Donald Stott Major Donald John Stott , DSO & Bar ( 23 October 1914 – 20 March 1945 ) was a New Zealand soldier and military intelligence agent during the Second World War . As a member of the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force , Stott took part in the Battle of Greece , and the subsequent Battle of Crete . Captured by the Germans on Crete , he successfully escaped from a prisoner of war camp after several months of internment . Making his way back to Egypt , he joined the Special Operations Executive in 1942 and was dispatched to Greece to support the local resistance efforts against the Germans . In 1944 , he transferred to the Z Special Unit , which was based in Melbourne , Australia as part of the Services Reconnaissance Department . Appointed commander of Robin 1 , a small team formed to collect intelligence in the Southwest Pacific , he disappeared , presumed drowned , on 20 March 1945 while leading his team on a reconnaissance mission to Balikpapan Bay , Indonesia . Early life . Born on 23 October 1914 , Stott was the son of a butcher in Birkenhead , New Zealand . Educated at Northcote Primary School and then at Takapuna Grammar School , Stott was a keen sportsman . Upon finishing his education , he was employed at the New Zealand Herald as a rotary machinist . Military career . Following the outbreak of the Second World War , Stott enlisted in the New Zealand Military Forces in December 1939 . Posted to 5th Field Regiment , Royal New Zealand Artillery , he was quickly promoted to sergeant . In 1940 , he embarked with the 2nd Echelon of the 2nd Division , which formed the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force , for Egypt . However , during transit the ship on which he was traveling , the " Aquitania " , was diverted to England . In March 1941 , Stott was shipped with the 2nd Echelon to Egypt to join up with the 1st Echelon of the 2nd Division , which had been in the country since February 1940 , and then onto Greece to take part in the defence of Greece . The New Zealanders , together with other allied forces , were forced to retreat to the island of Crete following the German intervention in Greece . He was wounded and captured during the subsequent Battle of Crete . Stott described the wound in a letter home as being " " . . . not at all severe . I was hit by a bullet just above the knee ( right ) on the inside of the leg and it did not strike a bone so I was lucky " " , and it was not so serious as to prevent him escaping a prisoner of war camp in Greece . Together with another New Zealander , Bob Morton , Stott vaulted the fence of the camp in broad daylight and successfully evaded the German guards with the help of Greek police who led the pursuing Germans astray . After spending several months in and around Athens , Stott and Morton were eventually able to get to Egypt , crossing the Mediterranean by sailboat . Special Operations Executive . Following recuperation from his adventures in Greece , Stott was posted to Officer Training School ( OTC ) . It was during his time at OTC that he was asked to conduct sabotage missions in Greece for the Special Operations Executive ( SOE ) , a request he gladly accepted . Greece . Stott , by now commissioned as a captain , returned to Greece with his fellow escapee , Bob Morton , in 1942 . Stott was to utilise his knowledge of the country , accumulated during the several months that he and Morton spent on the run from the Germans following their escape from captivity , to join the British Military Mission that was then based in Greece and co - ordinating the Greek resistance efforts . In 1943 , Stott , together with fellow SOE operative Geoffrey Gordon - Creed , destroyed the Asopos Viaduct . This was an important operation , as it resulted in the diversion of German troops destined for the frontlines to occupation duties in Greece . For his exploits , Stott was awarded a Distinguished Service Order ( DSO ) , after the commander of the British Military Mission in Greece , Brigadier Eddie Myers originally nominated Stott for a Victoria Cross . Myers considered that the Victoria Cross would have been awarded had a shot been fired during the Asopos mission . Remaining in Greece and continuing his sabotage operations , Stott received a head wound when blowing up a bridge and was forced seek medical help from acquaintances in Athens . Now based in Athens and tasked with the sabotage of aerodromes around the capital , Stott was able to get the various factions of the Greek resistance to work together . However , the planned sabotage operations came to nothing as it was realised the targeted aerodromes were too well defended . His efforts to co - ordinate the Greek resistance meant that Stott became embroiled in the internal power struggle between the various Greek resistance groups . Reputedly a staunch anti - communist , Stott favoured working with the EDES , a rightist resistance group , rather than the communist controlled ELAS , the military wing of the National Liberation Front . Greek SOE operatives became concerned that Stott was being manipulated by his EDES contacts , some of whom were of questionable character . Matters came to a head in November 1943 , when the mayor of Athens contacted Stott with back channel peace overtures from the Germans . While the approach was initially dismissed , Stott decided to explore the opportunity in order to collect useful intelligence on Germany ' s position in Greece . Stott met with key representatives of the Gestapo and , as negotiations became more protracted , Stott began to take them seriously . It became clear that any withdrawal from Greece by the Germans would be at the exclusion of the ELAS from the peace process . When senior SOE officers in Cairo became aware of the extent of the negotiations that Stott was facilitating between the Germans and the Greeks , he was ordered to abandon his negotiations and return to Egypt . Following a debriefing held in Cairo , Stott was awarded a bar to his DSO as a result of the useful intelligence he collected during the negotiations . Z Special Unit . Stott was not allowed to return to Greece following his recent exploits in the country . Instead , after being offered a staff job which was declined , he opted to be seconded to the Australian equivalent of the SOE , the Services Reconnaissance Department , to undertake operations in the Far East . Stott briefly returned to New Zealand where he married his girlfriend Mary Snow in June 1944 . The following month , Stott commenced intensive training at various bases around Australia , including receiving instructions in small boat handling and submarine insertion . In 1945 , and by now promoted to major , he was appointed commander of Operation Robin 1 and tasked with conducting sabotage and intelligence missions in Southeast Borneo , Indonesia . A submarine , the USS " Perch " , transported Stott and his twelve - man team to Japanese occupied Balikpapan Bay . Arriving in the bay on 20 March 1945 , Stott was to lead an initial party of four ashore in a pair of two - man folboat s , to be followed by the remainder of his team two days later . Launching at night in heavy swells , Stott had trouble with the motor of his folboat , and he and his companion were forced to use oars to try and get to shore . En route , the party was detected by the Japanese and was ordered by Stott to seek an alternative landing site . While the second folboat successfully made it to shore , Stott and his companion were never seen again , and were presumed to have drowned .