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Aurora in Wise County, Texas — The American South (West South Central)
 

Eagle Mountain Lake MCAS Auxiliary (Rhome Field)

 
 
Eagle Mountain Lake MCAS Auxiliary (Rhome Field) Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By J Frye Fort Worth TX, February 18, 2022
1. Eagle Mountain Lake MCAS Auxiliary (Rhome Field) Marker
Inscription.

More than 6,000 United States military pilots flew gliders during World War II. Several training and auxiliary landing fields were established throughout Texas and the United States. Gliders were unpowered aircraft dependent on wind and lift. The brave pilots overcame treacherous odds to penetrate enemy lines and aid in the demise of the Axis powers.

Rhome Field was an outlying landing field established in late 1942 to support Eagle Mountain Lake Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS), partly as an attempt to develop a program for amphibious troop gliders, primarily the Waco CG-4A glider plane. The base west of Aurora consisted of more than 1,200 acres with two 6,000-foot runways, barracks, a single hangar and one control tower.

Construction was completed in mid-1943. The use of gliders aided many missions during the war, including the final glider mission during the invasion of Luzon in 1945. Under the command of General MacArthur, glider pilots assisted in the recapture of the northern Philippines region occupied by Japanese forces.

By 1945, the glider program was cancelled. By the end of the war, the U.S. had built more than 14,000 gliders and trained more than 6,000 pilots. Eagle Mountain Lake MCAS and Rhome Field were transferred to the United States Navy. The Navy used the Eagle Mountain Lake site
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to test an early radio-controlled drone, but the field at Aurora was abandoned. Several buildings and remnants of this historic WWII base remain today. Although brief in duration, the WWII glider program represents a significant part of military and aviation history.
 
Erected 2017 by Texas Historical Commission. (Marker Number 18711.)
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Air & SpaceWar, World II. A significant historical year for this entry is 1942.
 
Location. 33° 2.922′ N, 97° 31.712′ W. Marker is in Aurora, Texas, in Wise County. Marker is on Airfield Drive (Farm to Market Road 718) near Farm to Market Road 718. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Rhome TX 76078, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 5 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Teague Cemetery (approx. 1.6 miles away); Aurora Cemetery (approx. 1.6 miles away); George Lawson Bledsoe (approx. 1.7 miles away); Masonic Lodge #479 (approx. 3 miles away); United Methodist Church of Rhome (approx. 3.2 miles away); Deep Creek Community (approx. 4.7 miles away); Sam Woody's Cabin (approx. 4.7 miles away); Keeter Cemetery (approx. 4.8 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Aurora.
 
Eagle Mountain Lake MCAS Auxiliary (Rhome Field) Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By J Frye Fort Worth TX, February 18, 2022
2. Eagle Mountain Lake MCAS Auxiliary (Rhome Field) Marker
Eagle Mountain Lake MCAS Auxiliary (Rhome Field) Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By J Frye Fort Worth TX, February 18, 2022
3. Eagle Mountain Lake MCAS Auxiliary (Rhome Field) Marker
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on February 19, 2022. It was originally submitted on February 18, 2022, by J Frye of Fort Worth, Texas. This page has been viewed 408 times since then and 51 times this year. Photos:   1, 2, 3. submitted on February 18, 2022, by J Frye of Fort Worth, Texas. • J. Makali Bruton was the editor who published this page.

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Mar. 28, 2024