The parachuting penguin

I was the lucky mascot of Flight Lieutenant Stan Chapman of 158 Squadron Royal Air Force. He used to take me with him on bombing operations in his Halifax bomber.

One night in 1944 we were over Berlin when our aircraft was hit by flak and badly damaged. It was going to crash so we had to bale out. Stan parachuted from the aircraft carrying me inside his leather flying jacket. Glad to land safely, we were soon captured by German soldiers and spent the rest of the War as prisoners in Germany.

Stan said I was lucky because I made sure that he and all his crew mates survived being shot down that night.

Accession Number: 80/C/1656