Alfred Goulding enlisted in the Australian Army at Mareeba in north Queensland on 6 January 1942.

After some training at Hughendan he was asked by his commanding officer if he would do a secret job and was taken to Townsville and flew with the US Air Force over the Battle of the Coral Sea and filmed it.

Lance Sergeant Alfred Francis Goulding (Q116594) spent some time at 115 Australian General Hospital as a patient during WWII. After leaving Heidelberg Hospital he was attached to 1 Australian Cinema Unit.