Post by Dave Homewood on May 12, 2011 12:42:54 GMT 12
Here is a very interesting article from the Evening Post newspaper about the life and career of the Royal New Zealand Air Force's third Chief of Air Staff, Air Commodore Robert Victor Goddard, when he was appointed to the role. He was later an Air Marshall, with the awards KCB and CBE.
Evening Post, Volume CXXXII, Issue 103, 28 October 1941, Page 8
NEW CHIEF
N.Z. AIR STAFF
AIR COMMODORE GODDARD
A VARIED CAREER
(0.C.) LONDON, Sept. 23.
A tour of the German air stations and air training establishments in 1937 and a study of the air fighting in Spain during the Civil War are among the many interesting and varied experiences of Air Commodore R. V. Goddard, C.8.E., who is to succeed Air, Commodore H. W. L. Saunders as Chief of the Air Staff in .New Zealand. In France, in May, 1939, he was bombed by the type of German aircraft he had seen in Germany and Spain.
During the last war, after serving as a midshipman, Air Commodore Goddard was transferred, to fly "blimps" over the English Channel and North Sea in search of U-boats. In France he took part in night reconnaissance flights over the' German lines in a black-painted airship. Some years later he commanded an R.A.F. station in Mosul, Irak, and during this period he occasionally played bridge with the' late King Feisal. While studying aeronautical engineering at Cambridge University he became acquainted with the late Lord Rutherford. Widely known for his interesting broadcasts and commentaries on the present air warfare, Air Commodore Goddard was to have studied at the Imperial Defence College if the war had not broken out. He will travel to New Zealand.via Canada, where he will see New Zealanders training, and Singapore, where, he will confer with Sir Robert Brooke-Popham. He will also visit Australia. He will be accompanied by his wife, a granddaughter of General Inglis, defender of Lucknow, and two of his three children.
BEGAN WITH THE NAVY.
After being educated af the Royal Naval Colleges at Osborne and Dartmouth, Air Commodore Goddard went to sea in 1914 as a midshipman. He served in H.M.S. Britannia with the Grand Fleet, and took part in several North Sea sweeps. In 1915 he volunteered for special duties. An interview followed with Admiral Lord Fisher. The special duties consisted of flying airships, to which aeroplane fuselage was attached, over the Channel searching for U-boats. These airships played an important part in the final defeat of the U-boat menace in the last war.
The following year he took one of the airships to France. It was intended to drop agents beyond the German lines, but the agents did .not arrive, and the airship was used for night reconnaissance over the Cambrai region. Painted black, it remained throughout the Battle of the Somrne until it was superseded by night flying aeroplanes. Subsequently Air Commodore Goddard served in the battle cruiser H.M.S. Indomitable, and he was also second officer of the rigid airships R. 23 and R.8O.
In 1919 he was given a permanent commission in the R.A.F. with the rank of flight lieutenant. While flying with airships he was captain of the R. 36, and he made a 3-day experimental flight in her when she flew out to the Bay of Biscay and back to England by way of Ireland. Two years followed at Jesus College, Cambridge, where he, read engineering and where he met Lord Rutherford, and a third year was spent at the Imperial College of Science. After a period as chief technical officer at a Flying Training Schoolhe was appointed instructor to the Cambridge Air Squadron on formation. This, squadron had the distinction of being' the first of the University Squadrons. Several New Zealanders were among the first members of the C.U.A.S., including Mr. I. C. Horton (Auckland), who became editor of the first magazine published by the squadron, and D. H. F. Barnett, now a wing commander.
SERVICE IN IRAK.
Three years were spent with the! Cambridge Squadron, and, after a year at the R.A.F. Staff College at Andover, Air Commodore Goddard went to Mosul, in Irak, to command No. 30 Squadron. It was during this period, in 1930-31, that the British mandate for Irak was being handed over to the Irakis. The Kurds were reluctant to accept the change, and the R.A.F. was co-operating with the Irak army in quelling trouble. It was during this period that Air Commodore Goddard met the late King Feisal on several occasions.
