Childress Army Air Field

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Childress Army Air Field. Now settle in, because this one's got bombardiers, Olympic-style bombing contests, and a whole crowd of West Texas folks standing at the lake watching things blow up. It's a lot.

Let's get into it. During World War II, the U.S. Army air forces set their sights on a stretch of land west of Childress, about two thousand four hundred acres of it, and decided that's where they'd build a bombardier and navigation school.

By October of 1942, the field was active. Colonel John W. White commanded Army Airfields at both Childress and Midland during the war, holding down two posts at once.

The first cadets arrived in February of 1943, and they had eighteen weeks to learn what they needed to learn. Now, one of the ways they practiced was something called skip-bombing out at Lake Childress, and here's the part that gets me: that apparently drew large crowds. Regular folks coming out to watch.

Can't say I blame them entirely. Practice targets were also spread across several nearby counties, so this wasn't a small operation by any measure. Then comes May of 1943, and Childress Army Air Field hosted six other fields for what was billed as the first, quote, All-American Precision Bombing Olympics.

They called it the Olympics. If that doesn't tell you something about the spirit of the thing, I don't know what does. And the numbers back up the ambition: more than a tenth of all bombardiers trained here, four thousand seven hundred and ninety-one of them in total.

The War Department also placed a prisoner of war camp right there at Childress Army Air Field, so the same ground held both the trainers and the trained-against, in a manner of speaking. When the field closed in December of 1945, the city received the land for a municipal airport and other public uses. West Texas gave something significant to the war effort, and the war effort, in the end, gave something back.

What the marker says

During WWII, U.S. Army air forces initiated a bombardier and navigation school on about 2,400 acres west of Childress. By Oct. 1942 the field was active. Col. John W. White commanded Army Airfields (AAF) at Childress and Midland during the war. The first cadets arrived in Feb. 1943 to train for 18 weeks. “skip-bombing” practice at Lake Childress often drew large crowds. Practice targets were also located across several nearby counties. Childress AAF hosted six other fields for the first “All-American Precision Bombing Olympics” in May 1943. More than a tenth of all bombardiers (4,791) trained here. The war dept. also placed a prisoner of war camp at Childress AAF. After the field closed in Dec. 1945, the city received the land for a municipal airport and other public uses. (2022)