Trevor S. Tait Scrapbook

Scope and Contents

This scrapbook consists of photographs of Tait and his fellow cadets, plane maneuvers, gun camera photos, and newspaper clippings. Included in the collection but separate from the scrapbook are pages from a memoranda/address book, a brief memoir written by Tait in the early 1980s, and several official army certificates such as his training diplomas and his honorable discharge certificate. There is also a large comical watercolor of a pilot in a plane entitled the "Spirit of 1918" and signed at the bottom by 31 people.

Biographical / Historical

During the summer of 1917, Trevor S. Tait postponed his studies at Yale University in order to volunteer for service with the new branch of the military, the U.S. Air Service. He received his initial pilot training at the newly opened ground school at Cornell University in November 1917. After graduating in February 1918, he was ordered to Camp Dick at Dallas, Texas, and then Love Field, also near Dallas. In October, 1918, he was commissioned, given pursuit classification, and ordered to Carlstrom Field at Arcadia, Florida. After graduating as a pursuit pilot in November, 1918, he was sent to Dorr Field, near Arcadia, for aerial gunnery training. Upon graduation, World War I having already ended, he was provided with an emergency discharge so that he could begin his freshman year at Yale.