Lt. George Beverley landed once at Tucson, Saturday, October 1, 1927 at 1:05 PM. He carried a single passenger, J.W. Cathey. They are pictured together, below. They flew the deHavilland (Atlantic) DH-4M2 Beverley identified as 31873. Based at San Antonio, TX, Brooks Field, they arrived at Tucson from Riverside, CA March Field. They departed at 2:15 PM for El Paso, TX, Ft. Bliss. It is rare to find a photo that shows all principals captured so closely to the time of their appearance in the Register.
George H. Beverley (L) & J.W. Cathey, September 27, 1927 (Source: Link)
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The photograph is from The Oregon Historical Society, which describes it, "Photograph of two men, pilot Lieutenant George H. Beverley (left) and J. W. Cathey, standing in an airplane. The photograph may have been taken on Monday, September 26, 1927, at Pearson Field in Vancouver, Washington, or on Tuesday, September 27, 1927, during an air show at Swan Island airport in Portland...." Note the proximity of dates between Vancouver/Portland and their landing at Tucson a couple of days later. They were probably on their way home to Brooks Field.
Beverley was born May 27, 1897, in Amarillo, TX, to Clara Beverley, age 23, and William Beverley, age 42. The 1900 U.S. Census, his first, placed him at age 3 living with his family in Amarillo, TX. His father was listed as a "stock raiser."
On December 29, 1917, with the outbreak of World War I, he left college to become a flying cadet in the Air Service. He received his wings and a commission as a temporary second lieutenant in the Air Service in July 1918. He earned his wings.
His first assignment was as a flying instructor at Kelly Field. From there he went to Brooks Field, TX, and then to Southern Field, GA. His services as an instructor were in such demand that he was denied an opportunity for overseas duty. After serving at Park Field, TN, Carlstrom Field, FL, and Call Field, TX, he was mustered out of the service in October 1919. After the war, Beverley worked for the Bivens Airplane Company of Amarillo as a barnstorming pilot traveling through Texas and New Mexico, but decided his real calling was military aviation. He returned to the Army as a second lieutenant and became an instructor at the flying school at Post Field, OK.
G.H. Beverley, Ca. WWII (Source: ancestry.com)
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In June 1922, he moved to Kelly Field, where he continued his duties as an instructor. Assigned to temporary duty at Langley Field, VA, he allegedly took part in Air Force Deputy Director General Billy Mitchell's experimental bombing of two obsolete naval vessels, the West Virginia and the New Jersey, off Cape Hatteras on Sept. 5, 1923. I say allegedly, because he is one of a dozen or so other Register pilots with that event on their resumes.
He married Edith D. Duke (1899-1989) sometime during the 1920s (in the 1920 Census he was single; in 1930, married). I found some information that they had a son, Larry, born in 1932. He moved through the military ranks slowly but surely during the interbellum, as did most career officers of the era.
G.H Beverley Grave Marker, 1988 (Source: findagrave.com)
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Beverley continued to serve the Army Air Corps as a flight instructor, assumed command of the 43rd Pursuit Squadron and became chief instructor in pursuit flying. In February 1934, he went to the Panama Canal Zone to assume command of the 29th Pursuit Squadron and a year later became group operations officer of Albrook Field, Canal Zone.
In the spring of 1937, he returned to the United States for assignment to Barksdale Field, LA, and in August 1937, entered the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, KS. Upon graduation in June 1938, he was assigned to the office of the Chief of Air Corps and stationed at Patterson Field, OH, as technical supervisor for the Central States, reporting to the Director of Technical Inspection at Washington.
When the U.S. declared war on Germany and Japan, Beverley was ordered to Washington to take charge of all technical inspections for the newly established Air Force. In September 1942, he was ordered to England for duty with the newly-activated 12th Air Force under Lieutenant General James Doolittle. During the war, he took charge of the Second Air Service Area Command under the 12th Air Force Service Command, became commander of the First Air Service Area Command, the 51st Troop Carrier Wing and the 15th Air Force Service Command at Dari, Italy. In 1944 he returned to the United States to become Air Inspector of the newly-reorganized Air Materiel Command at Wright-Field, Ohio. In April 1945, he assumed command of the San Antonio Materiel Command at Kelly Field, Texas. He retired from the service July 31, 1949 as a brigadier general. Below, his military record through April 1945.
G.H. Beverley, Military Record (Source: ancestry.com)
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Beverley flew West on September 15, 1988, from St. Petersburg, FL. He was 91 years old. He and Edith are buried in Arlington, VA..Their grave marker at Arlington National Cemetery is above, left.
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THIS PAGE UPLOADED: 07/03/18 REVISED:
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