Kent 'Caterpillar Club' member recalls WWII parachute jump Published duration 18 November 2011

image caption Bob Frost was smuggled out of mainland Europe with the help of Resistance fighters

It is one of the world's most exclusive clubs, but its membership is dwindling fast.

The Caterpillar Club is formed of those who have bailed out of stricken aircraft and survived.

Now the surviving members of the London and home counties branch, all in their late 80s and early 90s, have held their final meeting.

Bob Frost, 88, from Sandwich, in Kent, was just 19 years old when he jumped from a Wellington Bomber in World War II.

The air gunner was returning home from a bombing mission over Essen, in Germany, when the engines died on the plane and the captain ordered his crew to bail out.

Mr Frost said: "It wasn't [a question of] if you got shot down, it was when you got shot down. Most crews never got beyond 14 ops, we were on our 22nd.

"I came down through a cloud, cold and wet, and the ground came up and hit me... a great big Belgian field."

The informal club was initiated by parachute manufacturer Leslie Irvin in 1922 and is mainly populated by aircrew from World War II.

One of the club's rules is that the parachutist has to have used an Irvin parachute.

Eileen Robinson, who is the secretary of the club's London and home counties branch, said she was very sad to see it close.

She added that she believes the only UK branch remaining is in Blackpool, Lancashire.

"It's part of our history, it will never happen again," she said. "It is estimated that 100,000 people worldwide have been saved by parachutes."

Retired RAF navigator John Nichol, who ejected from his Tornado during the Gulf War and was captured by Saddam Hussein's forces, was made an honorary member of the club.

image caption Bob Frost was 19 when he was forced to jump out of his stricken bomber

He praised the bravery of the World War II pilots who only had a parachute on their backs and had to physically jump out of the aeroplane.

"You've got the flames, you've got the fear, the confusion, the shells exploding around.

"Your aircraft is on fire and then you simply have to dive out.

"You're diving out into the unknown, trusting your life to your parachute and then floating down into enemy territory."

And Mr Frost, who was smuggled out of mainland Europe through Spain with help of Resistance fighters, said fear was a constant companion during the bombing raids over Nazi-occupied Europe.

"If you weren't frightened you were thick," he said.

"I never met anybody who enjoyed bombing."