No. 1 British Flying Training School Museum

Britain's skies were crowded with enemy aircraft, and there was nowhere safe at home to train new pilots. In August 1941, before the United States entered the war, No. 1 British Flying Training School of the Royal Air Force opened at Terrell. Of the six British flight schools in the United States, Terrell's was the only one to operate through the whole war, closing in 1945.

The town took the cadets in. About forty of them married Texas women, the Dallas Morning News reported, and one became mayor. The work was dangerous: twenty cadets are buried in Oakland Cemetery in Terrell, nineteen of them killed in training accidents. Eric Gill, who came at eighteen and later helped start the museum, remembered tasting watermelon for the first time and being served corn on the cob, which in England was animal feed.

The museum stands on the grounds of the Terrell Municipal Airport. Its collection includes logbooks, training material, uniforms, and letters and diaries from British cadets, and visitors can see original training aircraft of the period. A film opens with an interview of a veteran. The museum also shows the photographs of friendships between Terrell families and the young men from across the sea. Admission is always free and donations are welcome. It is open Wednesday through Saturday, and a visit takes about an hour.