168 stars (representing the Allied airmen of Buchenwald), a distinctive traditional New Zealand Maori Te Poutama pattern (denotating the upward striving of humankind) and Phil Lamason’s determined “I Would Not Step Back” phrase emerge victoriously from the debris of a crashed Lancaster bomber and the and foreboding symbols of the infamous Buchenwald camp.
The Plinths and Display boards on the surrounding “debris” will convey key information about Phil Lamason’s courage and leadership, the names of all the Allied airmen, and their story of resilience and an acknowledgement of all sponsors and donors to the project.
The Phil Lamason Heritage Centre Trust is a New Zealand registered charity.
The Trust has already secured half of the estimated cost of the project and would welcome any donations from people with a special connection or interest in this epic WWII story to help bring this project to fruition by mid-year 2026.
Contributions can also be made through the website.
Further information is available on the Trust’s website – www.phillamason.com – and on the Phil Lamason Project Facebook page.
Read more about the Memorial Project on J-Wire HERE, and on the San Diego Jewish World HERE.
Read more about Phil Lamason on The Buchenwald Airmen website HERE.
