Barksdale, Eugene Hoy, 1st Lt

Barksdale Air Force Base was named in honor of 1st Lt. Eugene Hoy Barksdale, Air Corps, U.S. Army.

Lt. Barksdale lost his life 11 August 1926 while flight testing a Douglas O-2 observation airplane over McCook Field, Dayton, Ohio.

He attended Mississippi State College, but left during his junior year to enter the officers' training camp at Fort Logan H. Roots, Little Rock, Arkansas. He volunteered for aviation training a few weeks before receiving his commission as a second lieutenant and enlisted in the aviation section of the U.S. Army Signal Corps as a private first class.

After completing the ground school course at the School of Military Aeronautics in Austin, Texas, he embarked for England 18 September 1917, and received his flying training with the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) at Oxford and several other aviation schools in England. He accepted his British commission 26 May 1918, at Markse, Yorkshire, England. Following completion of flying training, he was assigned to the 41st Squadron, RFC in August 1918. He was placed on active duty at the front as a pilot He participated in the Somme and Amiens Offensives early in August 1918 and was wounded 2 September 1918 during the Cambrai Offensive.

While on duty with the RFC, he received official credit for destroying three enemy aircraft through aerial combat. He also participated in the ground destruction of five other enemy aircraft. He left the RFC on 15 October 1918, joining the U.S. 25th Aero Squadron until 24 December 1918. Then, he became a test pilot. He was stationed at Mitchell Field, Long Island, New York in 1919.

On 8 March 1924, Lt. Barksdale and his navigator, Lt. Bradley Jones, flew a DH-4B, powered by a 400 horsepower Liberty engine from McCook Field, Ohio to Mitchel Field using instruments only . He lost his life while flight testing a Douglas O-2 observation airplane, testing flat spins. He attempted a bailout from a fast spin only to get his parachute caught in and severed by the brace wires attached to the wings of the plane, and he fell to his death.

He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors. in Plot: Section 3, Grave 4834SS.

Notes/Links:

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/ehbarksdale.htm
http://www.barksdale.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=4409 (primary source, edited for this site)
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=6655&PIpi=31739786
https://www.barksdale.af.mil/About/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/320178/barksdale-information/
(photos) RFC Info notes: The 41st Squadron, RFC flew the Airco DH.5 biplane designed by Geoffrey de Havillan. It was a single seat fighter aircraft. It then received the Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5, a much better fighter aircraft.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Douglas_O-2H_at_NACA_Langley_Research_Center_1934.JPG (photo of O-2 Biplane)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._41_Squadron_RAF#First_World_War
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airco_DH_5 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Aircraft_Factory_S.E.5