Spitfire pilot and lawyer modest about his bravery

Saturday, September 30, 2006

By John Burman

The Hamilton Spectator(Sep 30, 2006)

Spitfire pilot David Goldberg was a modest man.

Personal courage, heroism and leadership were simply doing one's duty, just what he was sure every other fellow would do. It didn't matter he'd made a harrowing escape from occupied France or once brought a powerless P51 Mustang fighter into Mount Hope RCAF base in a tricky but perfect dead-stick landing.

He didn't want a fuss. He didn't talk it up. But lately, Goldberg, 89, who died in Hamilton Sept. 17, would share his experiences with young people.

"He wanted them to know these things and he was always gracious in accommodating them," said his daughter, Mary.

"If someone was doing a project at Westdale (high school) and asked him for help, he would sit and talk because he felt they should know, learn."

Goldberg was born and educated in Hamilton, earned his bachelor of science in business administration at Boston University and then joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1940.

"He was a very brave man," said Charley Fox, of London, Ont., a decorated Spitfire pilot himself. "Being Jewish, he knew exactly what would happen to him if he ever got shot down."

Fox, who met Goldberg while he was instructing at Dunnville before going overseas in 1942, said his friend didn't dwell on what could happen. "But when he did go down, the first thing he did was get rid of his dog tags, bury them or something."

Fox said his friend was shot down by ground flak in March 1944 while beating up a Luftwaffe airfield near St. Andre, outside Lille, in France.

His plane turned over and burned in the crash but Goldberg managed to get out. Dodging soldiers, Goldberg hooked up with the French underground and ended up in a larger group of escapees aiming to cross the Pyrenees into neutral Spain. When their French guide disappeared, a boy who knew the way helped them and seven made the trip across the mountains. He was back in Britain via Gibraltar soon after contacting the consulate in Barcelona.

He had a 30-day leave here, during which the city hosted a small banquet in his honour. He was a little embarrassed. Just doing his duty, he'd say.

He returned to war late in '44, posted to 417 Squadron of 244 wing of the Desert Air Force in Italy. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross after the war for his leadership turning what had been a lacklustre squadron into a top performer.

Goldberg would later tell people he was the "only pilot with a DFC who never shot down a plane."

What he didn't tell them was he'd shot up a lot of other targets, in terrifying, low-level ground attacks where anti-aircraft fire is murderous. He flew 80 such missions in Europe and just as many in the Mediterranean. He received the DFC for his "unfailing energy and efficiency, his enthusiasm and gallantry."

With war's end, Goldberg returned to Hamilton and went to Osgoode Hall Law School. He was called to the bar in June 1949, and began a 50-year career in corporate and commercial law. He spent 20 years at Ross & McBride in Hamilton before he retired in 1999.

Like many wartime pilots, Goldberg headed for the Air Reserve in the 1950s, and that meant 424 City of Hamilton auxiliary squadron flying P-51 Mustangs emblazoned with a tiger set to pounce out of Mount Hope.

Goldberg held a civilian job while participating in the Air Force reserve, so he was a weekend warrior. These pilots were as good or better than the regular force. In 1953, the squadron won the coveted MacBrien Trophy for RCAF gunnery, outshooting regular force pilots.

Goldberg, who later served as commanding officer of 16 Wing at Mount Hope, was also famous for bringing in a disabled Mustang with a dead engine with the wheels down for a perfect landing. He got a letter from Ottawa thanking him for taking care of the plane. He told his wife Alice about his close call so she wouldn't read about it in the newspaper first.

"That was so like him," Alice recalled recently. "He was always considerate."

Memorial donations may be made to the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum.