Goodchild enlisted in the British Army in 1899. When he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps in 1914 he received a new service number (25). On 1914-09-12 his aircraft suffered engine trouble and he and his observer AM J. Chilton forced-landed behind the German lines. He was a PoW for the rest of the war. Prevailing winds blowing from the west on the western front prevented them from gliding back across the lines.