Golden Caterpillar Club - Irvin Parachutes

[david1812]

MANY Members will be aware that the American Leslie Irvin first "invented" the silk parachute in 1919. And in 1920 he establish the CATERPILLAR CLUB and those who used an Irvin parachute to save their lives could join the Club. There are many internet references on this subject. The Switlik parachute company later copied the idea.
Members of the CATERPILLAR CLUB are given a small, gold caterpillar pin (in the case of Irvin) with two (originally, anyway) red rubies for the eyes of the caterpillar. Later, as rubies became more costly, Irvin changed to and used garnets, and more recently the eyes are merely done in red enamel. The Switlik caterpillars are of metal (not gold); are less attractive, and less desirable - unless attributable to a man with a very special story behind his jump.

The very first member of Irvin's Club was William O’Conner, a civilian pilot, on 24 August, 1920, at McCook Field, Ohio. The second person was 1st Lt. Harold R. Harris, U.S. Air Corps, also at McCook Field on 20 October 1922. The third member of the Caterpillar Club was 1st Lt. Frank B. Tyndall, U.S. Air Corps, at Seattle, Washington. By 1924, the Club had eleven members and before the Second World War began, the number had reached and then far exceeded four thousand. By 2004, more than 100,000 had been issued.

NOW, the Irvin Golden Caterpillar is a scarce, even rare, much sought after item of militaria. Not just because it is gold. Or for the rubies. But just because they are very, very rarely seen in the market. I have an original 1944 Irvin issue (in the David Bennett Collection). It is illustrated here, and was issued to one W/O L. R. Scott in 1944.

The PROBLEM is that although the IRVIN Parachute Company in the U.K. HAVE records of the Caterpillar Club Members, and their names, details, dates, and the circumstances of the jump, they CONTINUE to this DAY to REFUSE to divulge this information to collectors and researchers such as myself. At least that was the position when I last tried to get information from Irvin in 2003.

THIS is a very bad attitude towards researchers and collectors, I feel. Perhaps there are Members in the U.K. who feel strongly about this, and who might seek a meeting with Irvin to try to change their attitude. I live in South Africa, and it is impossible for me to do so. Irvin's reason that disclosure might " upset the recipients / or their family" is long ago a poor excuse. They are all dead now. AND, indeed, all we are trying to do is to research the man / woman who jumped, to record their story, and thus to preserve their memory and HISTORY for the future and for future generations. All entirely GOOD reasons.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Irvin Company’s ‘Gold Caterpillar’ is very small, approximately 19-20mm in length and about 2 to 3mm wide. Originally made of 9ct gold, more recently they have been made of silver-gilt. Originally the eyes of the caterpillar were two red rubies. As time has passed, and through cost factors, the rubies were replaced by red garnets, and even more recently, the silver gilt caterpillars have eyes simply of red enamel. The name of the person to whom the caterpillar was issued is engraved in square, upright capitals on the plain reverse of the caterpillar. Technically, of course, the ‘caterpillar’ is actually a silkworm which weaves the silk cocoon for the
moth larva, as all schoolchildren, who have had silkworms in shoeboxes, know.

All members of the Caterpillar Club (either in the U.S.A., Canada or the U.K.) are kept in a register, at the Club HQ – being one of the local Irvin manufacturing plants. In the case of the U.K. Club, they hide behind the Data Protection Act, apparently, as they will NOT divulge any information of a recipient, claiming that the Club had decided to “keep the experiences of the recipients private”. This is very difficult to understand, as most WWII recipients are by now dead.

There are claims that ‘Golden Caterpillars’ exist, and have been issued to those who have parachuted into the sea, and that they have green, rather than red eyes - representing of course, the sea. This would be logical, although I have NEVER seen one, nor seen official written confirmation of the issue of examples with green eyes. Also, and certainly in my written exchanges with Irvin (U.K.), this colour variation has not been mentioned. There IS, however, a “Goldfish Club” for those landing in water.

The Goldfish Club is a worldwide association of people who have jumped by parachute from an aircraft into the water, or whose aircraft crashed in the water, and whose lives were saved by a life jacket, inflatable dinghy, or similar device. The Goldfish Club badge shows a white-winged goldfish flying over two symbolic blue waves. The main aim of the club is 'to keep alive the spirit of comradeship arising from the mutual experience of members surviving, "coming down in the drink".’

The Goldfish Club was formed in November, 1942 by C. A. Robertson, the Chief Draftsman at the United Kingdom's P.B. Cow & Co., one of the world’s largest manufacturers of air-sea rescue equipment. After hearing of the experiences of airmen who had survived a ditching at sea, Robertson decided to form an exclusive club for airmen who owed their lives to their life jacket, dinghy, etc. Enabling members to meet and exchange experiences.

