Name
John Victor Goodman
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
02/01/1916
19
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Rifleman
C/575
King’s Royal Rifle Corps
16th Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
1914 /15 Star, British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
LOOS MEMORIAL
Panel 101 and 102
France
UK & Other Memorials
Croxley Green Village Memorial, Croxley Green
All Saints' Church Shrine, Croxley Green
Rickmansworth Urban District Memorial
Oddfellows Memorial, Rickmansworth
Pre War
The Goodman family lived at 254 New Road, Croxley Green. John’s birth was registered in Amersham District in the fourth quarter of 1896 and the family was living in White Lion Rd., Amersham in 1901. His parents were William Joseph, who was a railway signalman, and Sarah Goodman. In 1911 John had two siblings, William and Kate.
He worked as a machine boy at Croxley Mills and his brother, William, worked there too. However, John is not listed on the Dickinson memorial. William was also killed in the war.
Recorded as enlisting in Watford.
Wartime Service
Private John Victor Goodman was one of the Croxley Green Church Lads who joined up at the outset of the war. He attested on 22 September 1914 and gave his age as 19. He was 5 feet 6½ inches tall, weighed 8 stones and 10 pounds and his chest measured 34 inches. He was described as having a fresh complexion, blue eyes and light brown hair.
He joined the BEF in France on 16 November 1915.
Sunday 2 January 1916 was a fateful day for the 16th KRRC when they took over the line in the Cuinchy sector, west of Lille and north of Lens. They rose at 4.30am and marched along the Bethune road and into the trenches. Almost immediately two or three mines exploded under them, the earth was blown into the air with a roar that could be heard miles away. Many were wounded or killed, the frantic digging of their friends released several of the men but others remained trapped in the trenches and dugouts. The ones who were found were buried in Woburn Abbey Cemetery, Cuinchy.
The Germans followed up the mine blasts with heavy shellfire which caused the death of the first of the Croxley Lads, John Victor Goodman. According to All Saints’ Parish Magazine of February 1916, John was killed instantaneously, aged only just 19; ‘but he has died for his country and that is the greatest thing a man can do’. Harry Chapman of Croxley Green was also wounded by the same shell.
The Army paid John’s father, William Joseph, 14s 11d and a war gratuity of £5.
Additional Information
Harry Chapman was also wounded by the same shell and hospitalised in Eastbourne.
Acknowledgments
Malcolm Lennox, Brian Thomson, Croxley Green in the First World War Rickmansworth Historical Society 2014
