Vernon Castle Memorial - Benbrook, TX
Posted by: 
QuesterMark
N 32° 40.144 W 097° 27.989
14S E 643794 N 3615639
Vernon Castle was a pilot in the Royal Flying Corps during World War I. He shot down two aircraft over the Western Front and was awarded the Croix de Guerre in 1917. He was killed when his airplane stalled during a maneuver to avoid another plane.
Waymark Code: WM5XVW
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 02/26/2009
Views: 24
Vernon, born in Norwich, Norfolk, England, May 2, 1887, studied at first to be a civil engineer. In 1906, he moved to New York and got into show business. Eventually he teamed up with Irene and they took some American dances to Paris and became famous. They returned to the US and opened a dancing school, a nightclub, and a restaurant.
Vernon returned to England to become a pilot in the Royal Flying Corps. After some success there, and being awarded the Croix de Guerre, he returned to North America to train pilots.
While flying at Benbrook Field, he took emergency action to avoid another aircraft. His plane stalled, and he was not able to recover. He was mortally wounded in the crash and died on February 15, 1918.
A movie of their life, "The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle", was released in 1939. Both Vernon and Irene are buried in Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, New York.
The former Benbrook Field is now a housing development. The crash site is marked by a concrete pylon topped by a little metal biplane, apparently erected when the homes were built. The monument had fallen into disrepair, but was restored by a local Eagle Scout in the late 1990s. It is an odd site among the houses, and is dwarfed by a large water tank built behind it.
Sources:
Wikipedia
Roadside America
and the monument itself.