With the company’s backing, the club was named The Goldfish Club: gold for the value of life, and fish for the water. Each member was presented with a heat-sealed waterproof membership card and an embroidered badge. Due to wartime regulations, production of metallic-embroidered badges was prohibited and all cloth was severely rationed. These problems were overcome with silk embroidery substituted for wire upon black cloth cut from old evening dress suits that were sent by readers of the London Daily
Express after an appeal by columnist William Hickey. Uniform dress regulations prohibited the wearing of the Goldfish Club badge on British and American uniforms. The badge was generally worn by naval aircrews upon their Mae Wests. Many RAF & USAAF aircrew placed their badge under the flap of their left hand uniform pocket.

Warrant Officer L.R. SCOTT – Golden Caterpillar: Issued 1944.

This is the Golden Caterpillar illustrated here. It is of 9ct gold, with red garnet eyes, which would be correct for the period of issue. Irvin U.K. would not give any further information as to the exact date on which Scott’s jump was made, or of any other personal details concerning Scott, or the issue of the Golden Caterpillar itself. This seems a pity, as it is a little piece of history which is being withheld. The C.W.G.C. website does not have an entry for a L.R. Scott, and so we must presume that he, at least, survived the Second World War.

I can find NO internet reference to a Warrant Officer L.R. Scott, unfortunately. What I DID discover, was that in 1944, there was a Pilot Officer (P/O) Lionel Ronald Scott, who was a member of the R.A.F. 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron – the same Squadron as the now famous Squadron Leader John Dering Nettleton VC (a South African) belonged to .
In any event P/O L.R. Scott had to jump from a Lancaster bomber (No. ND520) over France on the night of 25/26 February 1944, on the outbound leg of a mission to Augsberg. Scott landed near the village of Lor, north of Reims in France. He was found by the French, and hidden until he later met up with the advancing American forces. Is it possible that W/O Scott became Pilot Officer Scott? Perhaps we will never know. UNLESS the Caterpillar Club one day decide to allow access to their records.

The two most recent prices I have seen for an IRVIN caterpillar are Pounds Sterling 450 and 480.

Illustrated are:
==============
A - The ORIGINAL Irvin pin to W/O L.R. Scott - 1944
(from the David Bennett Collection)
B - Showing the reverse / naming of Scott's pin.
C - Showing the pin / clasp system used by Irvin
D - An example of the Switlik caterpillar pin
E - Another ORIGINAL 1943 issue Irvin caterpillar pin.
-----------------------------------------------------------------

© 2013 David BENNETT - The DAVID BENNETT Collection

[SAS1]

Gold caterpillar badges are not especially rare, but they are expensive. Usually between £450 and £650 depending on history.

It's odd you say Irvin do not give out details when the last time you enquired was 14 years ago. It often depends on who answers your letter. I've had a couple of Caterpillar badges, the first came with a letter from the club stating it was from a 1944 bail out. After I got it around 2005 I wrote to them to see if they could add anything . I got a very nice letter back with pretty much the same info but a 1947 date.

I have another now and with the resources online it's far easier to research myself. I found the recipient of the latest badge online in the PoW records, a 1943 Halifax bail out.

The thing is with your badge is that, like all, is sparsely identified. There is no number and no full name. Scott is a common name and it would only take two of that name and initials that even if Irvin gave you the info you'd be none the wiser. Considering too you can't positively confirm the man's identity it's impossible to say your badge is 1944 issue. That same type badge was issued for a number of years after the war and might well be for a bail out in the late 40s, 1950s or even the 1960s

[Frank Kelley]

