Victor Goddard
Encyclopedia
Air Marshal
Sir Robert Victor Goddard KCB
, CBE
usually Victor Goddard, (6 February 1897 – 21 January 1987) was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force
during World War II
. He is best known as a protagonist in the 1946 aviation incident immortalized in the 1955 film The Night My Number Came Up
.
the son of Dr Charles Goddard. After attending St George's School, Harpenden, he went to the Royal Naval Colleges at Osborne and Dartmouth
. He served as a midshipman
in the first year of World War I
and in 1915 joined the Royal Naval Air Service
. At this time he met his life long friend Barnes Wallis
. For a period he was patrolling for submarines in dirigible
s, but in 1916 commanded reconnaissance flights over the Somme battlefield.
and then studied at Imperial College London
before returning to Cambridge in 1925 as an instructor to the university's air squadron. After graduating from the Royal Naval Staff College in 1929, he commanded a bomber squadron in Iraq. He returned to England in 1931 as chief instructor of the officers' engineering course. He was then at the Staff College until 1935 when he became deputy director of intelligence at the Air Ministry
. He held this post until the outbreak of World War II
.
to France in the autumn. He was made senior air staff officer in the following year and played a major part in preserving British air assets in the face of the German attacks. When he returned he became director of military cooperation at the Air Ministry, responsible for modernising air support and airborne forces in the RAF. He also made regular air war broadcasts on the BBC. In September 1941, shortly before the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor
, he was appointed as Air Commodore Chief of the Air Staff, Royal New Zealand Air Force
(RNZAF). As commander of the RNZAF in the South Pacific
, and the only British commander in the region he was prominent in the operations against the Japanese initial advance. Under Admiral Halsey
, US Navy, he commanded the RNZAF in the Battle of Guadalcanal and the Solomon Islands
campaigns, for which he was awarded the American Navy Distinguished Service Medal
. In 1943, he was put in charge of administration for the air command of the entire South East Asia Command
(SEAC), where he remained until 1946 when he went to Washington as RAF representative.
, where he remained until 1954. He was also a governor of St George's School Harpenden and of Bryanston School
and was president of the Airship Association from 1975 to 1984. He encouraged Sir George Trevelyan
to set up the Wrekin Trust
in 1971, and it occupied much of his time in retirement. Through it he became convinced of the reality of the world of the spirit. He spent many years investigating, and lecturing on, flying saucer
s.
and his wife Ernestine (Nina) Pigou (daughter of Francis Pigou
, the Dean of Bristol), in 1924. Their daughter, Jane Helen Goddard, was married to Sir Robin Chichester-Clark
.
The film The Night My Number Came Up (1955) was based on a strange incident in Goddard's life. In January 1946, he arrived at a party in Shanghai
to overhear an officer talking of a dream in which Air Marshal Goddard was killed in a plane crash. The aircraft in the officer's dream iced over
and crashed on a pebbled beach near mountains with two men and a woman on board. Goddard himself was due to fly to Tokyo that night on a Dakota
and by the end of the evening he was persuaded to take two men and a woman with him. The plane iced over and was forced to make a crash landing on the Japanese island of Sado
; the crash scene, a pebbled beach near mountains, resembled that described in the precognitory dream. Unlike the dream, however, because of Goddard's precautions no one was injured. Michael Redgrave
who played the Air Marshal, was depicted in the film as becoming excited as the plane made its crash landing; this seriously annoyed Goddard, who had been proud of what he had seen as his unemotional behaviour.
Commander of the Order of the British Empire - 11 Jul 1940
Mentioned in Despatches - 1 Jan 1941, 14 Jun 1945
Distinguished Service Medal (United States)
- 27 Oct 1944
Air Marshal
Air marshal is a three-star air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force...
Sir Robert Victor Goddard KCB
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
, CBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
usually Victor Goddard, (6 February 1897 – 21 January 1987) was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He is best known as a protagonist in the 1946 aviation incident immortalized in the 1955 film The Night My Number Came Up
The Night My Number Came Up
The Night My Number Came Up is a film, directed by Les Norman at Ealing Studios. The screenplay was written by R. C. Sherriff based on a real incident in the life of British Air Marshal Sir Victor Goddard.-Plot summary:...
.
