When the RAF invaded Texas!

Air Classics, Jun 2000 by Brown, Ben L

IN ORDER TO OBTAIN MORE TRAINED COMBAT PILOTS, THE ROYAL AIR FORCE ENTERED INTO AN AGREEMENT TO TRAIN NEW PILOTS IN AMERICA. SOME AMERICAN PILOTS WERE ALSO INCLUDED IN THESE CLASSES AND THE AUTHOR REMEMBERS HIS TIME AS A CADET EARNING HIS WINGS

When Great Britain went to war with Germany in September 1939, it found itself ill-prepared for the long conflict ahead. It had few good aircraft, and not many trained aircrew. The British soon realized that pilot training in England was not practical and set up the Empire Air Training Schools in Canada, Australia, South Africa, Rhodesia, New Zealand, and India. Early in 1941, they entered into an agreement with the United States to train British cadets in America as civilians. The Army Air Force would loan the aircraft, and instructors and administrative services would be provided under contract with civilian companies. The bases would be commanded by a small RAF staff;.

They named the new RAF schools British Flying Training Schools, or BFTSs. The first one to open was No. 1 BFTS at Love Field, Dallas, in June 1941, but that location soon became too crowded and the course was moved to Terrell, Texas, a small town 30 miles east of Dallas.

Soon afterwards, five more BFTSs were in operation in Lancaster, California; Miami, Oklahoma; Mesa, Arizona; Clewiston, Florida; and Ponca City, Oklahoma. There was a No. 7 started at Sweetwater, Texas, but only one course was trained through Primary at that locaton before it was closed. The school was later reopened to train WASPs.

The first twelve courses at No. 1 BFTS had 50 RAF cadets, but from No. 13 Course on they increased to 100 RAF cadets. At some point very early in the war, the United States decided to send a few AAF cadets to these schools to learn to fly the RAF way - as an experiment. One American cadet was included in No. 7 Course, four in No. 8 Course, three in Nos. 9 and No. 10 Courses, and from 15 to 18 in No. 13 through 19 Courses. When the contingent of AAF cadets became larger, a small contingent of AAF officers and enlisted men were assigned. They set up the base hospital and staffed it, and all AAF personnel were under the command of an American officer who worked jointly with the RAF commanding officer.

A course lasted for six months, and one difference in the RAF schools versus the AAF schools was that the cadets stayed on the same base for the entire six months rather than move from one base to another as they progressed.

The last class to complete training at No. 1 BFTS was No. 25 Course in August 1945 - Nos. 26 and No. 27 Courses never got their wings and No. 1 BFTS at Terrell was closed. In total, No. 1 BFTS handled 2100 RAF cadets and 125 AAF cadets. Failure rate was 40 percent for the RAF cadets and five percent for AAF cadets. All AAF cadets had to have had some degree of previous flying training before being considered for this RAF training. The Terrell school had 19 RAF and one American cadets killed in air training. The RAF cadets are buried in a special plot in the Oakland Memorial Park Cemetery in Terrell. The RAF graduates resumed to England, where they performed well in combat. Many received numerous decorations and one cadet from No. 6 Course was awarded the Victoria Cross, Britain's highest honor.

How did RAF training differ from the AAF training of pilots? When each new class arrived at the base, they were assigned to a long barracks, with a huge table running the entire length, which was to be used as a desk. Each cadet was assigned a bunk, a foot locker, and a closet for his uniforms. Cadets kept the barracks in a clean condition and at times had to clean windows and sweep, but civilians were hired by the school to do most of the housekeeping, including keeping the showers and toilet areas clean, and to take care of the laundry. Cadets did no latrine duty, nor was there any punishment duty or daily inspection. There were, however, monthly inspections of the barracks by the RAF and AAF staff officers.

Half the class would fly in the morning, and the other half would attend ground school. In the afternoon, the classes would reverse. There was no appointed time to get up or go to bed. When you were given your schedule, you were expected to be on time to your first ground school class or to the flight operations office. There was almost no physical training except an occasional game of some sort, and no drilling. There was no group marching to the flight line, ground school or breakfast; you were on your own. There also was no hazing by so-called upper classmen although cadet officers were appointed for inspections and a few parades for visiting dignitaries. A retreat formation was held after classes on Friday, and at times, a flag-raising formation in the morning.

Ground school consisted of navigation, meteorology, armaments, airmanship, signals and Link trainer. The navigation course was equal to or better than the course given to AAF navigators, the airmanship course covered aeronautical engineering, and signals was primarily a course in radio communications. All ground school courses were taught by civilians the Link trainer by females. The course was quite long and refresher Link courses were almost essential to keep current in instrument flying.