Donald Stott
New Zealand Service Operations Executive
Died when: 30 years 148 days (364 months)Star Sign: Scorpio
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.
Born in Auckland, Stott volunteered for the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force shortly after the outbreak of the Second World War.
Serving with an artillery unit, 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.