Texas Tech University, John W. McCullough, August 2017 BREEDLOVE – AN EMPIRE OF THE AIR, 1939-48 by John W. McCullough, BA A Thesis In History Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Texas Tech University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS Approved John Ron Milam Chair of Committee Randy D. McBee Mark Sheridan Dean of the Graduate School August 2017 Texas Tech University, John W. McCullough, August 2017 Copyright 2017, John W. McCullough Texas Tech University, John W. McCullough, August 2017 Acknowledgments I want to thank all those persons involved with Breedlove Aerial Service who gave me interviews about their time in the Civilian Pilot Training Program, 309th College Training Detachment, Plainview Pre-Glider School, and the Lamesa Advanced Liaison School, as well as the Kingsbery family. Those persons include Harold Humphries, Acie Earl Dietering, Bill Kingsbery, Abb Thomas Moore, James Fagan, Roger Fenlaw, Fran DeVoll, Paul Harrington, Leighton Maggard, Pete Harris, and Emmett Douglass Anderson. Others who lived during World War II and provided me with very good interviews were Charles D. Akey, Beulah Speer, J.B. White, and Eufa B. Woodward. I also want to thank my committee members, Ron Milam and Randy McBee for their advice, patience, and feedback on my thesis. Much appreciation is due to Charles Day, Joe Hays, and Don Abbe in helping me to understand the glider pilot program. Many thanks to the Southwest Collections / Special Collections Library and the Texas Tech University library for help with their archives, microfilm, and books. I am very grateful for the superior customer service Sam Shearin of the Air Force Historical Research Agency (AFHRA) provided me. Last, I want to thank these veterans of the war for their interviews, advice, assistance, and explanations about the Civilian Pilot Training Program, the glider pilot program, and the liaison pilot program of World War II: George Theis, Otto Lyons, Emil Douglas Flynn, Leon Spencer, William D. Fasking, David A. Allen, Jr., and George Boyle. ii Texas Tech University, John W. McCullough, August 2017 Table of Contents Acknowledgements ..........................................................................................................................ii List of Figures .................................................................................................................................. iii List of Abbreviations ....................................................................................................................... vi 1 – Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 1 2 – The Civilian Pilot Training Program ......................................................................................... 23 3 – Breedlove Aerial Service Takes Off: The First Army Contract ................................................ 61 4 – The 309th College Training Detachment (Aircrew).................................................................. 90 5 – A Second Army Contract ....................................................................................................... 119 6 – Money Made and Money Lost .............................................................................................. 134 Bibiliography ............................................................................................................................... 159 iii Texas Tech University, John W. McCullough, August 2017 List of Figures 1.1. Three photos: a) William Clent Breedlove b) USS Alabama c) Roy Bodeen ...................................... 5 1.2. Twenty bomber pilots of General Billy Mitchell’s squadron .............................................................. 5 1.3. Two photos: a) Roosevelt as Nation’s Pilot b) Texas Historical Commission marker at LMA .......... 16 2.1. Clent Breedlove’s first CPT class ....................................................................................................... 29 2.2 Three photos: a) Floyd Smith b) Harry Peizer c) Texas Tech professor teaches CPT. ..................... 30 2.3. Poster for the motion picture 20,000 Men a Year ........................................................................... 33 2.4. Two photos: a) Anti-war button from America First Committee b) protest at Berkley ................... 38 2.5. Two photos: a) Piper salutes the CAA CPT b) Piper Cub congratulates the CAA ............................. 41 2.6. Two photos: a) The second hangar at LMA 1941 b) Clent Breedlove’s office at LMA ..................... 43 2.7. Two photos: a) Emmett Douglas Anderson b) Lowell Sailsbury and Maenard Dagley .................... 52 2.8. Last CPT class at Breedlove Airport March 1943.............................................................................. 