I was a little confused by some of this, including the title, I had never heard the Caterpillar Club referred to as the "Golden" Caterpillar Club.
Original Irvin badges can be found made of gold and plated metal, I certainly don't think that I have ever seen an example with ruby or garnet eyes, they simply used glass.
With the ever increasing amount of forgeries being sold as originals that have appeared over the last twenty years or so, it is very important not to buy an example on it's own.
Be aware, in particular, of spurious badges that are "named" to certain well known individuals, again, buy an example with some other related material.
Whilst post war examples are actually quite rare, Second World War examples, many applied for by their recipients after the war are quite easy to research.
Often, the actual badge itself is a giveaway, for example, if it is engraved in two rows, "PRES BY IRVING CO" with the recipients rank, initial and surname above, it is likely to be pre 1941 and made of gold.
It helps a great deal to have the recipients 2520, that gives his particular class upon his release from the service, for example if you know he was a POW, the obvious thing to do is go to Kew and take a careful look through WO344, those MI9 general questionnaire are both fascinating and contain detail of being brought down.
There is an excellent set of books published by Midland Counties Publications which go into very considerable detail regarding the losses of the Royal Air Force in the Second World War and I would recommend you refer to them.
Find a match and then take a very careful look and the relevant available RAF Form 540's in AIR27 at Kew, that should confirm everything beyond reasonable doubt.
Certainly after about 1942 in the Royal Air Force, Warrant Officers who received a commission skipped the rank of Pilot Officer and were often commissioned as a Flying Officer, depending on the period of time that each had actually held their Warrant rank.
It is very important to remember that the Caterpillar Club required proof of actual entitlement to be a member in the first place and they merely consulted the Royal Air Force, so as already mentioned above, they were only doing what you, yourself, both can and should be doing.

Whilst the badge is an expensive little thing to buy these days, you should always remember, that so often, it cost the recipient rather more, sadly, these days, there are so very few of them left to actually talk to and the happy days spent in the Café Royal during those wonderful reunions are gone forever!

Originally Posted by david1812

MANY Members will be aware that the American Leslie Irvin first "invented" the silk parachute in 1919. And in 1920 he establish the CATERPILLAR CLUB and those who used an Irvin parachute to save their lives could join the Club. There are many internet references on this subject. The Switlik parachute company later copied the idea.
Members of the CATERPILLAR CLUB are given a small, gold caterpillar pin (in the case of Irvin) with two (originally, anyway) red rubies for the eyes of the caterpillar. Later, as rubies became more costly, Irvin changed to and used garnets, and more recently the eyes are merely done in red enamel. The Switlik caterpillars are of metal (not gold); are less attractive, and less desirable - unless attributable to a man with a very special story behind his jump.

The very first member of Irvin's Club was William O’Conner, a civilian pilot, on 24 August, 1920, at McCook Field, Ohio. The second person was 1st Lt. Harold R. Harris, U.S. Air Corps, also at McCook Field on 20 October 1922. The third member of the Caterpillar Club was 1st Lt. Frank B. Tyndall, U.S. Air Corps, at Seattle, Washington. By 1924, the Club had eleven members and before the Second World War began, the number had reached and then far exceeded four thousand. By 2004, more than 100,000 had been issued.

NOW, the Irvin Golden Caterpillar is a scarce, even rare, much sought after item of militaria. Not just because it is gold. Or for the rubies. But just because they are very, very rarely seen in the market. I have an original 1944 Irvin issue (in the David Bennett Collection). It is illustrated here, and was issued to one W/O L. R. Scott in 1944.

The PROBLEM is that although the IRVIN Parachute Company in the U.K. HAVE records of the Caterpillar Club Members, and their names, details, dates, and the circumstances of the jump, they CONTINUE to this DAY to REFUSE to divulge this information to collectors and researchers such as myself. At least that was the position when I last tried to get information from Irvin in 2003.

THIS is a very bad attitude towards researchers and collectors, I feel. Perhaps there are Members in the U.K. who feel strongly about this, and who might seek a meeting with Irvin to try to change their attitude. I live in South Africa, and it is impossible for me to do so. Irvin's reason that disclosure might " upset the recipients / or their family" is long ago a poor excuse. They are all dead now. AND, indeed, all we are trying to do is to research the man / woman who jumped, to record their story, and thus to preserve their memory and HISTORY for the future and for future generations. All entirely GOOD reasons.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Irvin Company’s ‘Gold Caterpillar’ is very small, approximately 19-20mm in length and about 2 to 3mm wide. Originally made of 9ct gold, more recently they have been made of silver-gilt. Originally the eyes of the caterpillar were two red rubies. As time has passed, and through cost factors, the rubies were replaced by red garnets, and even more recently, the silver gilt caterpillars have eyes simply of red enamel. The name of the person to whom the caterpillar was issued is engraved in square, upright capitals on the plain reverse of the caterpillar. Technically, of course, the ‘caterpillar’ is actually a silkworm which weaves the silk cocoon for the
moth larva, as all schoolchildren, who have had silkworms in shoeboxes, know.

All members of the Caterpillar Club (either in the U.S.A., Canada or the U.K.) are kept in a register, at the Club HQ – being one of the local Irvin manufacturing plants. In the case of the U.K. Club, they hide behind the Data Protection Act, apparently, as they will NOT divulge any information of a recipient, claiming that the Club had decided to “keep the experiences of the recipients private”. This is very difficult to understand, as most WWII recipients are by now dead.

