Guard shack at the entrance to William Northern Army Airfield, which was a World War II ground and aerial training center for the U.S. Third Air Force station in Tullahoma, Tennessee. It was approximately a mile and a half from Camp Forrest. It was an advanced flight training facility for B-24 bombers, observation plane pilots, and paratroopers and was the state’s third-largest airfield. Courtesy of Sam Crimm
Map of William Northern Army Airfield, which was a 1,300-acre Army Air Corps facility that contained approximately 100 buildings and three 5,000-foot runways. The facility’s name was changed to William Northern Field in November 1942 to honor the first Tennessean killed in the war. Courtesy of Sam Crimm
The Knoxville Journal article on the arrival of the first WAC, Second Lieutenant Ruth E. Francis, at Northern Army Airfield. Francis was a native of New Orleans, who served with the Navy in the Great War as an enlisted Yoeman. She was the postal officer at Northern Field. Other officers who worked at the post office were Sergeant Daniel E. O’Connell, Corporal Edward Sweeney, Corporal Jacob Pardes and Private First-Class Thomas J. Geraghty. Courtesy of Camp Forrest Foundation
Northernaire was the William Northern Army Airfield newspaper during World War II. Courtesy of Camp Forrest Foundation
Matchbook cover for William Northern Army Airfield. Courtesy of Camp Forrest Foundation
Second Lieutenant William L. Northern, Jr. in uniform. December 21, 1941, Northern’s plane went down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California during a training exercise. Courtesy of Tennessee State Library and Archives (TSLA)
Second Lieutenant William L. Northern, Jr. conducting pre-flight checks on his Lockhead P-38 “Lightning” plane. Courtesy of Tennessee State Library and Archives (TSLA)
