14 replies to this topic

[Cowboy6]

During World War I Canadian pilots of the Royal Flying Corps were trained at Hicks Field and airfields at Benbrook and Everman. J'Nell Pate mentioned in her book "Arsenal of Defense" that an airfield was located on the "shores of Lake Worth." I am trying to determine the exact location of that airfield. It was actually an auxillary airfield used to support planes that used a bombing range located in the Lake Worth area. I would appreciate any information about the airfield.

[Joshw]

Well, Carswell is on Lake Worth, but I think it wasn't built until after WWI. Camp Bowie was army, no air corps that I know of. So someone else might be able to chime in.

[Doohickie]

If Wiki is to believed, Carswell opened in 1942. There is no mention in the article of a previous air strip.

[Joshw]

Probably close to being right. BTW, watched Strategic Air Command the other day. Mentions a few different Fort Worth places, Lake Worth, Blackstone Inn, etc. (Jimmy Stewart's character is based at Carswell)

[Ghost Writer in Disguise]

There warn't one. Not in WW1, anyways. There was one in WW2, a seaplane base. Here's a thread about it: http://www.fortworth...h=1

[M C Toyer]

There warn't one. Not in WW1, anyways.

The WWI landing field was located on the east side of the lake west of 9 Mile Bridge Road on the old Sansom Ranch. At least one account from the early 1920s when it was used for an airshow refers to the site as Marion Samson Field and mentions an old hangar.

There are additional references to areas near Lake Work that were used for various military training exercises including drills and artillery prcatice but I do not know if these were at the landing field site.

Check Paul Freeman's site for photos and information about a WWI bombing target located west of Hicks Field in the Blue Mound / Saginaw area.

Abandoned Airfields

M C

[Joshw]

Thanks for that link. Some great reading and pictures on there!

[Cowboy6]

For M.C. Toyer: Please contact me at woodalljgatyahoo.com. I have some questions for you and some information I would like to share. Thanks,

[johnfwd]

During World War I Canadian pilots of the Royal Flying Corps were trained at Hicks Field and airfields at Benbrook and Everman. J'Nell Pate mentioned in her book "Arsenal of Defense" that an airfield was located on the "shores of Lake Worth." I am trying to determine the exact location of that airfield. It was actually an auxillary airfield used to support planes that used a bombing range located in the Lake Worth area. I would appreciate any information about the airfield.

Cowboy6, you may have already checked this out but Wikipedia has an historical account of WWI airfields in Fort Worth, including Hicks. Of course, some have challenged the authenticity of anything coming from Wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hicks_Airfield

[Cowboy6]

When I started this post I used the term airfield, I should have used airstrip. Growing up at Lake Worth in the 1930's and 40's, I was told that during World War I there was a landing strip in the Charbonneau pasture. The area is bounded on the north by Foster Drive (the old 9-mile bridge road.) on the south by Charbonneau Road (the old Indian Oaks Cutoff,) on the west by the lake and on the east by todays Dakota Trail. There was a small one room wooden building painted a dark green located in the woodline next to the pasture that I was told was a World War I military building associated with the air strip. Thanks to M.C. Toyer for directing me to a website showing a picture of seaplanes on the lake in Nov 1940. The interesting thing about the photo is that it shows a portion of the Charbonneu pasture and in the pasture is the faint outline of crossed runways. That has to be the location of the World War I airstrip in question. Here is a link to the Portal of Texas History website where the photo can be seen. I hope this works!
http://texashistory......?q=lake worth
The Charbonneau pasture (now a housing area) is the logical location since it wss adjacent to the main route to Lake Worth in 1917 and is about the only location on the east shore that is flat enough for an airstip.
If anyone knows how the location can be documented, I would appreciate your help.

[Cowboy6]

Didn't work, try this:

http://texashistory......?q=lake worth

[M C Toyer]

The only clue I've found so far is from this 11 June 1922 article in the Dallas Morning News, Club to Hold Big Aviation Meeting.

A couple of pertinent excerpts:

The club was the Southwest Motor Club which had just moved its headquarters to the Moslah Temple Mosque on Lake Worth.

The meet will be held in the Marion Sansom Field, about a half mile west of the old aviation hangar on the Nine-Mile Bridge Road and two miles northeast of the club building.

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In your original post you cited J'Nell Pate's "Arsenal of Defense." This is a transcription of the sample page you sent me:

(Hicks Field) The gunnery range extended northwest over the waters of Lake Worth for live air-to-ground and air-to-air firing. An advanced landing ground was constructed on the shore of the lake so that the planes would not have to fly back to the field to exchange pilots and gunnery crews.

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Here's the photo:

[Cowboy6]

In the newspaper article cited by M.C. Toyer it stated that the Marion Sansom Airfield was located 2 miles northeast of Mosque Point. That would put it in the area of the suspected location of the World War I airstrip as seen in the PBYs on Lake Worth photo. Could the Sansom airfield have been located at the WWI airstrip? The Sansom Ranch was about 6 or so miles northeast of Mosque Point.

[UFQ202]

I know there was an airfield there because my Grandpa trained there. He had some wonderful stories to tell. He also had the chance to buy some farm land in Dallas for 50 cents an acre. He had to pass because he lost his money in a poker game. The downside was the land is in what is known as Highland Park. LOL
I will ask my Dad if he remembers where Hicks was located.

[pmburk]

I am not sure about Lake Worth area, but I do know there was an RCAF training field in Benbrook, I believe called "Benbrook Field." The area is now a residential neighborhood off 377. Vernon Castle Drive is named for Vernon Castle, a famous dancer of the era who was killed in a training accident there. There's also a small memorial, and I believe that's all that remains of that field.

http://www.airfields...SW.htm#benbrook

The only area field I know of located on a lake was MCAS Eagle Mountain Lake, during WWII (now Kenneth Copeland Airport).