Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Caterpillar Club Badge, gold caterpillar with ruby eyes, the reverse inscribed, ‘S/Ldr. Svensson’, in Mappin & Webb Ltd. card box of issue, inside of lid inscribed, ‘Presented by Irving Air Shute of Gt. Britain Ltd.’, extremely fine £500-600

Squadron Leader Tony Svensson, R.A.F., was a test pilot on loan to the Royal Australian Air Force. Flying from R.A.A.F. Avalon near Melbourne, he was testing Mirage III supersonic fighters. On 7 December 1964 he was testing a Mirage III at 35,000 feet, when something went wrong and control was lost, and with the engine shut down the aircraft headed earthwards. The following was reported in The Sunday Express of 30 April 1967:

“‘For the next 90 seconds I was very busy. I kept a running commentary going to the ground station saying what I had done, what was happening to me and what I was trying to do to get the plane out of its downward plunge. ... At 7,000 feet I decided it was time to get out and I pulled the blind which fires the ejector seat.” Three seconds later the Mirage, still accelerating, hit the ground. ... So late had Svensson left his ejection that he landed only 600 feet away. As Sir James Martin, the designer of the seat which saved Svensson’s life wrote to him: “Your ejection at 932 miles an hour was by far and away at the highest speed we have ever recorded.” A fragment of a tape crash-recorded which was dug up ... revealed that Svensson’s ejection was a world record. This is what happened after he pulled the blind: First to go was the cockpit canopy which let in a hideous 900-plus miles an hour stream of air which hit Svensson like a brick wall. ... Next his rocket-propelled seat lifted from the cockpit into the cruel supersonic air stream, cracked his webbing leg restraining straps and broke both his arms as they flailed, and one leg in two places. Squadron Leader Svensson was by now unconscious. But the British designed seat took over. It gently detached him from his seat and automatically deployed his parachute. But he was to be further injured ... for his one remaining sound leg was also broken in two places on landing. Then he had a piece of luck. Six doctors who had been lecturing ... at a school were passing in a minibus on a road only 100 yards away ...’

Whisked away to hospital Svensson was in a coma for 10 days. His lengthy treatment involved his legs having to be re-broken before they could be properly set. When his legs were properly mended, he was found to be two inches shorter. Sold with two newspaper cuttings, each with photographs.