George Goodman ( RAF officer ) Flying Officer George Ernest " Randy " or " Benny " Goodman ( 1920 – 1941 ) was a fighter pilot who flew with the Royal Air Force during the Battle of Britain , and is one of the aircrew known as " The Few " . Goodman was officially a flying ace , credited with 10 individual kills and six shared . Early life . Goodman was born in Haifa , pre - British Mandate Palestine on 8 October 1920 to a British father , Sidney Charles Goodman , and Bida Lerner , a Turkish national of Jewish descent from Zikhron Ya ' akov . He had two sisters , Winifred and Ellen . His parents were married in St . Lukes Church in Haifa , circa 1920 . Goodman was sent to the United Kingdom to be educated at Highgate School in London . He was a member of the Officer Training Corps whilst at school . His parents left Haifa in 1939 when his father was transferred to Lagos , Nigeria as a British Civil Servant in the Nigerian Railway . Royal Air Force . Goodman joined the Royal Air Force in 1939 and was granted a short service ( six year ) commission on 2 September 1939 with the rank of Acting Pilot Officer . He undertook Elementary & Reserve Flying Training and then attended Flying Training School where he converted to the Hawker Hurricane . On 27 February 1940 he was assigned to No . 11 Group Pool 11 and then went to an Operational Training Unit . Battle of France . On 1 May 1940 Goodman was assigned to No . 1 Squadron RAF and joined the squadron in the Battle of France . He was credited with his first kill on 13 May 1940 , an Heinkel He 111 ; he shared a Messerschmitt Bf 110 the same day . He also shared an He 111 on 14 May 1940 and was credited with one final kill , an He 111 , on 17 June 1940 before No . 1 Squadron left France . He was confirmed as a Pilot Officer on 10 July 1940 . Battle of Britain . Compared to many who flew during the Battle of Britain , Goodman was a relatively experienced pilot . He was credited with a Messerschmitt Bf 109 of III . / JG 27 ( Oblt Kirschstein killed ) on 25 July 1940 and shared a Bf 110 on 11 August . He was credited with a KG 55 He 111 on 16 August , a Bf 110 of ZG 26 and shared a Dornier Do 17 of KG 76 on 18 August . On 6 September he was credited with a Bf 110 , however he was shot down during this action and forced to bail out , injuring his shoulder in the process . His plane crashed at Brownings Farm , Chiddingstone Causeway . He was back flying shortly afterwards and on 8 October 1940 he shared damaging a Junkers Ju 88 and again shared damaging a Do 17 on 27 October . Distinguished Flying Cross . Goodman was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for meritorious service during the Battle of Britain , which was gazetted on 26 November 1940 . The citation read : Pilot Officer George Ernest GOODMAN ( 42598 ) — No . 1 Squadron . < br > This officer has performed outstanding work in all his engagements against the enemy . In October , 1940 , he assisted in the destruction of an enemy bomber which was attacking an aerodrome in the failing light at dusk . His courage and resourcefulness have enabled him to destroy at least six enemy aircraft . Western Desert . In November 1940 Goodman was assigned to No . 73 Squadron RAF which was to fly to the Western Desert . En route to the Middle East he stopped in Lagos and saw his mother ; as the Squadron flew out , they performed a barrel roll over the Goodman home . On 4 February 1941 Goodman was credited with shooting down an Italian Fiat CR . 42 ( " 151 Gruppo " ; Cap . Chiarini killed ) and a Me 110 of III . / ZG 26 at Tobruk . On 9 April 1941 he was shot down again , either by ground fire or the Bf 110 of 7 . / ZG 26 piloted by Oblt . Major Georg Christl and crashed , luckily this was behind the British lines . Goodman was promoted to Flying Officer on 28 February 1941 . On 14 April Goodman shared an Henschel Hs 126 and on 21 April destroyed a Junkers Ju 87 and shared another . In late April 1941 he was granted a period of leave and visited his sisters in Haifa . Death . He was shot down and killed by flak while strafing Gazala airfield on 14 June 1941 . Goodman was buried in the Knightsbridge War Cemetery , Acroma , Libya ( grave 10 . C . 21 ) . Controversy surrounding nationality . Due to the confusion with the more modern usage of Palestinian , in the 1960s Battle of Britain film Goodman is credited as a pilot from Israel , although the State of Israel was not proclaimed until 1948 . Haifa , at the time of his birth , was part of the British Military administrative area of Palestine . On 24 July 1922 , the League of Nations commission on the administration of Palestine granted Britain administration of the former Southern part of Ottoman Syria , formally creating the British Mandate for Palestine . On 16 September 1922 , Britain divided the Mandate into two parts : the land mass east of the Jordan River became an Arab autonomous area , Transjordan ; the area to the west , which included Haifa , became British Mandate Palestine .