Captain John Humphrey Herbert GOODALL
1/5th Battalion York and Lancaster Regiment and 24 Squadron Royal Flying Corps

Date of birth: 4th July 1894
Date of death: 14th February 1963

Died aged 68
Unknown
John Humphrey Herbert Goodall was born at The Vicarage, Dalton in Yorkshire on the 4th of July 1894 the eldest son of the Reverend Canon John William Goodall and Clara Isabel (nee Wilks) Goodall of The Vicarage, Dalton.

He was educated at Hazelwood School until July 1908. On leaving the school the magazine wrote of him: - "...has gained an Open Scholarship to Oundle, where there is an excellent engineering side; and as he possesses a natural talent for mechanics we shall watch his future with the greatest interest."

He went on to Oundle School on an Open Scholarship, where he was a member of the Officer Training Corps. He left in December 1911 when he went on to Sheffield University where he read engineering and represented the university at rugby football. He was a member of the University Officer Training Corps and graduated with a BA (Eng). On leaving university he joined Vickers Ltd as a mechanical engineer.

Following the outbreak of war he applied for a commission in the 5th Battalion York and Lancaster regiment and began training with them while he waited for his commission to come through. At a medical examination it was recorded that he was five feet eleven inches tall. He was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant on the 7th of September 1914 and embarked for France with his battalion from Folkestone on the 13th of April 1915, landing at Boulogne that night.

On the 28th of October 1915 the battalion moved into front line trenches in the Ypres sector of the line. The trenches were in very poor condition due to flooding and in places were "almost impassable". John Goodall was wounded on the first day of this tour of the front line and a further eight other ranks were wounded before the battalion was relieved on the 2nd of November. He was treated in hospital at Le Touquet and was evacuated from Boulogne on board the Hospital Ship "Cambria" on the 16th of November 1915, landing at Dover the same day.

A Medical Board was convened at the Military Hospital, Ripon on the 19th of November 1915 to report on his injuries: -

"The board find that a G.S.W. left shoulder entry left supra clavicula region - suppurating exit wound - mid scapular region, suppurating. Wound opened up. The wound is large - bullet passed through. The wound is between the scapula and extended over the dorsul of the right scapula."

He was passed as fit for light duty and was for a time the Military Representative on a Local Tribunal. He was declared as being fit for general service at a Medical Board held at the Military Hospital, Ripon on the 31st of August 1916.

He transferred to the Royal Flying Corp and on the 25th of September 1916 he was posted to No. 2 School of Aeronautics. On the 18th of November 1916 he was posted to 4 Reserve Squadron and on the 29th of December he was posted to 6 Reserve Squadron. On the 18th of January 1917 he was posted to No. 1 School of Air Gunnery. On the 23rd of March 1917 he was granted the rank of Flying Officer and after a spell as acting Flight Commander with 6 Reserve Squadron at Catterick, he was appointed as an Assistant Flying Instructor on the 1st of April 1917. He was posted to 24 Squadron on the 24th of April 1917.
On the 1st of May they were equipped with the new De Havilland 5 aircraft.

On the 26th of June 1917 he was promoted to Captain.

He took off from the squadron’s base at Flez, about 10 miles west of St Quentin, at 7.55am on the morning of the 24th of May 1917 for a practice flight in a DH5 B343 but he was forced down and was reported as having been captured on the 7th of July 1917. This was the first example of an intact DH5 captured by the Germans. He was held prisoner firstly at Carlsruhe and then at Bad Colberg Camp in Germany and finally at Strohen Camp before being repatriated on the 1st of January 1919.

On his return he was granted a period of leave and was posted to York on the 8th of March 1919 where he joined No. 1 Flight Training School the following day. He was posted to 38 Training Squadron on the 30th of April 1919. He was transferred to the unemployed list on the 6th of May 1919 and resigned his commission on the 5th of October 1920, retaining the rank of Captain.

After the war he worked as an engineer at the Westinghouse Works in Manchester. He became engaged to Violet Noel (nee Williams) in 1925 and they were married at St Peter's Church, Huddersfield in West Yorkshire on the 19th of September 1928. They lived at “The Old House”, Tickhill in Yorkshire.

His brother, Captain Marcus Herbert Goodall 1/5th Battalion York and Lancaster Regiment, died of wounds on the 14th of July 1916.

He died at East Riding General Hospital at Driffield in Yorkshire.
Went on to Oundle School

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