Bisbee daily review., 1919-07-20
THE AVIATION SECTION OF THE SIGNAL CORPS IN THEAEF

Camp des Bluots. and immediately began the work of building quarters for them selves. This work was completed on February 4. and on that day, the first troops occupied the ground which be- came a part of the largest air service production depot in France. As troops arrived from time to time, they found barracks awaiting them. and were imme- diately put to the task of carrying on the various phases of construction work that was to make the post the source of supply for the American-made airplane: the shops that were to salvage repair and assemble the planes sent back from the front, and the depots that were to supply the spares for the air service maintenance. tools. clothing, etc.
 500 Acres Flying Fields
 In the 10 months from the time the first work was done up to the signing of the armistice, over two million square feet of buildings were erected; more than 800 acres of flying fields cleared. leveled, plowed. narrowed. rolled and sown: ten miles of vehicle roads and over ten miles of railroads were built; twelve miles of open drainage ditches dug: four and half miles of drainage
 
 seven and half miles of water pipe with pumping and Altering system com plete. were laid: complete telephone system installed and electric light and power lines extended to all buildings and shops.
 This work was greatly hampered at times by the lack of personnel and by the shortage of supplies and the great distance from the initial source of sup ply. namely the United States The steel framework for the shops and ham gars was shipped already fabricated from the States and from England Much of this material was not received at the time it was needed in the progressive assembly of the buildings. consequently it was necessary to make many substi- tutions in order not to defeat the fun damental purpose of the center. Lumber was very scarce at Romerantin, as in all France. and the section engineer at Gievres was unable to supply the quan- tity needed.
 It was necessary, therefore, to install a sawmill on the post to saw the tim Der felled locally. Also. thousands of feet of lumber had to be hauled from an American sawniIl at Mur de Sologne, a distance of 12 kNometers. and it is an actual fact that trees were cut in the morning. hauled to the mill and sawp. delivered on the job and used in the construction of buildings before night fall "A 'ts
 Many of the men employed in construc- tion were without previous experience in this line of work and moreover were by the lack of tools and proper facilities for handling the mater ial. In all such cases. the latent in genuity of the American soldier come to the fore. and each building was ready for occupancy as the demand arose. which is all that could be expected.
 The actual work of the center in sup plying the squadron with air service ma terial was divided into three divisions. the Assembly. Salvage and Re pair of airplanes; Air Service Supply De- pot, and Air Service Motor Transporta- ton.
 1os7 AirpIanes Sent to A. E. F.
 The assembly, salvage and repair work was originally under the direction of the Assembly. Salvage and Repair division, which was reorganized in June, 1918. and the Production and Maintenance division. How we'll this department func- tioned can be seen when it is known that the first Liberty. or DeHaviland 4 plane with a Liberty motor. arrived on May II. and a total of10S7 machines of this type were delivered by the date of the signing of the armistice, with 292 at the docks in Bordeaux.
 When the first planes arrived and were put into production, the work was per 1, formed by men of whom the majority had never seen an airplane, although an ef- fort has been made to select those whose experience in civilian life would enable them to asiIy adapt themselves ii air plane work. All through the history of this department it was necessary to train men for the work in the shops. as well as to train them for service with the squa- drons at the front and in thes hops in the zone of advance. These conditions pro- duced a more or less floating person