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About John Peel
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The Goldfish Club Maureen and Jim met on New Years Eve in 1942 at the local hop. As they told Philippa Budgen, but for a chance encounter after Jim crash landed in the sea, that would have been the end of the story ...  Waterproof membership card of the Goldfish Club |
Maureen was a sixteen year old helping out at the local hop in Bromborough, Wirral when a group of airmen came in. She thought one of them, Jim Julian, looked like a nice fellow, but his lack of interest in dancing was off-putting.  Maureen and Jim |
A fortnight later, she met Jim by chance. He was limping, and explained that he had crash landed in the sea, and had frostbite. Maureen thought this a likely tale.
In fact that's exactly what had happened. Jim's plane, a Blackburn Botha with a Bristol engine, had packed up, 'end of story, end of plane'. This is what is known as 'ditching'.
The crew had spent nearly 24 hours in the icy January water, and had then spend a few days in hospital thawing out before being released.
Some time later, Maureen noticed an article in the paper about the rescue of Jim's plane. Ashamed that she hadn't believed him she wrote a note to his parents enclosing the article. Around a year later Jim's mum replied. Maureen was in hospital with scarlet fever and her mother had opened the letter and written back. The mothers struck up a correspondence, and when she was back, Maureen sent a note to thank Mrs Juliian for her kind messages.
Jim meanwhile, had no idea that Maureen was 'carrying on with his parents'. When he came back on leave that Christmas, he was told that a friend of his had been invited to the family's Boxing Day party.
Maureen hardly recognised Jim when she arrived. He felt that 'all the hard work had been done for him' so that he might as well take up the quest. They married on April 5th 1947.  Badge of the Goldfish Club |
MORE INFORMATION
Jim is a member of The Goldfish Club, a club set up exclusively for airmen who survived a war-time ditching (gold for life, and fish for the sea). By the end of the Second World War there were 9000 members world-wide.
On Saturday 28th September the Goldfish Club will celebrate their 60th anniversary with a reunion in Lincoln.
The original badge for Goldfishes was made out of dinner jackets with winged fish embroidered on them in silk. They were made out of dj’s because there wasn't metal available at the time and in fact the material was donated after a newspaper appeal. The waterproof membership card was designed by Jim Burtt-Smith and John French.
Goldfish Club: Has information on members
Goldfish Club: Has background information on the club
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