Early life
Goddard was born at WembleyWembley
Wembley is an area of northwest London, England, and part of the London Borough of Brent. It is home to the famous Wembley Stadium and Wembley Arena...
the son of Dr Charles Goddard. After attending St George's School, Harpenden, he went to the Royal Naval Colleges at Osborne and Dartmouth
Britannia Royal Naval College
Britannia Royal Naval College is the initial officer training establishment of the Royal Navy, located on a hill overlooking Dartmouth, Devon, England. While Royal Naval officer training has taken place in the town since 1863, the buildings which are seen today were only finished in 1905, and...
. He served as a midshipman
Midshipman
A midshipman is an officer cadet, or a commissioned officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Kenya...
in the first year of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and in 1915 joined the Royal Naval Air Service
Royal Naval Air Service
The Royal Naval Air Service or RNAS was the air arm of the Royal Navy until near the end of the First World War, when it merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps to form a new service , the Royal Air Force...
. At this time he met his life long friend Barnes Wallis
Barnes Wallis
Sir Barnes Neville Wallis, CBE FRS, RDI, FRAeS , was an English scientist, engineer and inventor. He is best known for inventing the bouncing bomb used by the RAF in Operation Chastise to attack the dams of the Ruhr Valley during World War II...
. For a period he was patrolling for submarines in dirigible
Airship
An airship or dirigible is a type of aerostat or "lighter-than-air aircraft" that can be steered and propelled through the air using rudders and propellers or other thrust mechanisms...
s, but in 1916 commanded reconnaissance flights over the Somme battlefield.
Between the wars
In 1921 Goddard was selected to read engineering at Jesus College, CambridgeJesus College, Cambridge
Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The College was founded in 1496 on the site of a Benedictine nunnery by John Alcock, then Bishop of Ely...
and then studied at Imperial College London
Imperial College London
Imperial College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom, specialising in science, engineering, business and medicine...
before returning to Cambridge in 1925 as an instructor to the university's air squadron. After graduating from the Royal Naval Staff College in 1929, he commanded a bomber squadron in Iraq. He returned to England in 1931 as chief instructor of the officers' engineering course. He was then at the Staff College until 1935 when he became deputy director of intelligence at the Air Ministry
Air Ministry
The Air Ministry was a department of the British Government with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964...
. He held this post until the outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Second World War
In autumn 1939, Goddard went with the British Expeditionary ForceBritish Expeditionary Force (World War II)
The British Expeditionary Force was the British force in Europe from 1939–1940 during the Second World War. Commanded by General Lord Gort, the BEF constituted one-tenth of the defending Allied force....
to France in the autumn. He was made senior air staff officer in the following year and played a major part in preserving British air assets in the face of the German attacks. When he returned he became director of military cooperation at the Air Ministry, responsible for modernising air support and airborne forces in the RAF. He also made regular air war broadcasts on the BBC. In September 1941, shortly before the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
, he was appointed as Air Commodore Chief of the Air Staff, Royal New Zealand Air Force
Royal New Zealand Air Force
The Royal New Zealand Air Force is the air arm of the New Zealand Defence Force...
(RNZAF). As commander of the RNZAF in the South Pacific
South West Pacific theatre of World War II
The South West Pacific Theatre, technically the South West Pacific Area, between 1942 and 1945, was one of two designated area commands and war theatres enumerated by the Combined Chiefs of Staff of World War II in the Pacific region....
, and the only British commander in the region he was prominent in the operations against the Japanese initial advance. Under Admiral Halsey
William Halsey, Jr.
Fleet Admiral William Frederick Halsey, Jr., United States Navy, , was a U.S. Naval officer. He commanded the South Pacific Area during the early stages of the Pacific War against Japan...
, US Navy, he commanded the RNZAF in the Battle of Guadalcanal and the Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...
campaigns, for which he was awarded the American Navy Distinguished Service Medal
Navy Distinguished Service Medal
The Navy Distinguished Service Medal is a military award of the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps which was first created in 1919. The decoration is the Navy and Marine Corps equivalent to the Army Distinguished Service Medal, the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal, and the Coast...
. In 1943, he was put in charge of administration for the air command of the entire South East Asia Command
South East Asia Command
South East Asia Command was the body set up to be in overall charge of Allied operations in the South-East Asian Theatre during World War II.-Background:...
(SEAC), where he remained until 1946 when he went to Washington as RAF representative.
Later life
Goddard retired in 1951, and became principal of the College of AeronauticsCranfield University
Cranfield University is a British postgraduate university based on two campuses, with a research-oriented focus. The main campus is at Cranfield, Bedfordshire and the second is the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom based at Shrivenham, Oxfordshire. The main campus is unique in the United...
