The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-01-14

Lieut.. Hugh Martin of the firm of Mil Ter & Martin, architects. with offices in the Title Guarantee building. who has. recently been discharged from the army air service and returned home, relates some very interesting incidents in con nection with his service.
 During nearly all of the}year 1918, Lieu tenant Martin was in England assisting in the building of aerodromes for Hand. ley-Pages and other planes, the construc- tion of a drome at Emsworth being well under way when the armistice was signed.
 None of Us over there were expecting the end of the war to come so soon," said Lieutenant Martin yesterday. We had had no intimation that German col lapse was near, and we were making preparations for the maximum develop ment of the air service One of the high army officers in England stated just few days before the signing of the armis- tce that England was preparing for seven years more of war.
 When the armistice was signed there were 200 aerodromes built or under con- struction in England. These will be used, I am told, by England in the develop ment of the military branch of her serv- ice, in which airplanes will form a great part"
 Lieutenant Martin enlisted in the air service and was commissioned first lieutenant November IF, 1917. and left for overseas January IS, 1918. He first went to France and after one week there he was sent to England to look after aero- drome construction. He was stationed at Portsmouth part of the time, but short ime before the armistice was signed he went to Emsworth.
 q was in London when the armiStice was signed" said Lieutenant Martin, and witnessed the great demonstration there. Several Handley-Pages flew over the city during the demonstrations as they did two days before, when the lord mayor took the oath of office l was in London at that time. The Handley-Pages were then scouting for possible enemy bomb adding to the demonstration in celebra- ton of the coming of peace
 SERVICE TO PARIS
 Before I left England an Englishman had organized a company to operate an air passenger service between London and Paris, to use HandleyPages.S The machines have capacity of 40 passen- gers besides the crew, and tickets for the passage from London to Paris were sold to large number of Londoners
 .The Handley- Pages have 120 feet w-ng spread, which makes the question of hangars a very difficult one. We finally solved the problem, however, by adopt ing the plan of folding the wings of the plane, which made it possible to get the machines in a much smaller space. These machines carry two machine guns and one ton of bombs.
 "The Americans in the air service in England were very highly thought of by the English people. Most of the men in the service had been transferred from the regular army, were well trained and disciplined, and their conduct and their efficiency in their work won the admir- ation of the British.
 we broke camp i've days after the ar mistice was signed, showing that no time was lost in getting bacl home when we were convinced that there would be no more fighting. We landed at New York on December 5.'
 Lieutenant Martin was sent to Garden City for a few days after landing, then to Des Moines, la, where he assisted n demobilization work until his discharge.
 Lieutenant Martin was asked by an Age-Herald reporter to tell of his exper- fences and his work in the air service.
 q am getting too much publicity for a noncombatant," he said. T was lucky
 in getting into a branch of the sservice for which I was especially equipped. for there were innumerable examples of the square peg in the round hole; nothing will more quickly prevent an efficient and successful service than to find oneself , detailed to some unfamiliar or uncon- genial branch of work I have been inn pressed by some of the instances which came under my observation.
 LIEUT., O'BRIEN'S FRANKNESS When our construction squadron was being organized at Newport News for overseas service, we had assigned to us Lieutenant O'Brien, who had been in