Temporary Lieutenant John Godwin,
RNVR
The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original Ro ...
(13 December 1919
[ – 2 February 1945) was a British naval officer. Born and brought up in Argentina, he took part in a raid named Operation Checkmate on ]Axis
An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to:
Mathematics
* Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis
* Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinat ...
shipping near Haugesund
Haugesund () is a municipality on the North Sea in Rogaland county, Norway. While the population is greater in the neighboring Karmøy municipality, the main commercial and economic centre of the Haugaland region in northern Rogaland and southern ...
, north of Stavanger
Stavanger (, , American English, US usually , ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the a ...
, Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
. His party managed to sink a minesweeper and a number of steamers using limpet mines
A limpet mine is a type of naval mine attached to a target by magnets. It is so named because of its superficial similarity to the shape of the limpet, a type of sea snail that clings tightly to rocks or other hard surfaces.
A swimmer or diver ...
, but he was eventually captured with the rest of his party, a commando sergeant, two Naval Petty Officers and three seamen. Initially they were held in Grini concentration camp
'',
'' no, Grini fangeleir'', location=Bærum, Viken, Norway, location map=Viken#Norway, built by=Norway, original use=Constructed as a women's prison, operated by=Nazi Germany, notable inmates= List of Grini prisoners, liberated by=Harry Söderma ...
. This was the same camp where, in January 1943, the Germans executed five commando survivors of Operation Freshman
Operation Freshman was the codename given to a British airborne operation conducted in November 1942 during World War II. It was the first British airborne operation conducted using Airspeed Horsa gliders, and its target was the Vemork ''Nor ...
. However, Godwin and his comrades were not executed at Grini, but instead sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp
Sachsenhausen () or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a German Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used from 1936 until April 1945, shortly before the defeat of Nazi Germany in May later that year. It mainly held political prisoners ...
, where contrary to the Geneva Convention
upright=1.15, Original document in single pages, 1864
The Geneva Conventions are four treaties, and three additional protocols, that establish international legal standards for humanitarian treatment in war. The singular term ''Geneva Conven ...
, they were forced to march 30 miles a day on cobbles testing army boots.
On 2 February 1945 they were led to execution, in accordance with Hitler's Commando Order
The Commando Order () was issued by the OKW, the high command of the German armed forces, on 18 October 1942. This order stated that all Allies of World War II, Allied commandos captured in Europe and Africa should be summary execution, summarily ...
of 1942. Godwin managed to wrestle the pistol of the firing party commander from his belt and shoot him dead before being himself shot. No superior officer witnessed this act so a decoration could not be awarded. However, his bravery was mentioned in dispatches (posthumously). The citation, in ''The London Gazette
''The London Gazette'' is one of the official journals of record or government gazettes of the Government of the United Kingdom, and the most important among such official journals in the United Kingdom, in which certain statutory notices are ...
'', 9 October 1945, read: "For great gallantry and inspiring example whilst a prisoner of war in German hands in Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
and afterwards at Sachsenhausen
Sachsenhausen () or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a German Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used from 1936 until April 1945, shortly before the defeat of Nazi Germany in May later that year. It mainly held political prisoners ...
, near Oranienburg
Oranienburg () is a town in Brandenburg, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Oberhavel.
Geography
Oranienburg is a town located on the banks of the Havel river, 35 km north of the centre of Berlin.
Division of the town
Oranienburg ...
, Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, 1942–1945".
Notes
Sources
Volunteers from Argentina who gave their lives in WWII. Memorial
CWGC entry
* M. R. D. Foot
Michael Richard Daniell Foot, (14 December 1919 – 18 February 2012) was a British political and military historian, and former British Army intelligence officer with the Special Operations Executive during the Second World War.
Biography
The ...
& J. M. Langley 1979 ''MI9 – Escape and Evasion 1939–1945'', London, Book Club Associates, London, 1979 pp. 154, 155
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Godwin, John
1945 deaths
Royal Navy officers
People from Buenos Aires
People executed by Germany by firearm
Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II
Royal Navy personnel killed in World War II
Argentina in World War II
Military personnel who died in Nazi concentration camps
Argentine people of English descent
Grini concentration camp prisoners
People who died in Sachsenhausen concentration camp
Royal Navy Commando officers
1919 births
Executed Argentine people
British people executed in Nazi concentration camps
Argentine people executed in Nazi concentration camps
Argentine prisoners of war
Royal Navy officers of World War II