"Some Corner of a Foreign Field that is For Ever England."

"You are only 18 years old. The home that you grew up in is now in ruins as a result of enemy bombs being dropped from airplanes belonging to a nation determined to crush your country.

Family members and friends have died in this horrible act of war. And now you have been asked to leave your birthplace to fight for your country against this aggressor. Of course you are willing and are ready to take up arms, but your calling will first take you to a distant land. A land some 5,000 miles away for your training. Away from your surviving family members. Away from your surviving friends.

You will first go to America and the possibility exists that you might never return home again."



This story certainly didn't sound familiar to me, even though I knew a lot of the history of World War II. I knew that England had first been bombed in 1940, a year before the United States entered into an Alliance to defeat Germany. But, English servicemen coming to the United States to train?  I had never heard that story. And not only coming here to within 50 miles of my home in Dallas, but 24 of them died while here in training and 20 of these brave souls were buried in a small private cemetery in Terrell, Texas.


I had the privilege and honor to learn this story of these cadets from the Royal Air Force (RAF) that found themselves in a small Texas town when I was invited by a new, dear friend to visit the No. 1 British Flying Training School Museum and the cemetery where they are buried over the recent Veterans Day weekend.


The day chosen by the British Commonwealth to honor their fallen heroes falls on the same day that America celebrates the lives of all of the  men and women who served their country. The reason being is that both days, Remembrance Day for the British and Veterans Day for the United States both evolved out of what was originally known as Armistice Day.

During World War II, many Western countries and associated nations changed the name of the holiday accordingly to commemorate the end of World War II in Europe. Member states of the Commonwealth of Nations adopted Remembrance Day, while the United States government opted for Veterans Day.

Thousand of British pilots learned to fly at six civilian training schools in the United States. The first of these schools was in Terrell, Texas. After the United States entered the war, American Aviation Cadets also trained at the school.

Our day in Terrell began with a visit to the Oakland Cemetery. The following description is from an information brochure made available to the visitors:

Members of a RAF unit assigned to Greenville, Texas
participated in the ceremony honoring RAF Cadets from World
War II

  

A simple sundial and a flagpole flying the RAF ensign perpetually at half-staff marks a peaceful hedgerowed plot in Terrell's historic Oakland Cemetery, which holds the graves of 20 British Royal Air Force pilots killed in various training mishaps while attending the British Flying School #1 in Terrell, Texas, during WWII.

The sundial historic memorial marker reads as follows:

"This ground dedicated to the Royal Air Force by the Oakland Memorial Park Association and cared for by the War Relief Society

"Some Corner of a Foreign Field that is For Ever England." 

A new, dear friend, Monica Evans
invited me to a tribute to honor
RAF Cadets buried on American soil.

Invocations, Meditations and Scriptures were read. The flag was lowered to half staff and a placing of a wreath by a surviving cadet, Flt Lt. Robert F. Reynolds, RAF (Ret), doing the honors assisted by members of a RAF Unit assigned to nearby Greenville, Texas.

Tears welled up in my eyes as well as most in attendance as I surveyed the immaculately groomed graves that marked the final resting place of the ever so young men. It truly was humbling to think of how courageous and brave they were to shoulder this responsibility only to have their lives cut short before allowing them to fulfill their dreams of protecting their country.

As the cemetery observance came to an end, and we headed to the Museum that houses hundreds of memorabilia of those years of training, it reminded me of friends I had lost to the Vietnam War and how my time in service was spent.

Whether it be Remembrance Day or Veterans Day, our two great countries, the United States and Great Britain came together to defeat a tyrant. And, sadly, thousands and thousand of young lives were lost trying to protect our way of life.

Flt Lt Robert F Reynolds, RAF (Ret)
a survivor of World War II laid a wreath
as the base of the monument.

It will be a Veterans Day weekend I will always cherish and a tribute that I hope I will have a chance to witness again. And, oh yes, another group of friends that I can now add to my life as I continue on my new Journey. Wonderful British men and women who now call America their home along with the young 20 cadets who remain with us now and forever.

Peace

For more information about the British Flying Training School and the joint effort that Americans and the British and the  sacrifices made during world War II you can visit their website at https://www.bftsmuseum.org/