THOMAS DEWITT MILLING 1887-1960

Thomas DeWitt Milling From World War I www.paperlessarchives.com

 

Pilots in Training at College Park, Maryland (l. to r.) National Guard Lieutenant Colonel Charles B. Winder, Ohio: Army Lieutenants Leighton W. Hazelhurst, Thomas Milling, and Paul Beck. At the control is Curtiss instructor Charles F. Walsh, civilian, who flew exhibitions in Nebraska before Worlod War I. (Courtesy of U.S. Air Force)

 

Thomas DeWitt Milling & J. Clifford Turpin Library of Congress Collection, 11-26-07

 

LT. H. GEIGER,LT. T. DeW. MILLING , College Park Aviation Field, 2nd Season, 1912 Library of Congress Collection, 11-26-07

 

Commodore J. C. Gillmore & Thomas DeWitt Milling in a Curtiss Headless Plane, Dual Control at College Park Army Flying Field - 1912 Library of Congress Collection, 8-17-10

 

LT. THOMAS DEWITT MILLING AND LT. SHERMAN LANDING AT TEXAS CITY, TEX - AFTER BREAKING AMERICAN DURATION AND DISTANCE RECORD. LEFT T.C. FRI. MARCH 28TH 2:15 PM. ARRIVED SAN ANTONIO SAT. PM. AT 6:30. LEFT S.A. MON. 1:15 PM. ARR. T.C. 5:12 PM. Library of Congress Collection, 8-17-10

 

ONLINE RESOURCES      If you search for "Thomas Dewitt Milling +aviation", using the Google search engine, (8-26-10), you will find about 510 links. Among the most helpful are the following.

BRIGADIER GENERAL THOMAS D. MILLING      This page offers a very nice biography of Gen. Milling. You can access it by clicking on the title above. If you will go to the homepage and click on the "History" button, you will have available dozens of biographies.

 

LANGLEY FIELD SERIES 1919 - 1924 Major Milling Collection      This page offers an index to his entire collection as well as seven beautiful selected photos which are in custody at the Colorado State Archives. You can access the site by clicking on the title above.

You will find a wealth of material among the many other links.

 

RECOMMENDED READING

TALESPINS A Story of Early Aviation Days by Edith Dodd Culver

THE DAY THE AIRMAIL BEGAN by Edith Dodd Culver

 

For Early Bird Thomas DeWitt Milling, aviation was a career spent in the service of the United States. A graduate of West Point in 1909, he was one of the nation's first military pilots and attained the rank of brigadier general (ret) in 1940. On Saturday, Nov. 26, Brig. Gen. Milling died at Walter Reed Medical center, Washington, following an extended illness. He was seventy-three years of age.      Gen. Milling, who learned to fly under the tutelage of Orville Wright, was hailed at one time as "the greatest all-round airman in the world."      Following instructions at the Wright Bros. Flying school in 1911, Gen Milling helped organize Army aviation schools at College Park, Md., and Augusta, Ga. From 1917 to 1919, Gen Milling was in charge of air service training in Europe, and also was chief of staff of the air service of the 1st Army with the American Expeditionary Force, and served as Gen."Billy" Mitchell's chief of staff. He retired in 1933, but was recalled to active duty in 1942 during World War II.      Gen. Milling was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal, the Chevalier Legion of Honor of France and the Order of Leopold of Belgium.      In 1925 he appeared before an air board to bolster the then-unpopular stand for the creation of a separate air service and supported Gen. Mitchell for the creation of such a force.      Gen Milling had a high regard for the early airman. "Each student flyer," he recalled, "after he had learned to manage his plane in still air, had to learn by experience the effects of strange wind currents, wind gusts and the influence of the terrain --- he had to do this with no instruments,,,no parachute, and practically no horsepower. The only instruments he had were his eyes, ears and a sense of touch.      His wife, Margaret, and a daughter, Mrs. Joseph S. Gardner, are among his survivors. Interment was in Arlington cemetery. From The Early Birds of Aviation CHIRP March, 1961, Number 65

 

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