At the conclusion of the operations against the Kurds the King presented him with the order of the Rafidan (the equivalent of the D.S.O. in the Irakian army) for the part taken by the R.A.F. squadron. He found Feisal loyal to the British, and an astute ruler. He formed a great respect for. the King, and they developed a friendship over several games of bridge. Back in England after two years in Mosul, which is a meeting place in the Middle East for many nationalities, Air Commodore Goddard was appointed Chief Instructor to the Officers' Engineering School at Henlow. During the two years he spent there, he met several New Zealanders who were specialising in aeronautical engineering. From Henlow he was transferred to the Naval Staff College at Greenwich (in 1934), where he took the naval staff course. In 1935 he was appointed to Headquarters No. 3 Bomber Group as Wing Commander Air Staff. Day and night bombing were being developed with heavy bombers. During the Jubilee celebrations he played an important part in the organisation of the Royal Air Force Review, which was held at Mildenhall and Duxford.
VISIT TO GERMANY.
In 1936 he went to the Air Ministry to become Deputy Director of Intelligence. It was his duty to study the development of the European air forces, particularly the Luftwaffe, while closely watching the European political situation.
It was during this period that with Air Marshal Sir Christopher Courtney, Deputy Chief of the Air Staff, he paid a ten-day visit to Germany, at the invitation of the "German Air Ministry, to inspect German air stations and training establishments. Goering was in Italy at that time, but the mission was received by General Milch and General Kesselring, who was Chief of the German Air Staff.
The Germans extended a most cordial reception, for their "friendliness" to Britain was then part of the policy for disarming suspicion. There was a most impressive demonstration of the Luftwaffe and the Germans spared no pains to let the mission see the excelilence of their organisation and standard of equipment; they indicated that nothing was being overlooked to make the German air force both efficient and powerful. This was, no doubt, intended to suggest to Britain that it would be inadvisable, should she be thinking of it, to oppose Germany.
When the war broke out, he was appointed Senior Air Staff Officer to Air Vice Marshal Blount, who commanded the Air Component of the B.E.F. He went to France on September 10, and remained there until May 26. He was among the first of the Air Component to go to France and the last to leave. Shortly afterwards he was appointed Deputy Director of Plans, and more recently he became Director of Military Co-operation. In that post he was responsible for the formation and direction of the new Army Co-operation Command.
Air Commodore Goddard's eldest son, John, aged 16, remains in England at school. David, aged 14, and Jane, aged 12, accompany their father and mother to New Zealand.
Evening Post, Volume CXXXII, Issue 103, 28 October 1941, Page 8
NEW CHIEF
N.Z. AIR STAFF
AIR COMMODORE GODDARD
A VARIED CAREER
(0.C.) LONDON, Sept. 23.
A tour of the German air stations and air training establishments in 1937 and a study of the air fighting in Spain during the Civil War are among the many interesting and varied experiences of Air Commodore R. V. Goddard, C.8.E., who is to succeed Air, Commodore H. W. L. Saunders as Chief of the Air Staff in .New Zealand. In France, in May, 1939, he was bombed by the type of German aircraft he had seen in Germany and Spain.
During the last war, after serving as a midshipman, Air Commodore Goddard was transferred, to fly "blimps" over the English Channel and North Sea in search of U-boats. In France he took part in night reconnaissance flights over the' German lines in a black-painted airship. Some years later he commanded an R.A.F. station in Mosul, Irak, and during this period he occasionally played bridge with the' late King Feisal. While studying aeronautical engineering at Cambridge University he became acquainted with the late Lord Rutherford. Widely known for his interesting broadcasts and commentaries on the present air warfare, Air Commodore Goddard was to have studied at the Imperial Defence College if the war had not broken out. He will travel to New Zealand.via Canada, where he will see New Zealanders training, and Singapore, where, he will confer with Sir Robert Brooke-Popham. He will also visit Australia. He will be accompanied by his wife, a granddaughter of General Inglis, defender of Lucknow, and two of his three children.
BEGAN WITH THE NAVY.
After being educated af the Royal Naval Colleges at Osborne and Dartmouth, Air Commodore Goddard went to sea in 1914 as a midshipman. He served in H.M.S. Britannia with the Grand Fleet, and took part in several North Sea sweeps. In 1915 he volunteered for special duties. An interview followed with Admiral Lord Fisher. The special duties consisted of flying airships, to which aeroplane fuselage was attached, over the Channel searching for U-boats. These airships played an important part in the final defeat of the U-boat menace in the last war.
