Brooks Field, Texas

Overview

The San Antonio Chamber of Commerce put together an 873 acre tract of land near Bergs Mill in Southeast San Antonio to donate to the Army for an air field. Originally called Gosport Field on 5 December 1917 the Army renamed the site Kelly Field No. 5. Ground was broken for the new facility 8 December 1917. The new facility was renamed Brooks Field 4 February 1918 to honor the memory of Cadet Sidney J. Brooks. The San Antonio native died 13 November 1917 during his final training flight. He was awarded his wings and commission posthumously.

There were sixteen hangers with support facilities during the first year of operation of Brooks Field. Today there is only one original structure standing, Hangar 9, left standing. Brook's first mission was to train pilots and pilot instructors. These operations were ceased in May 1919 and a Balloon and Airship School was established. The school was transferred to Scott Field in 1922 and flight training returned to Brooks Field.

Brooks Field was the home to the Primary Flying School of the Army Air Corps from September 1922 through July 1931. During that time more than 1,400 pilots were trained. Notable instructors and students included such aviation figures as Colonel Charles Lindbergh, Generals Claire L. Chennault, Jimmy Doolittle and Nathan F. Twining. Second Lieutenant James S. McDonnell the future founder of McDonnell Aircraft Corporation received his pilot training at Brooks Field in 1923.

McDonnell recalled, to his family, that he was one of six volunteers who tested the new device known as a parachute. To perform the test he lay on the wing of an airplane as it took off and climbed to altitude. Then on a signal from the pilot they were supposed to let go. McDonnell managed to let go and found "such quiet, and mental isolation as never experienced on Earth -- ecstasy."

Later Brooks Field would be the site of the first successful mass parachute drop in the world. The concept of a mass armed military jump was conceived and implemented at Brooks Field. The first jump took place 28 September 1928.

"Back at Brooks Field in Texas, after my Hawaiian hitch was finished, I had my first brush with the Russians. I was flying instructor there and later director of primary training, but as a sideline Benjamin Childlaw, later a Wright Field engineering expert, a Sergeant Nichols, who was a pioneer parachutist, and myself began experimenting with paratrooper techniques. The idea had been originally suggested by Brigadier General Billy Mitchell. Our problem was to find workable techniques. We finally evolved a V formation of de Havilland two-seaters, each carrying one paratrooper in the rear cockpit. I flew a Ford trimotor transport in the center of the V loaded with equipment. As we flew over an objective, the troopers bailed out, and ammunition, machine guns, water, and food were parachuted from the Ford so they fell inside the circle of paratroopers on the ground. We polished this technique until the paratroopers were opening fire with machine guns in less than a minute after they landed. We were extremely proud of our show when Major General Charles P. Summerall, then Army chief of staff, came to Brooks to witness a demonstration in 1928. General Summerall waited until the chutes blossomed and then turned his back on the exhibition with the comment, "Some more of this damned aviation nonsense."  He strode away without waiting to see the finish. Summerall also testified against the Air Corps at Billy Mitchell's trial, stating under oath that a fighter squadron could be organized in forty-eight hours and gasoline was not necessary for air-corps training. I also remember Summerall as Army commander in Hawaii, inspecting the 19th Fighter Squadron. We lined up with a pilot and mechanic beside each single-seater fighter as Summerall swept down the line. He was incensed because two men stood with each plane, and there was only a parachute for one. A few weeks after the Summerall fiasco, a Russian military mission headed by a General Baranoff, rolled onto the field in a cavalcade of black Packard limousines. War Department orders were to show them everything we had, so the paratroops jumped again." --Excerpt from General Claire L. Chennaults, Way of a Fighter

Master Sergeant Erwin House Nichols

Erwin House Nichols was born about 1875 in that part of Ohio known as the Firelands, or the Western Reserve.  He probably was born in, or near, Lorain, Ohio.  Details about his early life prior to military service are scant.  Nichols married Eva Harris Bryant about 1906.  Family lore is that Eva, having separated from her first husband, Mr. Bryant, spotted Nichols walking down a street in Lorain one day.  Poor fellow did not stand a chance once my great grandmother targeted him to become a married man.

Nichols answered the World War I call to arms in the closing days of the Great War.  Why he waited until the war was almost over and why he joined the Army so late in life is not known.  While Nichols' exact date of birth is not known with certainty he was an old man in the Army according to the family.  His known service record states that he separated from the Army June 28, 1919.  When he returned to Army active duty is not known.

Erwin Nichols, by the late 1920s and early 1930s, was serving as a Master Sergeant (MSG) in the United States Army stationed at Brooks Field, Texas, just south of San Antonio.  MSG Nichols, according to all accounts, and, family history, was primarily involved in the pioneer development of the use of parachutes in military operations.  MSG Nichols was awarded Patent Number 1,882,056 dated Oct 11, 1932, for an invention described as "improvements in parachute packs of a type to be fastened to the body of an aviator."

