‘Benny’ Goodman, a pilot who flew on 617 (Dambuster) Squadron has died aged 100.He and his novice crew joined the special duties squadron in August 1944. On their fourth operation, they deployed to Lossiemouth with a force of Lancasters and onOctober 24 they took off to attack the Tirpitz with 12,000lb Tallboy bombs. Cloud and a smoke screen hindered the attack but Goodman dropped his bomb. Over the next few months he attacked targets with the Tallboy and these included U-boat and E-boat pens, the synthetic oil plant at Politz on the Baltic, and the viaduct at Bielefeld. On March 19 1945 he dropped a 22,000lb ‘Grand Slam’ bomb on the Arnsberg viaduct. His final war operation was to Hitler’s Eagle Nest at Berchtesgaden. He remained in the RAF post-war and flew Hastings and later the Canberra in the photo-reconnaissance role. He maintained a civil licence until he was 93 years old.

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