Come then: Let Us to the Task

From all parts of the British Empire, young men come to Falcon Field near Mesa to receive primary and advanced training to prepare them to take their place in the RAF.

Great are the accomplishments at the sign of the Falcon, where these young men, to whom war is already a grim reality, will soon be ready to pay off old scores.

DUNKIRK IS AN inspiration for the British people and so Dunkirk is very close to Falcon Field, near Mesa, Arizona, where boys from all over the United Kingdom are receiving flight instruction to prepare thenselves to take their place in the RAF. When the guns are stilled and peace has come again to this battered old world it will be found that the Herculean task of the British flying force at Dunkirk may have stopped a certain invasion of the British Isles by the enemy (them louses), and may have prevented defeat for all the Democracies before time had passed to be prepared.

The young British cadet, arriving at Falcon Field, has the inspiration of the heroic work of his comrades before him and the realization, too, that he is expected to do his part when the time comes.

To these heroic British flyers, whose deeds inspire the Falcon boys every day of their intense study and training, Winston Churchill eloquently paid tribute: "The gratitude of every home in our Island, in our Empire, and indeed throughout the world,"

"Come then let us to the task, to the battle, to the toil each to our part, each to our nation. Fill the armies, rule the air, pour out the munitions, strangle the U-boats, sweep the mines, plough the land, build the ships, guard the streets, succour the wounded, uplift the downcast, and honour the brave. Let us go forward together in all parts of the Empire, in all parts of the Island. There is not a week, nor a day, nor an hour to lose."

From an address by Winston Churchill in the dark days of January, Nineteen Forty.

except in the abodes of the guilty, goes out to the British airmen who, undaunted by odds, unwearied in their constant challenge and mortal danger, are turning the tide of the world war by their prowess and by their devotion... Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."

From the very beginning Falcon Field has met with success and good fortune. The naming of the field itself was a good omen for the falcon is the English "noble bird of prey," of historic renown in England since the days of the Norman conquest. The falcon is noted for acuteness of vision, and great powers of flight. One falcon, according to the International Cyclopaedia, "is known to traversed the distance between Fontainbleau and Malta, not less than 1350 miles in 24 hours," and it has been further estimated that in pursuit of prey a falcon has gone as fast as 150 miles per hour. These birds soar to prodigious heights and they strike the prey by swooping down on it from above. Traditionally, the falcon is as important to the English as the eagle is to the Americans.

During the hottest part of one summer a couple of summers ago, a class of English cadets arrived at Union Depot in Phoenix and were marched out of an air-cooled train to stand at attention while dignitaries extended words of welcome, etc. The boys were dressed in the heaviest wool clothing manufactured in all of England. Furthermore, they had come straight from a very cold country; so you can imagine how warmly they were being greeted by our friendly Arizona sun. They took it all in good form and were soon comfortably at home at Thunderbird Field getting their first round of training. One class went and another class came. It can be safely said, without giving either aid, comfort or information to the enemy (them louses) that the first classes of English students at Thunderbird are back in England putting in their nickel's worth (or is it "tuppence") to make things interesting for Herr Hitler and Company on the continent.

When the Southwest Airways, Inc. had completed the base known now as Falcon Field, the English cadets left Thunderbird and took up residence for the training period in their new quarters.

Without fanfare or ostentation or undue noise, Falcon has been turning out classes regularly. When a cadet arrives at Falcon he knows nothing of flying and in some cases the boys have not even had experience in driving automobiles. The field is under the direction of English flying officers, who have not only been so completely prepared that they can administer such a school but they them selves have distinguished themselves in actual combat flying. At Falcon, the cadet gets primary, basic and advanced training. This large school functions like a well-organized university. Previous to his departure from his home abroad the cadet has passed physical examinations and the other strenuous examinations given prospective students to determine their suitability for flying.

Then comes the always exciting trip to America and the hop by train to Mesa. It isn't long before the cadet is taking his first flights with an instructor in a primary trainer and wading through the veritable forest of facts and figures that spring up all around him in ground school. His progress is carefully noted. The courses at Falcon run on a schedule and if a cadet is not able to keep up with his fellows he is forced to give up flight training. Generally in such cases, he continues ground school training elsewhere Specializing in technical study for the ground work and mechanical services of the RAF. Then comes basic and advanced training. Higher powered and speedier planes are used and ground school studies become more elaborate. Armament, navigation, airmanship, engines, signals, communications, meteorologyevery single technical phase of flying must be mastered and mastered thoroughly so that scientific technique comes easily to the cadet and with precision. Night flying, instrument flying, formation flying-everything that can and must be done in a plane under actual war conditions must be mastered at Falcon. It will be remembered that these English boys are given a much shorter course than the American cadets receive and so they must cram so much more in a shorter time. The tempest is still close to the shores of their "tight little, right little isle" and the exigencies of the emergency require that the young cadets be trained in the shortest possible time.

Home for the English boys at Falcon is a long way off, but they keep up on things through their own magazines and newspapers. Falcon Field is operated, as is Thunderbird Field, by the Southwest Airways, Inc. and is unusually comfortable and well-appointed.

When the English boys finish up at Falcon, they are competent and trustworthy pilots. After they have had their tactical instruction they are about ready for whatever will be required of them to do for their king and their country.

But they've done something else here in our valley other than to learn to fly well. They've sold themselves and their country by their good graces to a lot of our citizens and they've in turn taken the kindliest feelings for America and Americans back to their homes and to their own people across the sea. When the residents of Mesa first learned that the English boys were to be centered with them, the whole town went together in making plans to entertain the visitors and make them feel welcome and at home. A recreational center was opened and English cadets and officers were taken as guests into various private homes in Mesa. On Sunday afternoons it is no unusual sight to see a couple of English boys around a dinner table in a Mesa home and to hear them comment in their brisk, clipped Eng-lish on the merits of chicken and apple pie. The community arranges dances and social events for the visitors who, as some respite from their hard course of study, have weekends to themselves. A Spanish-American club in Mesa put on an enchilada and tamale dinner which proved to be quite an adventure in eat-ing for the young visitors and their superior officers from across the sea.

And it is interesting to note, too, that the English cadets and officers have their tea each afternoon just as they would if they were home. You cannot leave the customs of your country behind you any more than you can your personality or your accent. This tea business rather opened the eyes of the Amer-ican civilian instructors, but they have gotten into the habit of it, and they have tea, too, just as if they had been having tea for years. Also, it can with pleasure be reported, the English and the American cadets hit it off well together, and as you would expect from young men so engrossed in flight training the talk is planes, planes, planes. The English, like the Americans, eat, sleep and dream flying, and it is no wonder they are so keen about it.

All in all, we feel Arizona has been a happy adventure for most of the English boys. Pic-cadilly Circus drops in for a stay on Main Street, Mesa. That, my friends, is what Democracy is made of.

One English boy said that the most surprising experience he had in Arizona was with a plate of chili and beans and a couple of hot tamales. They miss their own cooking, but hard-working cadets at Falcon show interest in all their meals.

Sessions in the good old Arizona sunshine are a required part of the course at Falcon for the English boys The cadets leave Falcon with fond memories of the hospitality of the folks of Mesa, who have extended themselves to prove the truth in western hospitality.

Soccer came to Falcon with the English boys. The cadets participate in a vigorous athletic program. They are an active, interested group preparing themselves ably for the task ahead.