Norwich bulletin., 1922-10-16
ARMIsTIoE SAVED BERLIN
 FROM AERIAL ATTACK

Cleveland. Oct. i5.@The story of hou the signing of the srnistioe saved Beriin from an aerial attack was related bers today. with the permission Of the gov ernment, for the first time by Lester P. Barlow and Glenn l.. Martin. invcntort of device for a long range attack Oriy few persons are said to have known the secret, so closely was it guarded
 The basis idea was the counting of the flying torpedo. built principally olong the lines of the dual-motored bomb ing plane. with a small plane of the scout type but carrying a large fuel tank. MT. Barlow said. In flying to the objective. the two planes were 10 have been a single unit, the smaller planes engine drawing its fuel from the torpe- do planes tank. leaving it's own fuel supply intact for the return flight.
 The range waS limited only to the distance the smaller plane could travel in bringing the pilot back to the Amer ican base. Mir Martin explained.
 If the war had continued. Cleveland would have contributed two inventioes declared Benedict Crovell, former zs- sistsnt secretary of war One wouid have been this flying torpedo and the other the deadly gas which was develop ed in the 'mouse-trap-' -ai
 ''Our scheme to blow to atoms the German capital-T00 miles from the bat. tie lines-vas so simple that Generzi c O. Squire, American ranking general of the air forces, was skepticzl." MT. Bar low said When he was convinced of its practicability his greatest fear wze that the Germans might hit upon the same idea and put 1t into effect before we could get the necessary equipment across the Atlantic.
 Under the plan as adopted a feet of flying torpedoes. each of 500 horBe-pow- CT. would be piloted under cover of dark ness from the American lines to within few miles of Berlin. The piiots would return while the flying torpedoes con- | tinued under mechanical control to th< center of the city. There the vfnEs automatically would be blown from chs torpedoes, causing the whole mass stu fall On striking, the torpedoes. each .of which would contain a ton and half of T. N. T.. or the equivalent of poisonous gases, would explode.
 i'In order to assure q thoroughly sue cesful attack our hope was to launch fleet of at least fifty of these dual units against Berin. Their flight ~aa to be SO arranged that they could ap- proach the city from all directions sim lultsneously." Two months before the armisiice was signed. the inventors say, the governrnent ordered them to proceed immediatsfy with the production Of flying torpedo feet. A thousand zirplane torpedoesf Mir. Martin estimated. could be CO., structed and used for the cost of cue
 modern battleship. He estimated ths
 cost of one such torpedo at f5o, ,Oeo
 The idea came to the inventors in Ocs tober, 1915. when MT. Barlow was eu,-
 ployed in the Martin airplAne factory fin
 Los Angeles. Calf, shortly after his rel
 turn from Mexico. where. as A major
 on the staff of General Frznckco vilia
 he conducted what he believes was the
 first airplane bombing squadron h the
 world.
 Reports of the British air service thz,
 it had released from it's large scouting ! planes over the North Sea small passer E- CT planes that returned 10 the base sut.
 gested the solution Of their problem. Martin said. There is little new to the inventicn . Mir. Barlow explained. Rather it n q fusing together of what was then known"