Goldfish Club

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.

World War II

The Goldfish Club was formed in November, 1942 by C. A. Robertson, the Chief Draftsman at tne United Kingdom's PB 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.

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. News of the club spread rapidly, and in January 1943 the BBC broadcast an interview by Wynford Vaughan-Thomas with Robertson and two members who had qualified on their first operational flight.

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 aircrewmen placed their badge under the flap of their left hand uniform pocket.

After the war

By the end of World War II, the war the club had 9,000 members from all branches of the Allied Forces. The club attempted to end the granting of memberships, but applications continued to arrive. When Robertson left PB Cow in 1947, he retained the Club records and continued operating it at his own expense.

An article in the RAFA journal "Airmail" in January, 1951 brought renewed interest in the club, and a reunion dinner was held. It was a great success, and the Club was reorganized on a formal basis in March, 1953. Reunions have been held annually ever since at various venues with many distinguished guests. In response to a message of greetings sent to her, Mae West made it clear that she took great pride in the fact that members of the RAF had adopted her name for their life-jackets.

Members of the club have included airmen who qualified in World War I, more than twenty years before the Club was begun. Many of the older members have passed on, but new members still arrive. Many of those who joined during the war rejoin on learning of the Club’s continued existence. One member nominated as a special member the Italian airman who offered him a seat in his dinghy when they met in the Mediterranean in 1942. The only German member qualified when he ejected from his F104G, part of the NATO forces in 1971. Helicopter crews predominate these days, since ditchings are rare among combat aircraft. Richard Branson escaped from his trans-Atlantic balloon and became the first lighter-than-air Goldfish.

Today, the five hundred-plus members around the world keep in touch with a regular newsletter.

ee also

Caterpillar Club

ources

* [http://www.geocities.com/b24gunr2000/Goldfish_Club.html Goldfish Club web page]
* [http://www.303rdbg.com/goldfish.html 303rd Bomb Group web page]