James A. Goodson

James Alexander Goodson (March 21 1921 – May 1 2014) was a United States Army Air Force fighter ace who was credited with shooting down fifteen aircraft and destroying another fifteen on the ground during World War II. Born in New York City, US, he later moved following the death of his father to Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada, along with his mother who had family in the area. The pair later moved to Toronto, Canada, where his mother operated a rooming house.

Prior to the war, he studied languages at the University of Toronto before hitchhiking and travelling by ship to Europe as a pantry boy so he could see the world. He was in Paris at the time of the German invasion of Poland. Travelling back to England, he booked a ticket on the SS Athenia from Liverpool to Montreal, Canada, which departed on September 2 1939, and was hit by a torpedo from a German submarine the following evening. After being rescued and reaching the United Kingdom, he attempted to join the Royal Air Force, but was told he would have better luck in Canada.

Later reaching Canada on the SS Dutchess of Athol, he attempted to join the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), but due to the length of the waiting list he went back to the University of Toronto before again joining a ship as a pantry boy, later a steward, travelling to South American and the Mediterranean. He joined the RCAF upon his return to Canada, finishing training on December 5 1941.

During the course of his military service, he served for three countries under 416 Squadron RCAF, 43 Squadron and 133 Squadron (Eagle) RAF and 336th Fighter Squadron. He was shot down during an attack on a German airbase on June 20 1944, not long after which he was taken prisoner until the end of the war. He was awarded the Silver Star, nine Distinguished Flying Crosses, the Purple Heart and 21 awards of the Air Medal.

Following the war, he worked for the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company as an executive and later the president of Compagnie Française Goodyear, Hoover and ITT Inc.

Early life James Goodson was born in New York City, US, on March 21 1921. Following the death of his father, he grew up Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada, where his mother, Gertrude Elizabeth Goodson (died January 21 1948), had family, later moving to Toronto, Canada, where his mother operated a rooming house. He hitchhiked with seven college boys outside Winnipeg, Manitoba, after lying that he could cook and drive, both of which he "learned to perform acceptable" as they travelled to Cornwall, Ontario. There, he again hitchhiked, this time with an automobile dealer that had bought a hearse for its engine. By the summer of 1939, he had found a job as a pantry boy on a Cunard Line cruise ship bound for Liverpool, England. The Athenia left port on September 2, reaching south of Rockall and northwest of Inishtrahull, Ireland on the evening of September 3, the day of the British declaration of war on Germany. She was spotted by the German submarine U-30 commanded by Oberleutnant Fritz-Julius Lemp at around 16:30 and mistaken for either a troopship, a Q-ship, or an armed merchant cruiser. The submarine tracked her until 19:38, when both vessels were between Rockall and Tory Island, when Lemp ordered for torpedoes to be fired. One exploded on Athenias port side in her engine room, and she began to settle by the stern.

Goodson later told reporters that "The lights went out and there was an explosion which killed many people. The place was very badly crowded. [...] It was a real rat race there". and the US cargo ship City of Flint. Athenia sank stern-first at approximately 11:00 the following morning, and what is believed to be the first ship sunk in the war. while the other capsized. and 28 were US citizens, which led to German fears that the incident would cause the US to declare war on them.

Goodson was rescued by the Knute Nelson and served with 43 Squadron RAF. Goodson was later transferred to 133 (Eagle) Squadron RAF, one of three Eagle squadrons made up of American volunteers. Three days later, all Eagle squadrons were absorbed into the 4th Fighter Group US Army Air Forces (USAAF), as the 334th, 335th and 336th Fighter Squadrons. He was also reportedly involved in the first American flight over Germany. his award of an oak leaf cluster for the Air Medal was printed in Stars and Stripes a month later on July 21. His award of the Distinguished Flying Cross was printed in Stars and Stripes on 27 September that year. By the following January 8, when Stars and Stripes printed he had become an ace after destroying two Fw 190's in a single sortie, Goodson was a Captain.

On May 29, his award of the Distinguished Service Cross, the US military’s second-highest medal, was printed in Stars and Stripes, for actions that took place March 16 and March 23 1944 in "destroying superior forces", the prior of which was, while escorting a bomber force over Berlin, Germany, he shot down two Bf 109's. Sources differ as to what he was flying at the time; The Globe and Mail and The Washington Post's obituaries published in May 2014 claim he was flying a P-47 Thunderbolt at the time,

Capture Goodson was shot down by anti-air fire while strafing an airfield in a P-51 Mustang on June 20 1944, where, despite suffering a wound to his leg, he performed a belly landing and survived. He fled to a birch wood and collapsed from his injuries. For several days, he survived by eating mice, snails and "just about anything that crawled." He was later captured and taken to by interrogated by the Gestapo. Despite protesting that he was an American officer, he was told they intended to execute him. According to official German sources, there had been 76,248 prisoners at the camp in January 1945. By May 14 that year, he was in England.

Post-war and personal life Goodson returned to Toronto in the summer of 1945, ending the war as a Major, His honors included the Silver Star, nine Distinguished Flying Crosses, the Purple Heart and 21 awards of the Air Medal. He later worked with Hoover and ITT Inc. He wrote a memoir which was published in 1983 titled Tumult in the Clouds''.

They went to the United Kingdom in 1992 for the 50th anniversary of the arrival of American pilots. The pair had a son, James Goodson Jr., and three grandchildren. He was buried with military honors at the Massachusetts National Cemetery in Bourne, including a flypast by the 104th Fighter Wing.