Miller Field during the 1920's and 1930's

Updated: April 6, 2007

Miller Field in the 1920's:
Since Miller Field was completed after the end of World War 1, the amount of activity at the field was minimal. The field was completed in July 1921, and by October 1922, no Army Air Service personnel remained at the field. In 1923, the New York National Guard's, 102nd Observation Squadron moved to Miller Field from Mitchel Field, Long Island. This unit was part of the 27th Aviation Division and remained here throughout the 1930's.

Mascots of the 102nd

Members of the 102nd Observation Squadron show off their mascots, Jenny the goat and Gretchen the German police dog.
(NY National Guard Photo)

Miller Field was the site of military airshows in the 1920's. On September 12, 1924, the National Defense Day Celebration included a mock air attack on nearby Fort Wadsworth using sacks of flour as simulated bombs.

JN4D Aircraft

A JN-4D "Jenny" aircraft of the 102nd Observation Squadron.
(NY National Guard Photo)

O-38 Aircraft

The logo of the 102nd Observation Squadron.
A rather dazed looking monkey sitting on a cloud and wearing radio headphones.
(NY National Guard Photo)

A Douglas O-38 aircraft of the 102nd Observation Squadron.
(NY National Guard Photo)

A Douglas O-11 aircraft of the 102nd Observation Squadron.
(NY National Guard Photo)

On July 25, 1925, the 1st Division Tank Company arrived at Miller Field, Staten Island, New York, after putting in two and a half months of intensive training at Camp Dix, New Jersey.

In 1926, the commander of Miller Field was Colonel Chauncey Benton Humphrey (USMA 1898).

In the summer of 1928, polar explorer Admiral Richard Byrd tested his Ford Trimotor named "Floyd Bennett" at Miller Field. On November 28-29, 1929, this same aircraft was flown to Antarctica.

Miller Field in the 1930's:
In the 1930's, Miller Field remained the home of the 102nd Observation Squadron, a NY National Guard unit.

A Douglas O-46 aircraft of the 102nd Observation Squadron.
(NY National Guard Photo)

A North American O-47 aircraft of the 102nd Observation Squadron.
(NY National Guard Photo)

On Oct 15, 1940, the 102nd Observation Squadron of the New York National Guard was activated for federal service and moved to Fort McClellan, Alabama.

The Elm Tree Light at Miller Field:
The original Elm Tree Lighthouse was built in 1856, and subsequent lights were built to replace the older one through the years. The Elm Tree Lighthouse got its name from Dutch mariners that used an elm tree located on the site as a bearing when they entered the channel. The light is located on the southeast end of New Dorp Lane at Miller Field. The first Elm Tree Lighthouse guided mariners safely through the Swash Channel. This white hexagon shaped tower had a red band around its middle, distinguishing it from the other lights serving the harbor. Established in 1852, it worked in conjunction with the New Dorp Lighthouse (rear range) as a Front Range light, with keepers maintaining the light. In 1939, a concrete aviation tower replaced the original structure. The new tower showed a green light for aviators and a white light (on range only) for mariners. The second Elm Tree Light performed the same range duties, until 1964 when the US Coast Guard deemed it unnecessary. (Source: www.lighthousemuseum.org/nylights/elmtree.htm)

A Sketch of the Elm Tree Range Light Tower.

The Old Elm Tree Range Light

1939 - Elm Tree Range Light

The 1939 Airfield Beacon and Elm Tree Range Light
(USCG Photo).

A recent photo of the 1939 Airfield Beacon and Elm Tree Range Light
(Photo: Jim Crowley).

The New Dorp Rear Range Light was located inland of Miller Field and was the second component of the range.
(USCG Photo).

