HITTING THE SILK
The Caterpillar Club was originated at Dayton, Ohio between October 20, 1922 and November 11, 1922 by Messrs Hutton, Verne Timmerman, J. Mumma and Milton H. St. Clair. This world-wide club is for aviators, military and commercial, who have saved their lives with a parachute in an emergency.
During the height of World War II, production of parachutes at the Irving Air Chute Company factory in Letchworth, England, reached a peak of nearly 1,500 parachutes per week. The world famed Caterpillar Club, named after the silk worm (caterpillar) that spins the silk from which parachutes were made, gained thousands of members during World War II. By late 1945, there were 34,000 members of the Caterpillar Club. The only requirement for membership in the select club is that the applicant must have bailed out under emergency conditions, and furnished written confirmation from witnesses, such as commanding officers or adjutants, that the jump was a genuine emergency bail out.
Among the many Caterpillars who carry or carried Caterpillar Club membership cards are former President George Bush, General Doolittle, and Colonel Lindbergh, to name a few.
The picture below was taken of Flying Officer Higgs RAF, bailing out of his Hurricane in 1940.
It shows Higgs himself and the severed wing of his Hurricane.
This dramatic picture was allegedly taken by a member of the German Do-17 bomber crew who shot him down.
FO Higgs had his life saved that day by his parachute and subsequently became a member of the Caterpillar Club.
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