Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

This man enlisted in August 1914 as a Bugler, and ended it over 4 years later by being shot down and taken POW as a Lieutenant pilot in the Australian Flying Corps on the 4 November 1918. 

Enlisted as a drummer in the original 9th Battalion during August 1914. Was at the Anzac Landing and served on Gallipoli until he developed chronic enteritis during September 1915 and was returned to Australia to recover on 31 October 1915.

He went back into camp at Brisbane in early 1916 and was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant during August 1916.  During November he emabrked Australia again with the 23rd reinforcemnts 9th Battalion.

He was promoted to Lieutenant in England in May 1917. After much training he rejoined the 9th Battalion in France during late October 1917. 

Early in 1918 he commenced flying training, as a pilot  and was eventually taken on strength of 4 Squadron Australian Flying Corps in France on the 8 September 1918.

He was shot down on the 4 November 1918, a week before the Armistice and was a prisoner of war of the Germans for less than a month.

Black Day for 4 Squadron AFC

A morning patrol of 4 Snipes lead by Lt. Cato while on an offensive patrol encountered seven Fokker DVII's at 10,000 feet N.E. of Tournai. F.M. Cutlack outlined this engagement in volume VIII of the Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918.

According to Cutlack the Snipes of 4 Squadron started climbing from the south of the DVII's while four SE5a's climbed from the north when they reached 15,000 feet they dived on the DVII's.

Lt. Cato would claim 1 Fokker driven down while 4 Squadron lost 2 pilots, Lieutenants Edward John Goodson and Charles William Rhodes, initially posted as missing they would see out the war as POW's. Karl Bolle has been credited with 2 Snipe claims that morning, however in his repatriation report Lt. Goodson claimed he was twice hit by AAA shells before hitting a bridge!

Goodson wrote, "Whilst patrolling the line we were being shelled by anti-aircraft guns from the German artillery. When at 13,000 feet I was hit in my lateral controls and bottom of control lever. The machine immediately went into a left-hand spin from which it did not recover. When at about 3,000 feet, I received two more direct hits under the right wing. I spun into the canal between two bridges in the centre of Tournai. One wing of the machine was carried away by the bridge and the machine became a total wreck on striking the water. "

Lt. Rhodes' repatriation report supports Karl Bolle's claim as he states that he was shot down by a Fokker DVII.

There have been suggestions that Goodson mistook the later hits as AAA shells when it could have been Karl Bolle finishing him off on the way down.