Chronology of Events at Miller Field 1920 - 1939:

October 16, 1922 -- KILLED BY SENTRY; Army Sergeant Shot Dead at Miller Field When Taxi Driver Fails to Halt. Sergeant Thomas J. Pierce of the First Tank Company stationed at Miller Aviation Field, Staten Island, was shot and killed by a sentry early yesterday morning near the field when the driver of a taxicab in which Pierce was riding, refused to stop. The sentries had orders to halt all cars approaching the reservation after nightfall. (New York Times)

July 19, 1923 -- $100,000 'Apartment' Airplane Wrecked; Builder Injured in Forced Landing Here. The Remington-Burnelli limousine airplane, with a capacity of thirty-two passengers, described as the largest passenger plane in this country, was wrecked at 6 o'clock last night at Miller Aviation Field, New Dorp. Staten Island, when engine trouble in the twin motors compelled the pilot to attempt a landing. (New York Times)

June 22, 1924 -- FLIERS BROADCAST MESSAGES IN AIR; Army Airplane, Up 7,000 Feet, Heard Over a Stretch of 25 Miles. An army airplane flying at 7,000 feet successfully broadcast messages over a stretch of at least twenty-five miles yesterday, according to flight officers at Miller Field, New Dorp, Staten Island, the air base of the Twenty-seventh Division, National Guard. As soon as outlying stations were heard from in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Long Island and up-State New York it was expected that the radius of reception would prove even greater. (New York Times)

June 29, 1924 -- PLANE AT AIR SHOW DIVES INTO HARBOR; Flier at 27th's New Dorp Meet Escapes With Minor Injuries. More than 10,000 spectators were at the aviation meet of the Twenty-seventh Division air forces at Miller Field, New Dorp. S. I., yesterday afternoon and saw a civilian aviator miraculously escape death when his plane dropped into the bay about 200 yards from shore after the engine had stopped in midair. (New York Times)

May 18, 1925 -- PLANE FALLS IN BAY; 1 FLIER DIES, 1 SAVED; Machine Hits Air Pocket and Plunges Nearly 1,000 Feet in View of Crowd. BOATS HURRY TO RESCUE Ex-Aviator, Diving, Frees Unconscious Guardsman Pinioned Under Water. PLANE FALLS IN BAY; 1 FLIER DIES, 1 SAVED. Two National Guard aviators, tangled in their wrecked plane when it crashed into New York Bay at dusk last evening, were rescued by policemen and a fellow flier, who dived repeatedly to free one of them. One was so badly hurt he died a few hours later. (New York Times)

June 20, 1925 -- PLANES WITH BOMBS IN BIG 'FIGHT' TODAY; Aided by Tanks, Fleet Will Attack Miller Field, Defended by Anti-Aircraft Guns. MANY THRILLS PROMISED Parachute Leaps and Speed Contests Also on Program of the National Guard Meet. One of the greatest aerial displays the city has over witnessed will be made today by the National Guard, at Miller Field, New Dorp, Staten Island. About 100 airplanes and seaplanes will participate in the program lasting from 7 A.M. until 7 P.M. (New York Times)

June 21, 1925 -- 142 PLANES PUT ON BIGGEST AIR CIRCUS EVER GIVEN HERE; 35,000 Persons at Miller Field Thrilled by Stunts and the Swarm in the Sky. TWO FLIERS SAVED AT SEA Jump With Parachutes, Then Wind Rises and Carries Them Off Island. RAIN FAILS TO HALT SHOW Breath-Taking Loops Near Earth Made Without Accident, but Two Fliers Crash on Way to Event. Thirty-five thousand persons encircled Miller Field on Staten Island yesterday and witnessed the evolutions of 142 airplanes, saw tanks engage sky-fighters in a realistic battle, and gasped as parachute jumpers dropped from rushing aircraft.(New York Times)

June 13, 1926 -- CITY WILL WITNESS SHAM BATTLE IN AIR; Defense Planes to Meet Invaders 3,000 Feet Over Times Square Next Saturday. RADIO TO DEPICT IT Stunts Will Advertise the 27th Division Air Meet, to Be Held the Following Week. Two squadrons of fighting airplanes will meet above this city next Saturday afternoon in a sham aerial battle as a preliminary to the air meet of the Twenty-seventh Division, New York National Guard, air forces, which will be held the following Saturday afternoon at Miller Field, Staten Island. (New York Times)

June 26, 1926 -- PLANES 'FIGHT' TODAY OVER MILLER FIELD; Sham Battle a Feature of Air Meet in Which Over 200 Craft Will Participate. BYRD IS EXPECTED TO FLY Listed to Give First Exhibition in Josephine Ford Since Return -- Many Races Are Planned. A huge air meet in which more than 200 Army, Navy, Marine Corps and civilian-owned airplanes will participate will be held today at Miller Field, Staten Island, under the auspices of the Air Service section of the Twenty-seventh Division, New York National Guard. (New York Times)

