Before the United States officially entered World War II, before the bombs dropped on Pearl Harbor, and before General Eisenhower’s name became legend, American soil quietly hosted a remarkable wartime effort — not for its own soldiers, but for Britain’s. While much has been written about the American airmen who flew from British bases into the heart of Nazi Germany and the famed Eagle Squadrons composed of U.S. volunteers, far less is known about the thousands of British cadets who crossed the Atlantic to learn to fly under the American sun.
Under the auspices of the Lend-Lease Act of 1941, a lesser-known yet crucial initiative called the British Flying Training School (BFTS) program was launched. The U.S. would not only ship aircraft, arms, and supplies to the Allies — it would also train their pilots. This program saw six official training schools established across the American heartland, where young British men learned the skills of aerial warfare far from the Luftwaffe’s reach.
This unique chapter in transatlantic military cooperation came back into the spotlight recently thanks to a piece by Kevin Wilkins published in Vintage Aviation News on April 21, 2025. Wilkins’s article, “The American Airfields Where British Pilots Learned to Fly,” coincided with the Commemorative Air Force’s (CAF) “Bringing the Boys Back Home” campaign — a heartfelt tribute to the 423 British airmen who died during training in the United States and were buried in quiet cemeteries across the country.
The BFTS program was officially launched in mid-1941. Its goal was twofold: to expand Britain’s supply of combat-ready pilots and to do so in a location safe from enemy attack. The American South and Southwest were ideal — with their mild weather, abunUKdant open space, and existing aviation infrastructure.
Six civilian-operated airfields were selected for the program:
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No. 1 BFTS – Terrell, Texas: Perhaps the most storied of the six, Terrell Municipal Airport began operations in June 1941. It was run by the Brayton Flying Service and trained over 2,200 RAF cadets. Aircraft like the Stearman PT-17 and North American AT-6 Texan were the workhorses of the curriculum. Terrell saw around twenty training fatalities, a grim but relatively low toll.
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No. 3 BFTS – Miami, Oklahoma: Operated by the Spartan School of Aeronautics, this location trained about 1,500 cadets between 1941 and 1945. Despite being in the middle of the American Midwest, the dangers of flight instruction were real. Fifteen cadets lost their lives here.
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No. 4 BFTS – Falcon Field, Mesa, Arizona: Built specifically for the RAF by the U.S. government, Falcon Field hosted more than 1,500 cadets. The desert terrain presented its own hazards — dust storms, oppressive heat, and engine failures in unforgiving landscapes led to several fatal crashes.
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No. 5 BFTS – Riddle Field, Florida: Located near the Everglades, Riddle Field trained over 1,400 RAF pilots. Frequent storms and swampy conditions tested both machines and men. Operated by the Riddle Aeronautical Institute — the precursor to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University — the school became one of the most respected training centers of the war.
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No. 2 BFTS – Lancaster, California and No. 6 BFTS – Ponca City, Oklahoma: Less documented but no less important, these bases also contributed significantly to the training mission.
Unofficially, another site, Avenger Field in Sweetwater, Texas, played a special role. While not part of the core BFTS network, it served both the British Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) and their American counterparts, the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP), making it one of the few wartime programs to include international female aviation cooperation.
Flight training, especially in the early 1940s, was inherently risky. While far from the front lines, these American fields still bore their share of sacrifice. Crashes during takeoffs, landings, and mid-air maneuvers were tragically common. In total, over 80 British cadets and instructors died at BFTS sites during training, a sobering reminder that the path to combat was treacherous even before reaching the battlefield.
Wilkins, in his article, quotes a CAF spokesperson who called the fallen cadets “some of the first Allied casualties on American soil.” Their deaths, while not in combat, were a testament to the price of preparedness.
Despite the risks, these programs built more than just pilots. They forged bonds — personal, cultural, and historical — between the U.S. and the U.K. For many American towns, the arrival of British cadets was their first close-up view of the global war and their first interaction with foreigners. The cadets, in turn, were often overwhelmed by the hospitality they received.
“Many were just 18 or 19, thousands of miles from home,” says Dan Mathers, curator of the No. 1 BFTS Museum in Terrell, Texas. “They weren’t just students. They were adopted by local families, went to dances, dated local girls. A few even stayed or came back after the war to marry and settle down.”
Indeed, Terrell still hosts reunions for RAF veterans and their descendants, and its museum preserves not only aircraft and uniforms but personal letters, photographs, and even diaries — glimpses into wartime lives temporarily transplanted to rural Texas.
As of 2025, several BFTS locations remain active airfields, and all continue to honor their wartime legacy. The commemorations are not just symbolic; they’re a part of living local culture:
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Terrell, Texas is home to the No. 1 BFTS Museum, a deeply informative and moving tribute to the program.
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Miami, Oklahoma has a town square memorial dedicated to its British cadets.
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Falcon Field, now a civilian and corporate aviation hub, houses CAF Airbase Arizona, which showcases restored WWII warbirds and remembers the RAF cadets.
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Clewiston, Florida, near Riddle Field, holds annual remembrance ceremonies at Oak Ridge Cemetery, where several cadets are buried.
The 2025 “Bringing the Boys Back Home” campaign by the CAF has renewed interest in these sites. Rather than repatriate remains, the project uses digital storytelling, memorial plaques, and community events to symbolically reunite the deceased with their homeland. Family members in the U.K. are being invited to share stories, and QR-coded grave markers allow visitors to learn more about the young men buried there.
The BFTS program never made front-page headlines during the war. It lacked the glamour of D-Day or the drama of the Battle of Britain. Yet its impact was immense. By the time the U.S. formally joined the war in December 1941, these training programs were already producing qualified RAF pilots ready for deployment. The transatlantic teamwork forged through BFTS helped set the stage for the broader Allied aviation cooperation that would define much of the air war in Europe.
It also served as an early example of the “special relationship” between the U.S. and the U.K., showing that partnership extended beyond governments to the grassroots level — to farmers, shopkeepers, schoolteachers, and teenage volunteers who helped house, feed, and befriend young men from across the ocean.
Wilkins: “Their sacrifice remains etched into the fabric of the communities where they once flew.”
As the world marks 80 years since the end of World War II, the story of the British Flying Training Schools reminds us that wartime alliances are not built only in war rooms and on battlefields — they’re built in classrooms, cockpits, and quiet towns, where strangers became brothers in arms.