There are claims that ‘Golden Caterpillars’ exist, and have been issued to those who have parachuted into the sea, and that they have green, rather than red eyes - representing of course, the sea. This would be logical, although I have NEVER seen one, nor seen official written confirmation of the issue of examples with green eyes. Also, and certainly in my written exchanges with Irvin (U.K.), this colour variation has not been mentioned. There IS, however, a “Goldfish Club” for those landing in water.

The Goldfish Club is a worldwide association of people who have jumped by parachute from an aircraft into the water, or whose aircraft crashed in the water, and whose lives were saved by a life jacket, inflatable dinghy, or similar device. The Goldfish Club badge shows a white-winged goldfish flying over two symbolic blue waves. The main aim of the club is 'to keep alive the spirit of comradeship arising from the mutual experience of members surviving, "coming down in the drink".’

The Goldfish Club was formed in November, 1942 by C. A. Robertson, the Chief Draftsman at the United Kingdom's P.B. Cow & Co., one of the world’s largest manufacturers of air-sea rescue equipment. After hearing of the experiences of airmen who had survived a ditching at sea, Robertson decided to form an exclusive club for airmen who owed their lives to their life jacket, dinghy, etc. Enabling members to meet and exchange experiences.

With the company’s backing, the club was named The Goldfish Club: gold for the value of life, and fish for the water. Each member was presented with a heat-sealed waterproof membership card and an embroidered badge. Due to wartime regulations, production of metallic-embroidered badges was prohibited and all cloth was severely rationed. These problems were overcome with silk embroidery substituted for wire upon black cloth cut from old evening dress suits that were sent by readers of the London Daily
Express after an appeal by columnist William Hickey. Uniform dress regulations prohibited the wearing of the Goldfish Club badge on British and American uniforms. The badge was generally worn by naval aircrews upon their Mae Wests. Many RAF & USAAF aircrew placed their badge under the flap of their left hand uniform pocket.

Warrant Officer L.R. SCOTT – Golden Caterpillar: Issued 1944.

This is the Golden Caterpillar illustrated here. It is of 9ct gold, with red garnet eyes, which would be correct for the period of issue. Irvin U.K. would not give any further information as to the exact date on which Scott’s jump was made, or of any other personal details concerning Scott, or the issue of the Golden Caterpillar itself. This seems a pity, as it is a little piece of history which is being withheld. The C.W.G.C. website does not have an entry for a L.R. Scott, and so we must presume that he, at least, survived the Second World War.

I can find NO internet reference to a Warrant Officer L.R. Scott, unfortunately. What I DID discover, was that in 1944, there was a Pilot Officer (P/O) Lionel Ronald Scott, who was a member of the R.A.F. 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron – the same Squadron as the now famous Squadron Leader John Dering Nettleton VC (a South African) belonged to .
In any event P/O L.R. Scott had to jump from a Lancaster bomber (No. ND520) over France on the night of 25/26 February 1944, on the outbound leg of a mission to Augsberg. Scott landed near the village of Lor, north of Reims in France. He was found by the French, and hidden until he later met up with the advancing American forces. Is it possible that W/O Scott became Pilot Officer Scott? Perhaps we will never know. UNLESS the Caterpillar Club one day decide to allow access to their records.

The two most recent prices I have seen for an IRVIN caterpillar are Pounds Sterling 450 and 480.

Illustrated are:
==============
A - The ORIGINAL Irvin pin to W/O L.R. Scott - 1944
(from the David Bennett Collection)
B - Showing the reverse / naming of Scott's pin.
C - Showing the pin / clasp system used by Irvin
D - An example of the Switlik caterpillar pin
E - Another ORIGINAL 1943 issue Irvin caterpillar pin.
-----------------------------------------------------------------

© 2013 David BENNETT - The DAVID BENNETT Collection

[SAS1]

Post war badges themselves are not rare, they are still being awarded. Post war badges coming up for sale is unusual due to the fact that the recipient's are, in the main still alive. Many awarded them during the war did not live to see peace.

Not sure what you mean by forgeries being sold as originals. You have original badges from the 1930s to the present day which are contemporary to the deed, more recent genuine badges issued for an old action or as a replacement for a lost badge and badges that are clearly cheap repros. The latter (that I've seen) are not of sufficient quality to be well engraved or to fool even an average collector.