June 27, 1926 -- PLANES IN FOG THRILL CROWD AT AIR MEET; Josephine Ford Is Centre of Attention at Miller Field Exhibition. 100 OTHER CRAFT ON HAND Ruling Keeps Army Machines Out of Events -- Thousands Brave Rain -- Byrd There. PLANES IN FOG THRILL GROWD AT AIR MEET. Surrounded by more than a hundred other aircraft, the Josephine Ford, Fokker monoplane which recently cast the shadow of its wings upon the North Pole, featured the third annual air meet of the Twenty-seventh Division Air Service of the New York National Guard, held throughout yesterday at Miller Field, New Dorp, S. I. (New York Times)

May 8, 1927 -- DE PINEDO RESUMES HIS FLIGHT TODAY; Tests Out New Plane Without Going Up, Disappointing 4,000 at Miller Field. EXTRA DETECTIVES ON GUARD Police Take Precautions, Suspecting Anti-Fascist Plot to Wreak the Santa Maria II. Colonel Francesco de Pinedo disappointed a crowd of more than 4,000 persons at Miller Field, Staten Island, yesterday afternoon by deciding not to make a test flight in his new monoplane, Santa ,Maria II, which Premier Mussolini sent here last week to replace the machine destroyed by fire recently at Roosevelt Dam, Arizona, on the aviator's continent-to-continent flight. (New York Times)

May 8, 1927 -- PINEDO OFF AGAIN; ARRIVES IN BOSTON; Italian Hailed by Thousands at End of First Leg of Resumed Four-Continent Flight. BOSTON, May 8. -- Commander Francesco de Pinedo, Italian flier, arrived here this morning from Miller Field, N.Y., in the great white flying boat, Santa Maria II, on the first leg of his resumed four-continent flight. (New York Times)

June 14, 1927 -- CROWDS AT FLYING FIELDS.; Throng at Miller the First to See Lindbergh Plane Pass. Uncertainty as to the landing place of Colonel Lindbergh in his hop from Washington to this city yesterday, caused crowds to gather at dawn at many flying fields in the hope of getting a close-up of the transatlantic flier as he stepped from his plane. (New York Times)

February 17, 1928 -- BYRD PLANE TESTED FOR SOUTH POLE TRIP; Balchen Takes Big Fokker Off for First Time at Teterboro and Flies to Mitchel Field. BENNETT IN BRIEF FLIGHT Takes Craft to Miller Field to Be Ready for Hop West Today-- Pilot Is Highly Pleased. Commanader Richard E. Byrd's new giant tri-motored Fokker airplane, in which he will attempt next Fall to fly over the South Pole, was ... (New York Times)

March 25, 1928 -- LAGUARDIA ASSAILS MILLER FIELD CHIEF; Writes Secretary Davis That Commander There Is a 'Pinhead' and 'Fool Officer. 'CIVIL PLANES ARE BARRED Representative Cites Seizure of Roger Kahn's Machine--Bellanca Puzzled by Exclusion. Letter to War Secretary. Bellanca Tells of New Orders. WASHINGTON, March 24.--Lieut. Col. John S. Upham, commander of Miller Field, N.Y., was characterized as a "fool officer," a "pinhead," and otherwise assailed in a speech in the House today by Representative LaGuardia, Republican, of New York. (New York Times)

October 1, 1929 -- HUGE NEW SEAPLANE FLIES HERE IN FOG; 9,500-Pound Craft to Enter Buenos Aires Service Lands Safely at Miller Field. Flying through intermittent rain, clouds at low dense fog, William Grooch, chief pilot of the New York Rio and Buenos Aires Line, brought the new Consolidated Commodore seaplane from Buffalo to Miller Field, Staten Island, yesterday afternoon. (New York Times)

April 8, 1930 -- DRIVER WHO RAN DOWN 15, KILLING 1, GIVES UP; Soldier Who Fled From Staten Island Accident Is Held Without Bail. James Ware, 34 years old, a sergeant in Tank Company 1, United States Army, attached to Headquarters of the Twenty-seventh Division, New York State National Guard, at Miller Field, Staten Island, surrendered ... (New York Times)