54 3.1. Cluster of barracks at Finney Field ................................................................................................... 75 3.2. Jackie Coogan selling war bonds in St. Louis in 1944 ....................................................................... 78 3.3. First Lt. Henry O. McNerney, 4th AAF GTD Plainview Pre-Glider School .......................................... 84 3.4. Security guards at Plainview Pre-Glider School ............................................................................... 85 3.5. Two photos: a) Hangar at Finney Field b) sketch of Plainview Pre-Glider School ............................ 86 4.1. Two photos: a) Ada Waghorne b) James Fagan, Fran DeVoll, and Charles Shade studying ............ 98 4.2. Two photos: a) Fran DeVoll b) Harold Shanks c) Lt. Don Budge .................................................... 100 4.3. Three photos: a) Sergeant C. Olbon b) 309th CTD parachute drill c) Harold Shanks ...................... 100 4.4. Two photos: a) 309th CTD students returning from class b) pre-flight students at West Hall ....... 101 4.5. Three photos: a) Earl Dietering b) James Fagan c) Dietering at Breedlove Airport ....................... 103 4.6. Two photos: a) J. B. White b) Eufa B. Woodward .......................................................................... 105 4.7. Texas Tech 309th CTD Pre-Flight classroom instructors ................................................................. 108 4.8. Breedlove Airport night crew ......................................................................................................... 113 4.9. Two photos: a) Stucki-Dobbs airplane crash b) Taylorcraft side-by-side airplane ......................... 115 4.10. Three photos: a) Harold Humphries 1944 b) Japan 1945 c) Humphries THC marker .................... 117 4.11. Two photos: a) Map showing Breedlove Airport and Dagley Field b) Fairchild 24A ..................... 118 iv Texas Tech University, John W. McCullough, August 2017 5.1. Three photos: a) Leighton Maggard b) Pete Harris and Maggard c) Robert H. Bean .................... 127 5.2. Two photos: a) Paul Harrington and Otto Rolfs b) Class 43-L-43 at Denton, TX ............................ 130 5.3. An “L-bird” takes off from a dirt road near Lamesa Field .............................................................. 131 5.4. Piper Cub L-4 “Grasshopper” picks up a message from troops in the field ................................... 132 6.1. Three photos: a) Mother’s Day 1943 b) $1,500 Christmas donation c) Aulyne Breedlove ........... 136 6.2. Three photos: a) Flying B. Ranch b) Clent Breedlove c) vacation at Flying B. Ranch ..................... 138 6.3. Two photos: a) Veterans fly using G.I. Bill of Rights b) Ad enticing veterans to learn to fly ......... 138 6.4. Two photos: a) Beulah Speer b) Five female office workers at Breedlove Airport ........................ 141 6.5. Three photos: a) Charles D. Akey b) Charles and Joan Akey c) Winston Reeves ........................... 143 6.6. Two photos: a) Breedlove at Humphries’ cabin b) Breedlove rushed to St. Mary’s Hospital ........ 147 6.7. Two photos: a) Abandoned Breedlove Airport b) Workers laying a railroad spur ......................... 148 6.8. Three photos: a) Breedlove victim of death b) Tribute paid c) Services set .................................. 148 6.9. Three photos: a) Breedlove b) Cemetery marker c) Texas Historical Commission marker ........... 149 v Texas Tech University, John W. McCullough, August 2017 List of Abbreviations AAFGTD – Army Air Forces Glider Training Detachment AAFLTD – Army Air Forces Liaison Training Detachment AFHRA – United States Air Force Historical Research Agency BAS – Breedlove Aerial Service CPTP, CPT – Civilian Pilot Training Program CAA – Civil Aeronautics Authority, later renamed Civil Aeronautics Administration CTD – College Training Detachment GIR – Glider Infantry Regiment LMA – Lubbock Municipal Airport SCTTU – Southwest Collections / Special Collections Library at Texas Tech University USAAC – United States Army Air Corps USAAF – United States Army Air Forces WTS – War Training Service vi Texas Tech University, John W. McCullough, August 2017 Chapter 1. Introduction Although many Americans supported the United States’ entry into the Great War of 1914-18, many more opposed it. President Woodrow Wilson, a Democrat from Virginia, won re-election in 1916 based partly on his campaign slogan, “He kept us out of war”. On February 1, 1917, however, German U-boats began their campaign of unrestricted submarine warfare against all shipping entering and departing the British Isles. President Wilson eventually asked Congress