The middle group is perhaps harder. In the 1990s I went out with the granddaughter of one of two men who bailed out on the dam busters raid. I wrote to Irvin about his badge and found he'd never applied, so I applied on his behalf. They did all the checks and found he was eligible (ie had bailed out with an Irvin chute and survived) and was given membership of the club. I was sent a genuine badge, with enamel eyes, engraved with his details and a modern credit card type plastic membership card. As the pin on the back of the badge was broken I applied for a second which cost £31.00. So you can find a perfectly genuine badge that might be modern and that is where knowledge and research comes in.

[Frank Kelley]

Very clearly, when compared to the number of badges awarded to Second World War recipients, post war badges are rare, as would obviously be expected, I refer to good named and documented Royal Air Force and Royal Navy examples only, as opposed to those that are not.
With regards to forgeries, you only had to look at ebay over the last two decades to see that all that glitters is certainly not gold, in actual fact there was one particular individual who was selling named spurious badges in very considerable quantity about fifteen years or so ago.

[david1812]

I have today had confirmation that my Caterpillar badge (which, let me remind you all, is engraved on the reverse: W/O L.R. Scott 1944 ) has today been confirmed to me by a Member of the group "Medal Collecting" and our man is INDEED Warrant Officer Lionel Scott of 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron. He was the radio operator on a raid on Augsberg - February 25, 1944. Here is the info sent by my informer:
------------------------------ (quote)
David, your fellow Scott not only bailed out but he was also an evader. He was British and his service number was 1386040. He was flying with 44 Squadron in Lancaster ND520 when shot down on February 25th on a mission to Augsburg as part of a large force of 594 aircraft. . He was with the Marquis in France until liberation before returning to the UK via a Corvette on September 9, 1944. He also authored a book detailing his exploits. You should probably buy a copy. Overall, a great Caterpillar pin.
---------------------------------- (close quote)

AND, furthermore this is CONFIRMED by an entry of the incident on a FRENCH website (but simply click the button available to translate into English: HERE: http://francecrashes39-45.net/page_fiche_av.php?id=388

ALSO, Lionel SCOTT wrote a BOOK about this called:

Parachuting to Danger: A British Airman with the French Resistance
Scott, Lionel
London: Robert Hale Ltd., 1988. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. Hardcover in dust jacket. First revised edition from the original 1959 edition. Book and unclipped dust jacket are in fine condition, crisp and clean, with tight binding and sharp corners. The memoir of an RAF Airman who joined with the French Resistance. Historic photos throughout. 8vo. 208 pp. including index. In protective Mylar.
Shot down over France on a bombing raid in February 1944, Lionel Scott was immediately taken in and hidden by the local population. For most Allied airmen, a plane crash would have meant many months in hiding and a dangerous and tedious existence in some cellar or barn. But Scott was different. Unlike most of his compatriots he spoke French. He was also a radio operator: a combination badly needed by the Resistance in occupied France. From the day he accepted an automatic pistol from a French secret. service agent, Lionel Scott lost his prisoner of war immunity under the Geneva Convention and became as vulnerable as his comrades in the Resistance. With the aid of forged identity papers he could move about the occupied country with comparative freedom, mixing with the local population while working with the Underground. This is a young man's account of pre- and post- invasion days in France, both grim and humorous, and gives a vivid insight into life with the partisans. .
The remarkable story of the author's wartime adventures, laced with danger, excitement and surprising humour. Shot down over France in February 1944, Lionel Scott found himself recruited into the French Resistance due to his training as a radio operator. Moving around occupied territory using forged identity papers, the author found himself immersed in the shadowy and bizarre world of the secret agent. First published in 1959, this revised edition contains material originally censored by the authorities on intelligence grounds. A well written and vivid account of the secret war, which touches on the expendable nature of the agent's existence.

YOU can FIND the details of Scott's BOOK HERE:
https://www.biblio.com/parachuting-t...l/work/2040613

=================================
So, all in all, a wonderful CONFIRMATION of what must now be a RARE and valuable WWII Caterpillar Pin badge.

[dumdum]

Interested to read all of this and a VERY comprehensive post. My interest in this "club" was sparked by a book ("Into the Silk!", I think) and then the chance to meet with a member of the Club in person.

This started a friendship that lasted for many years and ended (sadly) with the death of the man's wife and, ultimately, the serviceman.

He was member of first the GQ Club (stamped to the back of gold badge: "G.Q. Parachute saved my life") and then the Caterpillar Club (this ended in spell of 2 years "behind the wire").

His 1943 bail out was from that wonderfully inept machine, a Short Stirling of 149 Sqn.

If anybody wants to they can find the story of Ivan Alfred MEARS (RNZAF).

I have badge with the infuriatingly vague "F/S Baker" (I've forgotten the initial....)