Caterpillar Club Recipients, crew 59

L to R

Sgt. Don Tofflemire, Sgt. W.G. “Bill” Whitton, F/S Jim Campbell

These three airmen from the Bluenose squadron of the RCAF Bomber Group in England are now members of the “Caterpillar Club” which is limited to those who have bailed out of an aircraft and walked home. It was during a recent attack on Berlin that their aircraft was shot up by flak from the enemy’s defences which set the incendiaries on fire in the bomb bay, shot the rudder control away, making the aircraft hard to handle. On the way home they also ran short of petrol and were forced to “hit the silk”. Shown adjusting the parachute harness locks are; left to right: Sgt. Don Tofflemire, rear gunner (Leaming, Ont.) Sgt. W.G. “Bill” Whitton, mid upper gunner, (Paris, Ont.) and F/S Jim Campbell, bomb aimer, Suite 7, Glenburn Apts. Winnipeg.

9 Feb. 1944

Courtesy CFJIC, PL – 22973