I grew up hearing that my great grandfather had invented the "form fitting, back pack parachute."  If his first invention did not fit that description his follow up certainly did.  MSG Nichols was awarded Patent Number 1,899,713 dated February 28, 1933,  for an invention described as an improvement to the parachute apparatus.  The opening paragraph of the patent stated, "The primary object of this invention is the provision of an improved parachute pack which includes a flexible or semi-flexible container adapted.............."

"New Parachute of San Antonian" Dallas Morning News article, 28 April 1929	Continuation of "New Parachute of San Antonian" Dallas Morning News article, 28 April 1929

MSG Nichols also held Patent Number 1,944,801 dated January 23, 1934 for an improved apparatus for the dropping of equipment by parachute.  The family also believes that MSG Nichols held a patent for the quick release device that enabled the parachutist to quickly shed his equipment.  I have not been able to discover that patent, yet, but I believe that it is there somewhere.

"Parachute Carrying Machine Gun to Place Weapon in Strategic Place Invented by San Antonio Expert" Dallas Morning News article, 2 June 1929	"New, Less Bulky Parachute Is Approved By Army Board" New York Times article dated March 3, 1929	"San Antonio Air Instructor Perfects New Form-Fitting Type of Plane Parachute" April 28, 1929
"Consider New Tests For Parachute Jumps"   "Recent Fatalities May Result In Stringent Trials At San Antonio Field" New York Times article dated December 23, 1929

MSG Nichols assigned these three patents to the Irving Air Chute Company, Buffalo, New York.  The family history is that MSG Nichols, and his wife Eva Nichols, received royalty checks for the rest of their lives.  Presumably the checks came from the Irving Air Chute Company.

Sometime in the 1930s MSG Nichols was transferred to Chanute Field in Rantoul, Illinois.  My father frequently visited his grandparents when he was a boy.  My father said that his grandfather lived in one of the biggest houses in Rantoul and drove a big, black Packard.  One may conclude that an Army man, during the Great Depression, living that lifestyle must have some other substantial income.  Those royalty checks must have been nice.

My father told me that one day his grandmother Eva looked out her window and saw a parachutist coming to earth blown off course.  He drifted into a climbing spike on a telephone pole gashing his leg.  Eva Nichols dashed outside to the man and administered first aid.  She was credited with saving the man's life.

One day in the late 1930s my father was standing by his grandfather's side on the flight line at Chanute Field.  Master Sergeant Erwin House Nichols had a heart attack, collapsed and died on the spot.  Eva Nichols went to live with her daughter in Aurora, Illinois where she stayed until her death May 28, 1952.

U.S. Army Sergeant Originated Paratrooper Idea, First Shown Feasible 15 Years Ago Today. Dallas Morning News article, 28 April 1943

I remember my great grandmother having a nice black coupe.  I also remember the family talk about taking the car away from Eva Nichols because she had become a menace to herself and society.  She did not have a firm grasp on traffic laws, speed limits and parking rules which made her quite the nuisance around Aurora.

My father, strongly influenced by his love for his grandfather, joined the Army in 1941.  He was assigned to the Army Band at Chanute Field.  My father was the Illinois Schoolboy Champion tuba player two years running, but, he did not join the Army to toot a horn.  My father told me that in those days he made $21.00 per month as a Private.  Making corporal was very difficult as there was only three ways that could be done.  1.  A corporal retired.  2.  A corporal died.  3.  A private killed a corporal.

My father had another way out.  He became an aviation cadet and shipped out for Texas.  He never again returned to live in Aurora, Illinois.  He spent thirty two years in the Air Force and retired as a Chief Master Sergeant.  My great grandfather, my father and I were all stationed in San Antonio during our military service.

There is undoubtedly more to the story of Erwin House Nichols.  I am in the process of researching his story.  The dates of his birth and death are not exactly known to me at this time.  Some of the data that I have encountered has been contradictory, or incorrect.  That does not impact on the main point of the Nichols' story which is his contribution to the development of the parachute and its use in military operations.

Brooks Field photo gallery

Chanute Field photo gallery

MSG Erwin Nichol's Protege

Bibliography

Chennault, Gen. Claire L. Way of a Fighter: The Memoirs of Claire Lee Chennault. New York, G.P. Putnam, 1949

McDonnell, John F.  Tribute to James S. McDonnell. April 8, 1999, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC (http://www.jsmf.org/about/tribute.htm)

James S. McDonnell Remembered, News Feature, Boeing (http://www.boeing.com/news/feature/JamesMcDonnell/)

Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "BROOKS AIR FORCE BASE," http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/BB/qbb5.html

History of Brooks Air Force Base, Texas, U.S. Air Force Fact Sheet, Office of Public Affairs, 311th Human Systems Wing, 2510 Kennedy Circle, Brooks City-Base, TX 78235-5115, Phone (210) 536-3234