DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, they called it Station X. Just that — X.
And if you were one of the 1,050 volunteers who signed up, that's all you were going to know about where you were headed. No address. No country.
Just X. Let's back up to where this story gets its legs. World War II was burning across the globe, and British officials were staring down a problem that wasn't going away on its own: they needed to maintain and repair a massive inventory of Royal Air Force aircraft — American-built planes — and the scale of it was something they couldn't handle alone.
So in April of 1942, the U.S. Army Air Forces stepped in and chose an existing facility in England, the Burtonwood Repair Depot, to serve as a centralized repair hub until the Eighth Air Force could fully establish itself in the United Kingdom. That depot got transferred to American management and rechristened the 401st Air Depot, AAF Station 590.
By July of 1942, orders had traveled all the way to the San Antonio Air Depot at Duncan Field — which would go on to consolidate with Kelly Field in 1943 — and those orders had a very specific request: build a team. Not just any team, but a balanced team, a comprehensive mix of aircraft specialists, civilians who knew these planes the way a surgeon knows a scalpel. And they needed volunteers.
Now, here's the part that ought to make you pause. These volunteers were not told where they were going. You raise your hand, you're in — but the destination?
That's classified. That's Station X. All 1,050 who were accepted were primarily Texans.
San Antonio folks. Duncan Field people. And they left in four groups spread out over five months, boarding ships and sailing across an Atlantic Ocean that was, at that very moment, infested with German U-boats.
Let that sit a moment. Civilians. Mechanics and specialists and technicians.
Not soldiers — volunteers — cutting across some of the most dangerous waters on earth, bound for a place they weren't allowed to know the name of until they arrived. They landed near Warrington, England, close to Burtonwood, and they got to work. Overtime, alongside British civilians, and eventually alongside USAAF personnel as American military presence grew.
The machinery of their effort was extraordinary. By the time the war was done, Station X had run its hands over more than 3,368 aero engines and 11,757 aircraft. That number includes 4,243 B-17 Flying Fortress bombers, 4,381 P-47 Thunderbolt fighters, and 1,004 P-38 Lightning fighters — all modified or overhauled.
Every one of those planes put back in the sky because somebody from Texas knew how to turn a wrench under pressure. As 1944 arrived and the number of American military technicians increased, the civilians of Station X began making their way home. Some stayed on in England all the way until 1945.
Many of them went on to serve in the armed forces for the remainder of the war — as if one kind of service wasn't already enough. They had a motto, these men and women of Station X. Short, plain, and as load-bearing as any sentence ever written: Keep 'Em Flying.
And brother, they did.
What the marker says
During World War II, British officials were increasingly concerned with the large-scale need to maintain and repair the Royal Air Force's American-built aircraft. In April 1942, the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) chose the existing Burtonwood Repair Depot (BRD) in England to be used as a centralized repair facility until the Eighth Air Force firmly established itself in the United Kingdom. The depot was subsequently transferred to American management, where it would be known as the 401st Air Depot, AAF Station 590. By July 1942, orders for the creation of a civilian service detachment reached the San Antonio Air Depot at Duncan Field (which consolidated with Kelly Field in 1943). Volunteers were sought to create a balanced team of aircraft specialists with a comprehensive mix of skills that could operate a repair depot facility. The 1,050 volunteers accepted were not told where their overseas station would be located. The site would be known as Station "X." The civilians, primarily Texans, left in four groups over five months, sailing across the U-boat-infested Atlantic Ocean and sent to Warrington, England, near BRD. They were soon working overtime with British civilians and eventually USAAF personnel. During the war, over 3,368 aero engines and 11,757 aircraft including 4,243 B-17 Flying Fortress bombers, 4,381 P-47 Thunderbolt fighters and 1,004 P-38 lightning fighters were modified or overhauled. As the number of American military technicians increased by 1944, civilians of Station "X" began returning home, with some staying in England until 1945. Many went on to serve in the armed forces for the rest of the war. Their devotion to duty in keeping allied planes airborne during a crucial and vulnerable time of the war is best exemplified in their motto: "Keep 'Em Flying!" (2018)