OAKLAND MEMORIAL PARK CEMETERY

British pilots buried at Oakland Memorial Park Cemetery

After Terrell was established as a railroad town in 1873, its citizens saw the need for a community burial ground. In 1878 John R. Terrell sold 7 acres of land for use as a cemetery, and the first burials were those of Peter Meinenger and Dr. G. W. Ridgell. In 1925 the Oakland Cemetery Association was founded to provide perpetual care for the gravesites. The name Oakland Memorial Park was adopted in 1931. Among those buried here are professional artist Frank Reaugh and 20 members of the British Royal Air Force who were killed while in training at Terrell during World War II.

With the outbreak of World War II, British Royal Air Force (RAF) officials sought to train aircrews outside of England, safe from enemy attack and poor weather. In the United States six civilian flight schools dedicated themselves to instructing RAF pilots; the first, No. 1 British Flying Training School (BFTS), was located in Terrell, Texas, east of Dallas.

Most of the early British students had never been in an airplane or even driven an automobile before arriving in Texas to learn to fly. The cadets trained in the air on aerobatics, instrument flight, and night flying, while on the ground they studied navigation, meteorology, engines, and armaments–even spending time in early flight simulators. By the end of the war, more than two thousand RAF cadets had trained at Terrell, cementing relations between Great Britain and the United States and forming lasting bonds with the citizens of Terrell.

LEST WE FORGET