, where he remained until 1954. He was also a governor of St George's School Harpenden and of Bryanston School
Bryanston School
Bryanston School is a co-educational independent school for both day and boarding pupils in Blandford, north Dorset, England, near the village of Bryanston. It was founded in 1928...
and was president of the Airship Association from 1975 to 1984. He encouraged Sir George Trevelyan
Sir George Trevelyan, 4th Baronet
Sir George Lowthian Trevelyan 4th Baronet, , an educational pioneer, a founding father of the New Age movement. After listening to a lecture by Dr Walter Stein, a student of Rudolf Steiner in 1942, he turned from being agnostic to new age spiritual thinker, and even studied anthroposophy in the...
to set up the Wrekin Trust
Wrekin Trust
The Wrekin Trust is a charity founded by Sir George Trevelyan in 1971, under the active encouragement of Air Marshal Victor Goddard. Its stated purpose is non-sectarian spiritual education. It aims to create "safe meeting spaces for connections, dialogue, learning and social action."...
in 1971, and it occupied much of his time in retirement. Through it he became convinced of the reality of the world of the spirit. He spent many years investigating, and lecturing on, flying saucer
Flying saucer
A flying saucer is a type of unidentified flying object sometimes believed to be of alien origin with a disc or saucer-shaped body, usually described as silver or metallic, occasionally reported as covered with running lights or surrounded with a glowing light, hovering or moving rapidly either...
s.
Personal
Goddard married Mildred Catherine Jane Inglis, the daughter of Alfred InglisAlfred Inglis
Alfred Markham Inglis was an amateur cricketer who played for the M.C.C. and Kent in the 1870s. By profession, he was a banker.-Early life:...
and his wife Ernestine (Nina) Pigou (daughter of Francis Pigou
Francis Pigou
The Very Rev Francis Pigou , DD was an eminent Anglican priest in the second half of the 19th century and the early part of the 20th.-Career:...
, the Dean of Bristol), in 1924. Their daughter, Jane Helen Goddard, was married to Sir Robin Chichester-Clark
Robin Chichester-Clark
Sir Robert Chichester-Clark was member of parliament for Londonderry in the British House of Commons from 1955 until February 1974, and was the only member representing Northern Ireland to be a British government minister since the Government of Ireland Act 1920.-Early life:Chichester-Clark was...
.
The Night My Number Came Up
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
to overhear an officer talking of a dream in which Air Marshal Goddard was killed in a plane crash. The aircraft in the officer's dream iced over
Atmospheric icing
Atmospheric icing occurs when water droplets in the atmosphere freeze on objects they contact. This can be extremely dangerous to aircraft, as the built-up ice changes the aerodynamics of the flight surfaces, which can increase the risk of a subsequent stalling of the airfoil...
and crashed on a pebbled beach near mountains with two men and a woman on board. Goddard himself was due to fly to Tokyo that night on a Dakota
C-47 Skytrain
The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota is a military transport aircraft that was developed from the Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in front line operations through the 1950s with a few remaining in operation to this day.-Design and...
and by the end of the evening he was persuaded to take two men and a woman with him. The plane iced over and was forced to make a crash landing on the Japanese island of Sado
Sado Province
was a province of Japan until 1871; since then, it has been a part of Niigata Prefecture. It was sometimes called or . It lies on the eponymous Sado Island, off the coast of Niigata Prefecture ....
; the crash scene, a pebbled beach near mountains, resembled that described in the precognitory dream. Unlike the dream, however, because of Goddard's precautions no one was injured. Michael Redgrave
Michael Redgrave
Sir Michael Scudamore Redgrave, CBE was an English stage and film actor, director, manager and author.-Youth and education:...
who played the Air Marshal, was depicted in the film as becoming excited as the plane made its crash landing; this seriously annoyed Goddard, who had been proud of what he had seen as his unemotional behaviour.
Honours and Awards
Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath - 12 Jun 1947 (CB - 2 Jun 1943)Commander of the Order of the British Empire - 11 Jul 1940
Mentioned in Despatches - 1 Jan 1941, 14 Jun 1945
Distinguished Service Medal (United States)
Distinguished Service Medal (United States)
The Distinguished Service Medal is the highest non-valorous military and civilian decoration of the United States military which is issued for exceptionally meritorious service to the government of the United States in either a senior government service position or as a senior officer of the United...
- 27 Oct 1944
Publications
- The Enigma of Menace (1959)
- Flight Towards Reality (1975)
- Skies to Dunkirk, (1982)