GOODMAN, Charles Eric

Charles Goodman was the son of Mr and Mrs C. H. Pitts of 76 Lower High Street, Stourbridge, but served under the name of Charles Goodman. He attended the Wollaston Schools and became an iron-worker. He joined the Royal Navy in 1912, serving on several ships and being present at the 1916 Battle of Jutland where he was wounded by a shell splinter. By 1917 he was a Signalman on HMS Simoom, a destroyer built in 1916, which was based at Harwich. On the 22nd January the Harwich Force was called upon to intercept a large German squadron of destroyers making for Zeebrugge. Simoom was leading when it intercepted an enemy destroyer which fired a torpedo. It severely damaged Simoom’s magazine and disabled the ship. Many of the crew were killed and among the losses was Signalman Charles Goodman. He was 20 years of age and is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval and Amblecote Memorials. Memorial Notice ‘Lovingly remembered by his father, mother, brothers and sisters’ January 1918 Hard was the blow that compelled us to part With a loved one so near and dear to our hearts But the hardest part is yet to come We shall miss among the cheering crowd The face of our dear one.