There once was an airfield here and maybe, a missile base ..

... I quote loosely from the wonderful account of the search for an old Army airfield, near Denton .... now given to the grass, the wind and the dust.

If you live on or near property which once was within the boundaries of a military of civilian aviation center -- as I do -- it's nice to have a place to turn in order to be educated about what was going on where your feet now are falling. Here is an excellent and fascinating guide to determining just that:

http://www.airfields-freeman.com/TX/Airfields_TX.htm

A mystery and search:

http://www.dfwurbanwildlife.com/journalEntries/20050619ThereWasAnAirfieldHereOnce.php

And an eerie relic of the middle Cold War:

http://www.civildefensemuseum.com/nike/index.html

Sincerely,

Holly

PS. The 'Abandoned and Little-Known Airfields' site is an admirable compilation and achievement.

It especially is moving to browse through the old photographs of Army airbases and of those who served at them. The contrast between the brisk steps of pilots, the whirl of propellers, the static-laced voices from control towers ... and the silence and decay which characterize many of these settings today is quite striking.

Holly, tonight I saw the tail end of a news show about families that had to sue a builder because there were LOTS of unexploded bombs in the yards of their new subdivision. There had been an airforce base there during WWII. I wondered how common this was and then I thought of you guys. I'm not sure where the people lived but they sounded like they could have been from Texas. I'll try to find something about it online. I sure thought the airforce was supposed to clean up a base when they closed it.

Madelyn

Oh, dear! Keep me informed, please.

And thanks. We citizens have to watch out for one another, I guess.

Holly
_________________
The woman of the frontier made the best of her situation, for she had developed a respect for the land that gave her freedom as well as the courage to live in it.
~~~ from the perspective of Anne Seagraves

You've blossomed (emerged?) beautifully, by the way Smile

Holly
_________________
The woman of the frontier made the best of her situation, for she had developed a respect for the land that gave her freedom as well as the courage to live in it.
~~~ from the perspective of Anne Seagraves

Just in case someone missed the link to Texas Co-op Power Magazine and its story about the Lawn Atlas Missile Base (near Abiline), here is a direct route to the website maintained by Larry C. Sanders:

http://www.atlasmissilebase.com/webpages/lambhome.html
_________________
The woman of the frontier made the best of her situation, for she had developed a respect for the land that gave her freedom as well as the courage to live in it.
~~~ from the perspective of Anne Seagraves

Subject: Ralph Preston, R. A. F., Terrell Tue 11 Mar 2008, 7:56 am

On the reverse, this of this small photo is typed:

"Ralph Preston

R. A. F. Flight Instructor

Terrell, Texas"

... and, if I'm reading correctly, is stamped with the number "516."

I believe this gentleman to have been a British pilot stationed at the old Army airfield which was located near Terrell (Kaufman County), during World War II. I know of the book which was written by Tom Killibrew (UNT, 2003) about the RAF pilots who served and trained in Texas, and have seen some web-sites offering general information about them. But does anyone know how I might learn more about Ralph Preston?

Thanks.

http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~janicekmc/ac_page4.htm

http://209.85.207.104/search?q=cache:wIz4p1sUO7EJ:www.rootsweb.com/~txkaufma/wwii/bfts.htm+Terrell+RAF+Base&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us

http://thecaravanofdreams.blogspot.com/2007/06/wound-my-heart-with-monotonous-languor.html

http://web3.unt.edu/untpress/catalog/detail.cfm?ID=198
_________________
The woman of the frontier made the best of her situation, for she had developed a respect for the land that gave her freedom as well as the courage to live in it.
~~~ from the perspective of Anne Seagraves

He flew one of those two seat planes so he probably would have flown with a partner. It's a cute picture and he looks pretty proud.

Wrangler Joined : 13 Mar 2008 Posts : 23

Interesting about all those old airbases. There's probably a record of this guy somewhere. Good luck.