Lawrence Seymour Goodman (24 September 1920 – 18 July 2021) was a British airman and bomber pilot, who served in World War II.
Goodman was born in West London into a Jewish family according to AJEX and educated at Herne Bay College in Kent, where he became a member of the Officers' Training Corps.
[3] In 1937, he enrolled in an electrical engineering course prior to joining his father's film and advertising business in London.
His initial flying training was conducted on a de Havilland Tiger Moth at Peterborough between June and August 1941.
31 SFTS at Kingston, Ontario, to train Fleet Air Arm pilots on the North American Harvard.
A day or so out from Halifax, an escorting American destroyer was torpedoed by a U-boat, and Goodman's vessel was holed, his kit (including his flying logbook) being temporarily lost in the incident.
He arrived back in the UK on 11 September 1942, destined to train as a bomber pilot, after conversion to twin-engined aircraft, flying the Airspeed Oxford at No.
5 Group, taking a few novice crews who were rated above average and who might quickly be able to assimilate the skills required to achieve No.
Returning from a deep penetration raid on the oil refinery at Politz (21/22 December 1944), Goodman alone brought his aircraft safely back to a fog-shrouded Woodhall Spa while the remainder of the squadron was forced to divert to other airfields, one of them subsequently crashing owing to poor visibility.
At the end of the war in Europe and completion of his first tour, Goodman transferred to Transport Command, serving with Nos.
53 Sqn at Lyneham in March 1950, flying trooping movements to the Middle East and returning Korean War casualties, including Turkish, from Singapore.
During a period spent on duties in Vienna and at the Air Ministry, London, Goodman maintained his flying rating on a variety of types, including the Avro Anson, de Havilland Chipmunk, and Percival Provost.
He obtained his British and American civil pilot's licences and flew a Piper Comanche, of which he was part-owner until he was 93 years old.
He took part in several documentaries on 617 squadron, including Channel 5’s “What the Dambusters Did Next” in 2013, where he got behind the controls of a Lancaster for the last time.