The following year he took one of the airships to France. It was intended to drop agents beyond the German lines, but the agents did .not arrive, and the airship was used for night reconnaissance over the Cambrai region. Painted black, it remained throughout the Battle of the Somrne until it was superseded by night flying aeroplanes. Subsequently Air Commodore Goddard served in the battle cruiser H.M.S. Indomitable, and he was also second officer of the rigid airships R. 23 and R.8O.
In 1919 he was given a permanent commission in the R.A.F. with the rank of flight lieutenant. While flying with airships he was captain of the R. 36, and he made a 3-day experimental flight in her when she flew out to the Bay of Biscay and back to England by way of Ireland. Two years followed at Jesus College, Cambridge, where he, read engineering and where he met Lord Rutherford, and a third year was spent at the Imperial College of Science. After a period as chief technical officer at a Flying Training Schoolhe was appointed instructor to the Cambridge Air Squadron on formation. This, squadron had the distinction of being' the first of the University Squadrons. Several New Zealanders were among the first members of the C.U.A.S., including Mr. I. C. Horton (Auckland), who became editor of the first magazine published by the squadron, and D. H. F. Barnett, now a wing commander.
SERVICE IN IRAK.
Three years were spent with the! Cambridge Squadron, and, after a year at the R.A.F. Staff College at Andover, Air Commodore Goddard went to Mosul, in Irak, to command No. 30 Squadron. It was during this period, in 1930-31, that the British mandate for Irak was being handed over to the Irakis. The Kurds were reluctant to accept the change, and the R.A.F. was co-operating with the Irak army in quelling trouble. It was during this period that Air Commodore Goddard met the late King Feisal on several occasions.
At the conclusion of the operations against the Kurds the King presented him with the order of the Rafidan (the equivalent of the D.S.O. in the Irakian army) for the part taken by the R.A.F. squadron. He found Feisal loyal to the British, and an astute ruler. He formed a great respect for. the King, and they developed a friendship over several games of bridge. Back in England after two years in Mosul, which is a meeting place in the Middle East for many nationalities, Air Commodore Goddard was appointed Chief Instructor to the Officers' Engineering School at Henlow. During the two years he spent there, he met several New Zealanders who were specialising in aeronautical engineering. From Henlow he was transferred to the Naval Staff College at Greenwich (in 1934), where he took the naval staff course. In 1935 he was appointed to Headquarters No. 3 Bomber Group as Wing Commander Air Staff. Day and night bombing were being developed with heavy bombers. During the Jubilee celebrations he played an important part in the organisation of the Royal Air Force Review, which was held at Mildenhall and Duxford.
VISIT TO GERMANY.
In 1936 he went to the Air Ministry to become Deputy Director of Intelligence. It was his duty to study the development of the European air forces, particularly the Luftwaffe, while closely watching the European political situation.
It was during this period that with Air Marshal Sir Christopher Courtney, Deputy Chief of the Air Staff, he paid a ten-day visit to Germany, at the invitation of the "German Air Ministry, to inspect German air stations and training establishments. Goering was in Italy at that time, but the mission was received by General Milch and General Kesselring, who was Chief of the German Air Staff.
The Germans extended a most cordial reception, for their "friendliness" to Britain was then part of the policy for disarming suspicion. There was a most impressive demonstration of the Luftwaffe and the Germans spared no pains to let the mission see the excelilence of their organisation and standard of equipment; they indicated that nothing was being overlooked to make the German air force both efficient and powerful. This was, no doubt, intended to suggest to Britain that it would be inadvisable, should she be thinking of it, to oppose Germany.
When the war broke out, he was appointed Senior Air Staff Officer to Air Vice Marshal Blount, who commanded the Air Component of the B.E.F. He went to France on September 10, and remained there until May 26. He was among the first of the Air Component to go to France and the last to leave. Shortly afterwards he was appointed Deputy Director of Plans, and more recently he became Director of Military Co-operation. In that post he was responsible for the formation and direction of the new Army Co-operation Command.
Air Commodore Goddard's eldest son, John, aged 16, remains in England at school. David, aged 14, and Jane, aged 12, accompany their father and mother to New Zealand.
