Curtis Airfield
Brady, McCulloch County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Named for Harry Lamar Curtis, mayor of Brady who instigated offer of this field to the United States government during World War II. Born 1903 in Dallas, H.L. Curtis was educated at the University of Dallas, Southern Methodist University, and Texas A&M. He married (1929) Marjorie McCall of Brady and moved here after business successes in Dallas. Served on City Council 1936 to 1940 and as Mayor 1940 to 1944. In 1940 Mayor Curtis obtained designation of Brady Airfield as a national defense airport, with funding for enlargement and hard-surfacing. Small old field was relinquished and this larger tract provided. City paid about $40,000; federal grant was $141,631. Brady's clear skies, dry climate, and freedom from commercial air traffic made it a favored site. A contract school moved here from Love Field, Dallas, on March 16, 1941, and became Brady Aviation School, Ltd. Mayor Curtis led the city to grant free use of the field for ten years, with one dollar a year charged for utilities. Over 10,000 cadets trained here before the school closed in Aug. 1944. This was final duty for a few: 21 cadets, six instructors, a personnel officer lost their lives in accidents. This was one of 17 Texas civilian fields training military pilots during World War II. (1972)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
When World War II demanded thousands of new pilots, Brady mayor Harry Lamar Curtis secured his town's airfield as a national defense airport and won federal money to enlarge and pave it. A contract flight school relocated from Dallas's Love Field in 1941 and became Brady Aviation School, training more than 10,000 cadets under West Texas's clear, uncrowded skies before it closed in August 1944. The cost was not only financial: twenty-one cadets, six instructors, and a personnel officer died in training accidents here.
Why it matters
One of seventeen Texas civilian fields that trained military aviators, Curtis Airfield shows how ordinary towns mobilized to build the air power that helped win the war.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
As the 1940s began, the United States faced an enormous problem. War was spreading in Europe and Asia, and modern air power would decide its outcome, but the country had far too few trained military pilots. The armed forces could not train them fast enough at their own bases. Their solution was to contract civilian flying schools to give cadets their first flight training.
That arrangement brought military aviation to small towns across the country, and Texas was ideal for it. It had wide-open land, generally favorable flying weather, and communities eager to help with the war effort and benefit from it. Brady, in the middle of the state, had exactly what flight schools wanted.
According to the marker, Brady's clear skies, dry climate and freedom from commercial air traffic made it a favored site. Student pilots needed open sky and predictable weather to practice safely. A quiet ranch-country town could offer both in ways that busy city airports could not.
People & events
The field is named for Harry Lamar Curtis. He was born in Dallas in 1903 and educated at the University of Dallas, Southern Methodist University and Texas A&M. In 1929 he married Marjorie McCall of Brady and, after business success in Dallas, moved to her hometown. He served on the city council from 1936 to 1940 and as mayor from 1940 to 1944, the exact years when the airfield took shape.
In 1940 Mayor Curtis had Brady's airfield designated a national defense airport, which brought money to enlarge it and pave the runways. The town gave up its small old field for a larger tract. Brady paid about $40,000 and the federal government granted $141,631. On March 16, 1941, a contract flying school moved in from Love Field in Dallas and became Brady Aviation School, Ltd. Curtis also led the city to give the school free use of the field for ten years, charging just one dollar a year for utilities.
More than 10,000 cadets trained at Brady before the school closed in August 1944. The training was dangerous, and the field also has a sad legacy. Twenty-one cadets, six instructors and a personnel officer died in accidents here. For them, the marker says, this field was their final duty.
Its place in the American story
Curtis Airfield was one of seventeen civilian fields in Texas that trained military pilots during World War II. Schools like it handled the first stage of training. They turned young men who had never flown into pilots ready for advanced instruction, and eventually for combat. America's huge wartime air forces depended on this system.
The story also shows how the whole country mobilized. Victory wasn't won only in factories and on battlefields. Small-town mayors, city councils and local taxpayers volunteered their land and money too. Brady's offer of its field for one dollar a year was a civic contribution to the war effort.
The deaths recorded on the marker are a reminder that training had real costs. The losses at Brady and fields like it were part of the price of building American air power, and they're often forgotten next to combat casualties.
If you visit
When you stand at the field, look up first. The wide, often clear sky that made Brady a favored training site is still overhead. Imagine it filled with training planes on any given day of 1941 to 1944, with young cadets practicing takeoffs, landings and maneuvers above the ranch country.
Take a moment for the twenty-eight men the marker says died here in training accidents. Their story is the quietest part of this site, and it deserves some reflection. If the field is still in use, follow posted rules and stay out of operating areas.
Brady is in the heart of Texas, which makes it a natural stop on a road trip across the middle of the state. History lovers can visit the airfield along with the town itself to see where a small community made an outsized contribution to winning the war.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
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Related people
- · Harry Lamar Curtis
- · Marjorie McCall Curtis
Related events
- · World War II pilot training
Themes & tags
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