Jump to content

parachute brooch


Willyslancs

Recommended Posts

Baz is correct, the caterpillar club was for bailing out and surviving with the Irvin chute. I have a gold caterpillar badge and the I.D. card that went with it to a Fl. Sgt. Adams. dated 1943. The badge is actually that of a silk worm with ruby eyes and the name of the airman on the reverse. It was not an official award and most airmen wore them under the lapel of their SD tunics. They are faked and some have green eyes, meaning being ditched in the sea and the red eyes from a burning aircraft but that is all tosh. The original ones are made of gold and have ruby eyes and you would have to have survived the bailout using the Irvin chute, nothing to do with the aircraft on fire and also it would be down to the individual to asked for the badge and become a member of the club.

As for the badge in question at the beginning of the thread, I've got two. One is in the blue colour as shown and I also have one the same but in red. I have always thought they were just an award for some sort of service within the Irvin factory. Would like to know if they were actually awarded for anything. They are not made of any sort of precious metal.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...