By 1939, the British government recognized that in the event of war with Germany, training facilities would need to be established overseas in Commonwealth countries or in the U.S. at civilian schools similar to those already used by the U.S. Army Air Corps. In August 1941, before the U.S. entered World War II, the Royal Air Force established No. 1 British Flying Training School in Terrell with strong local support, and the Terrell and Kaufman Chambers of Commerce helped locate a site about one mile south of town on the Bond and Patton farms after Major W.F. Long of Dallas was named the operator. Terrell Aviation School opened soon afterward, and along with the main field the school used two auxiliary fields south of Terrell on the Boykin and Tarver farms to ease congestion. Civilian instructors gave cadets twenty weeks of preparation in flight training and ground school classes covering meteorology, airmanship, navigation, and link trainers for instrument flying. During World War II, the school trained approximately 2,200 Royal Air Force cadets and 138 U.S. Army Air Forces cadets. Its motto was "the seas divide, but the skies unite," and Terrell welcomed the cadets into the community while the cadets contributed their talents to the town's cultural life. After the war, on September 10, 1945, the final cadets left Terrell's railroad station as local citizens waved them on. In 2002, the No. 1 BFTS Museum opened in Terrell in recognition of both the wartime school and the continuing cooperation between the British Commonwealth and the United States in war and peace.