Benbrook Field Benbrook Field ( Camp Taliaferro Field # 3 ) is a former World War I military airfield , located North of Benbrook , Texas . It operated as a training field for the Air Service , United States Army between 1917 until 1919 . It was one of thirty - two Air Service training camps established after the United States entry into World War I in April 1917 . After the United States ' entry into World War I in April 1917 , General John J . " Blackjack " Pershing invited the British Royal Flying Corps to establish training fields in Texas for the training of American and Canadians volunteers because of its mild weather . After looking at sites in Dallas , Fort Worth , Waco , Austin , Wichita Falls and Midland , three sites were established in 1917 in the Fort Worth vicinity ( known as the " Flying Triangle . " ) , those being Hicks Field ( # 1 ) , Barron Field ( # 2 ) , and Benbrook Field ( # 3 ) . Canadians named the training complex Camp Taliaferro after Walter Taliaferro , a US aviator who had been killed in an accident . Camp Taliaferro was headquartered under the direction of the Air Service , United States Army , which had and administration center near what is now the Will Rodgers Memorial Center in Fort Worth , Texas . History . Taliafero Field No . 3 was used by the Royal Flying Corps from October 1917 to April 1918 as a training field for American and Canadian pilots . It was then turned over to the Air Service , United States Army . The Americans renamed the field Carruthers Field after Cadet W . K . Carruthers , who was killed at Hazelhurst Field , New York , when he was struck by a revolving propeller on 18 June 1917 . At some point after July 1918 it was renamed Benbrook Field by the United States Army . World War I . The Benbrook Field station area was located south of Mercedes Street in Benbrook . It occupied the area west of Winscott Road , being bordered on the west by Walnut Creek . A railroad spur connected with the Texas & Pacific line across Walnut Creek . Most of the 34 buildings and hangars were located in an area generally bounded by Mercedes Street on the north , Winscott Road on the east , Cozby North Street on the south , and Walnut Creek on the west . Benbrook was used as an aerial gunnery school for American & Canadian students . One particular Canadian aviator , Captain Vernon Castle , was already world renown as the famed dance team of Vernon & Irene Castle . Regrettably , he was killed in a plane crash at Benbrook Field during training exercises . Some witnesses believed that he deliberately crashed in order to avoid hitting another plane , and saved their lives . His burial was witnessed by thousands of mourners , who sadly watched the flagged draped casket pass in downtown Fort Worth . Even today , there is a street in Benbrook named in his honor . Training units assigned to Benbrook Field : Benbrook Field was closed at the end of April , 1919 and the buildings dismantled . Following the closure , the land was purchased by William Monnig and was used as a dairy . Today , the entire area has been redeveloped into what is now the Benbrook Lakeside subdivision . Intermixed within the houses are small , broken , isolated concrete slabs , the remainders of wartime buildings and hangars . The last remaining building was an ammunition warehouse west of U . S . 377 that was demolished in 2004 to facilitate future commercial development . Today a Texas historical marker for the airfield is located north of Mercedes Street , across the street from the Ridge Community Church as a memorial to the fliers of Benbrook Field .