The Royal Air Force in Texas: Training British Pilots in Terrell during World War II

Chapter 3: The New School

45 Chapter 3 The New School As soon as Major Long and Terrell city officials signed the agreement on June 14, 1941, construction of the airport got underway. At the same time, Terrell citizens launched a vigorous campaign to ensure passage of the countywide bond election to be held on June 28. More than one hundred Terrell volunteers canvassed the county speaking to various groups. Airport supporters presented a two-pronged message: support of the airport would be good economically and would also be patriotic. The headline of one full-page newspaper advertisement asked, “Is Your Son’s Life Worth 16 Cents a Year?” The ad went on, “Can you deny the vital importance of training British RAF flyers on U.S. soil in Kaufman County as a step toward keeping your own son far from war-torn bomb-shattered lands?” and “Can any red-blooded citizen of Kaufman County afford to ignore even the smallest opportunity to insure our American way of life?”1 At a mass meeting, Kaufman mayor Emmett Day commented, “In times like these we must forget petty differences and unite in this nation-wide, democracy-wide undertaking.”2 Despite the campaign, considerable opposition to the airport surfaced. Editor Mike Boggess of the Kemp News wrote, “Terrell will be the town that reaps the benefits and it seems from this distance that Terrell should foot the bill.”3 Irate Terrell civic leaders angrily denounced the opposition as, “subversive elements, who would defeat the issue in the interest of Nazi Germany,” and “enemies of democracy .”4 Emotions ran so high that in several instances Terrell residents who called on stores and businesses in south Kaufman County to discuss the bond issue were asked to leave. 46 Chapter 3 The county bond issue passed by a slim margin of 214 votes, with 1,675 votes cast in favor of the bonds and 1,461 votes against. Terrell voters approved the bonds by an overwhelming ninety-five percent margin. Kaufman voters were split with a slight majority voting against the bonds. Other Kaufman County precincts voted heavily against the bond issue. In Mabank, at the opposite end of Kaufman County, eighty-three percent voted against the bonds. In Kemp, twenty-five miles southeast of Terrell, and Crandall, fifteen miles southwest, eighty percent voted against the bonds. In the small community of Whitehall, in far southeast Kaufman County, all sixteen registered voters voted against the bonds. Commenting on the election results, editor Boggess of the Kemp News sourly predicted, “When it is over we will have 526 acres of land owned by the county that will be something for Kaufman County politicians to wrangle over.” The editor of the Mabank Banner stated emphatically, “The bond issue was not a question of national defense.”5 Following the election, emotions remained high and no representative of any Kaufman County town, except Terrell and Kaufman, attended the official airport groundbreaking ceremony on June 30, 1941. At the ceremony, held under a hot, clear blue summer sky, T. Killian McElroy, chairman of the Terrell city commission, presided, Major Long and County Judge Ashworth turned the first spades of dirt, county commissioners were introduced , others including bank president W. P. Allen said a few words, the Terrell municipal band played patriotic tunes, and Beveridge thanked the enthusiastic crowd, “On behalf of myself, my service, and my country.”6 By the middle of July, work was well underway on the first six buildings for the new school, which included the main administration building, mess hall and canteen, two barracks, and two ground school buildings with classrooms. Trucks, as well as mule-drawn wagons, delivered materials to the construction site. From the administration building, located just inside the entrance to the airfield , a single wide sidewalk led to the southeast with the mess hall on one side of the sidewalk, followed by the two ground school The New School 47 buildings, one on either side of the sidewalk, and then the two barracks, again with one on either side of the sidewalk. The barracks were 120 feet long by 30 feet wide and, influenced by the Love Field experience, were open on the inside with numerous exterior windows for ventilation.7 Two-tiered bunks were arranged along each wall and small lockers provided space for personal items. The center section of each barracks contained shower and toilet facilities. Each of the barracks housed two courses...