RAf trainees in America?

I know some were brought to the US to be instructors….Dave Fain, one of our most experienced T-6 drivers out this way, trained under RAF supervision at Dothan Alabama under the tutelage of B of B pilots and when his class graduated, they were all grabbed up and made instructors for US pilots….so Dave never fought the enemy directly but certainly did his part to create the Army Air Corps that would go on to fight the Germans and the Japs…with plenty of British influence!!

Mark

Dave, this might be worth trying to find ‘The Royal Air Force Over Texas’ by Tom Killebrew http://web2.unt.edu/untpress/catalog/detail.cfm?ID=198

And this article is a quick potted history (6 pages).
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3901/is_200006/ai_n8908270

Chris

I went to the museum, which is in Terrell, Tx not too far from Dallas. Very nice chap. He actually went through the school, but went back to England, too late to see any action. He decided to return to the U.S. after the war, and has been living here ever since. The museum isn’t very big, but he still is very sharp on his memory.

Thanks everyone. I got some interesting responses here and on other forums. Cheers.

Dave, this might be worth trying to find ‘The Royal Air Force Over Texas’ by Tom Killebrew http://web2.unt.edu/untpress/catalog/detail.cfm?ID=198

And this article is a quick potted history (6 pages).
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3901/is_200006/ai_n8908270

Chris

Up until two or three years ago, the ‘Arnold Scheme’ held their reunion dinner at Bedford followed next day with a joint function marquee/lunch with the Eastern Region of the Spitfire Society at a Shuttleworth display.

They are missed.

Mark

http://www.arnold-scheme.org/

Many were trained at Falcon field in Mesa…part of Phoenix. There is a cemetary nearby with an RAF section for the men who were killed in training. Every year there is a special ceremony to honor them.

BTW:
The pilots also flew out of nearby Thunderbird Field…anong them the brother of Gerry Anderson…who like the name and used it for the title of his TV series.

So was this done at civilian US flying training schools? Were these air cadets kept as civvies so as not to breach the neutrality rules? It’s really quite interesting as this was published on the 3rd of September 1941, so would have been taken some days or weks before then, before the USA was at war and whilst many of the US citizens were convinced that Canada training airmen for the RAF was bad enough. Did they realise it was happening in their own country too?

Does anyone know details? Where did they train? How many Brits went through such courses? Were other nationalities (Kiwis, Aussies, etc) also sent to the USA to train before the USA entered the war?

I don’t know all the details… it was called the Arnold Scheme… and the US trained something like 3000 pilots… mostly on the East Coast… and most of that was in Florida. I knew quite a few of these guys when I was stationed in England over 10 years ago…. try googling the ‘Arnold Scheme’.

Looking though the September 1941 issues of the New Zealand Herald I found a photo of 45 men, all in civilain suits (though all exactly the same suit! Like a civvy uniform) marching in three ranks up a railway platform.

The caption states:

“MARCHING WITH A SWING: Young British air cadets marching along a Los Angeles railway platfrom after their arrival for training. Those who gain their wings will take their places in the Royal Air Force.”

So was this done at civilian US flying training schools? Were these air cadets kept as civvies so as not to breach the neutrality rules? It’s really quite interesting as this was published on the 3rd of September 1941, so would have been taken some days or weks before then, before the USA was at war and whilst many of the US citizens were convinced that Canada training airmen for the RAF was bad enough. Did they realise it was happening in their own country too?

Does anyone know details? Where did they train? How many Brits went through such courses? Were other nationalities (Kiwis, Aussies, etc) also sent to the USA to train before the USA entered the war?

I know Kiwis and Brits and others went to the USA after America joined the fight, to train with the US Navy for flying in the Fleet Air Arm. But I’d never heard of British or Empire airmen training there before Decemebr 1941. Interesting stuff.

I did hear that Sunderland crews were sent to the US to train on the lend lease B17s that we had. Not sure when that happened but I will check. I remember that it said that the instructors were seriously impressed with their flying skill.

Ali