Texas man awarded British Empire Medal from King Charles III
Local News
TERRELL – A Texas resident was honored this week with a prestigious award from King Charles III.
Bill Huthmacher was given the British Empire Medal in recognition of his work as Chairman of the British Flying Training Museum in Terrell.
The museum lies just outside Dallas and honors a little-known chapter of World War II history. Over 2,200 British cadets earned their wings in the north Texas town. Many of these cadets were only 18 years old when they traveled 6,000 miles to learn how to fly.
Terrell, Texas may seem like an odd place for young Brits to learn to fly, but Huthmacher explained the interesting reasoning behind the decision.
“Back in 1941, Germany had overtaken most of Europe and England was in a fight for its life, and it was losing pilots at a catastrophic rate. They were looking for places to help train pilots, because between their own bad weather and the Luftwaffe air superiority, they were having a hard time training pilots. So, they looked to Winston Churchill, looked to Franklin Roosevelt, and at first, Roosevelt couldn’t do anything because we were neutral, and we couldn’t train combatants. But through the Lend-Lease act, that allowed us to then start training combatants.”
Bill Huthmacher recently received the British Empire Medal from King Charles III (Copyright 2024 by KPRC Click2Houston - All rights reserved.)Huthmacher said between 1941 and 1945, the young cadets were “adopted” by families in Terrell, forging a strong bond between America and Britain that continues to this day.
Recently, Huthmacher went to England to interview several of these heroes and record their experiences.
“They’re 98 and 99-years-old, and they’re in great shape. We went to the first one expecting to be there about 20 minutes wearing him out. Eight hours later we left his house. And it’s just been tremendous.”
These stories have been added to the museum’s archive, revealing the fascinating personal details behind the artifacts.
For Texan’s wanting to learn more about the unique part of Texas history, more information is available here.
The museum is open Wednesday-Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Copyright 2024 by KPRC Click2Houston - All rights reserved.
Faith Braverman has been working in journalism for over ten years. After starting out in Washington, D.C. she's now back in Houston. Faith wears many hats at KPRC 2, writing for broadcast, digital, and tracking down interesting stories. She is also a proud mom, autism advocate, diehard Astros fan, corgi enthusiast, and a Houston foodie.