May 21, 1931 -- MILLER FIELD AIR POST.; Part of Harbor Defense Plan-- Upton Long in Disuse. Miller Field, one of the four New York posts scheduled for abandonment is located at New Dorp, S.I., and has been used by the Air Corps unit of the New York National Guard as a training headquarters. (New York Times)

May 21, 1931 -- ARMY WILL ABANDON 53 OBSOLETE POSTS IN ECONOMY MOVE; Doomed Stations Include Miller Field, Forts Schuyler and Terry and Camp Upton. MOST OF THEM UNMANNED Total Value Set at $22,000,000 and They Are Located in All Parts of the Country. POSTAL ECONOMIES NEXT Hoover Calls Brown and Aides to Week-End Conference at Rapidan Camp. Postal Economy Program Next. General MacArthur's Report. Some Posts Held Worthless. ARMY TO ABANDON 53 OBSOLETE POSTS Other Uses Considered. Troop Transfer Planned. Rise in Postal Deficit Looms. WASHINGTON, May 20.--Orders for abandonment of fifty-three army posts, wholly or in part, will soon be issued by the War Department, Secretary Hurley revealed today. The posts include four in New York, one in New Jersey and seven in Massachusetts. (New York Times)

July 8, 1931 -- MILLER FIELD SAVED.; Army Erases National Guard Airdrome From Condemned List. (New York Times)

July 17, 1931 -- PLANE CRASHES AND BURNS; Army Flier and Companion Escape in 200-Foot Fall at Miller Field. (New York Times)

January 4, 1932 -- FIND SOLDIER'S WIFE SHOT DEAD IN HOME; Army Men at Miller Field Break Down Door and Discover Body, Beaten and Wounded. HUSBAND, SERGEANT, GONE General Police Alarm Out for Him -- Evidence Indicates a Violent Struggle on New Year's Morning. With a 45 calibre bullet wound in the head, the body of Mrs. Elsie Smith, 36-year-old wife of Sergeant Albert L. Smith, attached to the Ordinance Department of the Army at Camp Dix, N.J., was found yesterday lying across a bed in the apartment which she occupied with her husband at Miller Field, near New Dorp, S.I. (New York Times)

January 5, 1932 -- GET CLUE IN KILLING OF ARMY MAN'S WIFE; Police Hear Victim Considered Telling Husband She Had Been Wed Previously. GRAND JURY ENDS INQUIRY Its Findings Will Not Be Handed Up Till Jan. 11 -- Wide Search On for Missing Sergeant. While a country-wide search was under way for Sergeant D. Smith, of the Ordnance Department of the United States Army at Camp Dix, N.J., who is wanted for homicide in connection with the killing of his wife in their apartment at Miller Field, S.I., Sunday morning, the Richmond County grand jury completed yesterday its investigation of the case. (New York Times)

March 6, 1932 -- ARMY MAN SEIZED FOR WIFE'S MURDER; Sergeant A.L. Smith, Found on Staten Island, Confesses the Killing. COUNTRY-WIDE HUNT ENDS He Says He Feared Victim Would Have to Live at Camp Dix, "a Terrible Place." Sergeant Albert L. Smith, 37 years old, of the Army Ordnance Department at Camp Dix, N.J., confessed last night that he shot and Killed his wife, Elsie D. Smith, 33, at the Miller Field reservation, in Staten Island, on Jan. 1, because he feared she would have to live at Camp Dix, "a terrible place," the police said. (New York Times)

November 15, 1932 -- ONE DIES, 4 INJURED IN AIRPORT BLAST; Pipe-Fitter Hurled 10 Feet From Ground in Gasoline Tank Blow-Up at Miller Field. MEN WERE SEEKING LEAK Explosion Laid to Ignition of Fuel Vapors in Huge Container -- Inquiry Is Ordered. A civilian employe at Miller Field, S.I., headquarters of the Twenty-seventh Air Division, New York State National Guard, was killed instantly and four privates were injured, one severely, yesterday afternoon in the explosion of a huge underground gasoline tank in which they were tracing a leak. (New York Times)