Monday, June 2, 2014

James Alexander Goodson 1921-2014 (Course 38)

Dunnville, December 5, 1941: James Goodson, 20, of New York and Toronto, a survivor of the Athenia torpedoing, is one of the graduates to receive his pilot's "wings" at No. 6 Service Flying Training School. "I started out to work my way around the world. I got a berth as a steward on the Athenia and crossed to Europe on her. At Paris the United States Consul ordered me back to the States and I managed to book a third class passage for the return trip on the same ship. The third class accommodation was terribly crowded with refugees, mostly Polish, old men and women and little children. The evening she was torpedoed I had just gone into the common room about dusk when the torpedo hit without warning. The lights went out and there was an explosion which killed many people. The place was very badly crowded and the refugees sort of went off the deep end and there was a panic. It was terrible, almost beyond description. Trying to launch the lifeboats and get the people into them was an awful job. Some old women were killed trying to get into those boats. Getting the lifeboats off was a terrible job. I did what I could to help the crew but it was quite a mess. I didn't leave the ship until about two hours after she was hit and was in a lifeboat from about 10 o'clock till 4 the next morning. The submarine shelled the ship after firing the torpedo. A Norwegian tanker, the Knute Nelson, picked us up and landed us in Ireland, where I had a swell time. It was pretty cold in the boat as I gave my sweater to some girl. There were some United States and Canadian schoolgirls who did more than anybody else to cheer up the people in the lifeboats by singing class songs and so forth. They were simply grand. I always liked the sea and after I went back to the States I sailed on a United States tanker, spending several months in South American waters. Then I went to Toronto and started an honor English course at University of Toronto. I was in the C.O.T.C. (Canadian Officer Training Corps) there, but enlisted in the R.C.A.F. before getting a commission. For me I don't think the right thing to do in wartime is continue at university. My place is in the war against Hitler. Some fellows could best serve their country by completing their university course, but not me. My place is in the war."
Photo: Jim Goodson (front row, center) with fellow pilot trainees at Dunnville

2 comments:

  1. Excellent tribute to the greatest generation! Many good lads graduated from Dunnville including my old man, the fighter jock... Spits, Hurricanes, Kittyhawks, multi-engine bombers...

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