Are there any Texas state historians here?

[CTyankee]

I am interested in the story of the RAF training pilots in Terrell around 1940. They evidently trained American and Canadian volunteers as well as Brits at this base (and a few others around the U.S.). The base was disbanded when the U.S. starting training its pilots in the Army Air Force.

My interest stems from a friend of my parents who claimed he "flew with the RAF." He was a Canadian living in Dallas when I was growing up in the 40s and 50s. My parents used to politely listen to his stories and then later, in private, laugh about how he "made it up." I always believed that.

Just recently, however, I found out about this RAF "base" in Terrell. Since I know this man's name I'm interested in finding out if, after all these years of believing otherwise, he might well have been what he said he had been!

Can anyone tell me where I can find an archive that I can use to search?

[Horse with no Name]

1. Best place would be to start with Kaufman County history

Here is one site to start:
http://www.kaufmancounty.net/kchc.htm

http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hck02

http://books.google.com/books?id=xYOuCyELpGsC&pg=PA18&lpg=PA18&dq=kaufman+county+history+texas+Royal+air&source=bl&ots=_A6s9-UMgr&sig=8j-IXz2We7vj15H-RMkJm0xK0BU&hl=en&ei=ZPSJTeLuNoTWgQfVzYiWBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&sqi=2&ved=0CEUQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q&f=false

http://www.kera.org/tv/productions/nowherebuttexas/

[CTyankee]

2. Thank you so much! I must get that book and try to contact the author, Killebrew.

There is no one in my family left who would have known this story. It's funny, my parents surely knew about the RAF base in Terrell, since it wasn't that far away from Dallas. I speculate that my parents' friend might have come to Texas in the first place to become an RAF pilot and perhaps washed out of flight school, but continued to say that he "flew with the RAF." Or he might have actually made it through but backed out for some reason or other.

At any rate, this base is a complete surprise to me. I only learned about it because I was looking up the history of a plane in a photograph of my father (sitting in the cockpit behind the pilot), probably taken at Love Field in the mid 1930s. I had never seen the photo before but found it while I was cleaning out a drawer of family pictures!

I will contact the Kaufman County Historical Society, too. Perhaps someone there will tell me how to get in touch with Killebrew...

Did you know about this base?

[Hangingon]

3. There is a Britsh Flying Trainig museum in Terrill.

http://www.bftsmuseum.org/newsletters/february172011newsrelease.html

My father's family is from Terrill and I remember stories about the flight school. I believe some British/Empire students who died in Terrill are burried there. I rememer as a young child taking the Interurban to Terrill to visit family.

[CTyankee]

4. Thank you so much for that! I'll contact them about the upcoming anniversary

and my own query.

Growing up in Dallas, I'm afraid my only acquaintance with the town of Terrill was the fact that it had a large mental institution there. "Being sent to Terrill" was, in the parlance of the day, what would happen to you if you went crazy. My mother made dark references to the daughter of a family member, that she might have to be "sent to Terrill." It was also something of a wisecrack...but that's Texas for you!

[ceile]

5. That is really interesting...

I've never heard anything about it.