Houlton Army Air Base was established in 1941 because of its proximity to Canada. Prior to the United States entry into the war, the United States "lent" military equipment to Great Britain to enable it to continue the war against Nazi Germany. Planes were flown to Houlton Army Air Base but U.S. military pilots could not fly the planes directly into Canada, a British ally, because that would violate the official U.S. position of neutrality in the war between Great Britain and Germany. In this picture, Arnold Peabody, a Houlton area farmer is towing an SBC-3 Helldiver across the border to Canada.